Seventeen Wood River Valley prep cross country runners capped their 2013 fall seasons by competing in state championship 3.1-mile footraces Saturday, Nov. 2 on the Freeman Park course in Idaho Falls.
And four of those local runners earned medals by placing in the top 20 of their classifications. They were Wood River High seniors Janel Passey and Mariah Stout, and Community School senior Nate Nasvik and junior Tara Burchmore.
The Idaho High School Activities Association hosted 739 runners on a picture-perfect fall day—156 in the large-school 5A boys’ and girls’ divisions, 214 in the 4A classes, 148 in the 3A group and 221 in the 2A/1A smaller school categories.
Fastest times of the day were recorded by Pocatello junior Elijah Armstrong (15:41), the fastest in his class by 39 seconds for his third straight 4A boys’ title, and Mountain View senior Sam McKinnon (18:26) for her first state championship. McKinnon was over a minute faster than two-time defending champion Emily Hamlin, the Boise junior who finished fourth in 5A.
The only other boy to break 16 minutes Saturday was Timberline of Boise senior Andrew Rafla (15:54), who won the 5A race and his first title by 24 seconds over defending champ Dwain Stucker of Meridian.
Capital of Boise captured its first 5A boys’ title since 2004 and fifth overall by 57-64 over Mountain View of Meridian. Coeur d’Alene (63 points) earned its second straight 5A girls’ title and fifth overall.
The 3A team winners were the Shelley boys for their first title 42-87 over three-time defending champion Teton of Driggs, and the Sugar-Salem girls 40-59 over Shelley for their second consecutive title and third overall. Olivia Redd, a Sugar-Salem senior, won her second straight 3A title with the fourth-best girls’ time.
All-Conference picks, results
Fourth District All-Conference cross country teams were announced Tuesday. First team picks from Wood River were seniors Janel Passey, Mariah Stout and Haley Montgomery, plus junior Alexis Gonzalez. Passey and Stout made the All-State team.
Junior Tara Burchmore of the Community School and senior Nate Nasvik earned second-team All-Conference nods and also made the 2A/1A All-State squad.
“Runners of the Year” in the Magic Valley/Wood River Valley region were senior Rachel Youren of Gooding and senior Jeremy Stark of Twin Falls.
Top results and Wood River Valley state placings:
Girls’ 4A: 1—Caitlin Elgan (Preston senior, first title) 19:29. 12—Janel Passey (WR) 20:41. 18—Mariah Stout (WR) 20:59. 21—Haley Montgomery (WR) 21:13. 75—Amy Cantrell (WR) 23:05. 91—Amanda Passey (WR) 23:43. 93—Loni Unser (WR) 23:53. 97—Avery Closser (WR) 24:04 (108 runners).
Girls’ 4A team: 1—Sandpoint 101, first title since 2002. 2—Preston 102, second as a team for the second straight year by a combined 5 points. 3—Pocatello 113. 8—Wood River 189 (14 schools).
Boys’ 4A: 1—Elijah Armstrong (Pocatello junior, third straight title) 15:41. 30—Alexis Gonzalez (WR) 17:57. 56—Ty Reinemann (WR) 18:22. 72—Nathan Stouffer (WR) 18:46. 84—Cameron Bingham (WR) 19:01. 91—Nelson Cantrell (WR) 19:08. 92—Connor Hayes (WR) 19:11. 98—Irvin Gonzalez (WR) 19:34 (106 runners).
Boy’s 4A team: 1—Pocatello 29, third straight 4A boys’ title and fourth overall. 13—Wood River 303 (14 schools).
Girls’ 2A: 1—Kelsey Yamauchi (Soda Springs senior, first title) 19:37. 17—Tara Burchmore (CS) 21:52 (94 runners).
Girls’ 2A team: 1—Soda Springs 15, eighth straight title (12 schools).
Boys’ 2A: 1—W. Leif Fredericks (Coeur d’Alene Charter senior, first title) 17:00. 15—Nate Nasvik (CS) 18:08. 27—Nate Thomas (CS) 18:34 (127 runners).
Boy’s 2A team: 1—Soda Springs 35, second title in three years and sixth overall (16 schools).