Charlie North (14:40) and Kaiya Robertson (16:58.6) Win Competitive Races At McIver Park; US#4 Summit Girls Show Off Depth

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

It has become a cross country season like perhaps no other in Oregon – one year after there was practically nothing. 

As of this weekend, 13 boys in the state have run times on supposed 5,000-meter courses under 15 minutes and on Saturday at the Lewis and Clark Cross Country Invitational, Charlie North of Franklin OR topped them all with a winning time of 14:40.0 on an undulating, looped course at McIver Park. 

To be fair, the course seemed about 10-15 seconds fast and there were many personal bests run in pristine conditions. 

RACE VIDEOS | INTERVIEWS | RESULTS | PHOTOS by Tim Healy

Regardless, in 2019 only four Oregon boys broke 15 minutes. One of them was E.J. Holland, who now runs at Oregon. And the other three – Mateo Althouse, Charlie Robertson and Ahmed Ibrahim – all qualified for Foot Locker. 

This fall, something in the long training bloc during the COVID-19 cancellations of 2020 and the misplaced early spring cross country season seems to be working. 

"I've been thinking about that a lot," North said. "I think that, while a lot of other states had cross seasons in the fall (in 2020), Oregon had a whole year with not a lot going on and so a lot of these teams were able to train their asses off and get a bunch of good work in."

It seems to be paying dividends, and it could lead to a spectacular show at the Nov. 6 state meet.  

"Looking at Oregon, it's the deepest it's ever been," North said. "A decent place at state, I feel like it means so much more (this year)."

North made an early move, separating at 1,000 meters from a strong field. A week ago at the Hole In The Wall Invitational in Washington, he felt like he played it too conservatively and Sherwood OR's James Crabtree broke away and won the race. 

"Quite honestly I took a page out of (James) Crabtree's book with just being aggressive in that first K," North said. "I felt like I needed to make a statement today. If he can do it, why can't I, you know what I mean?"

Razor-thin margins separated the top teams, all from Portland. No. 27 Lincoln had a sixth-runner advantage over No. 9 Central Catholic (36-74) and won the meet after both teams tied at 84 points, with Franklin right there as well with 87. 

The Rams, however, went without Wes Shipsey, one of the team's two sub-15 runners, who is resting a sore knee. 

Central Catholic's Max Girardet placed second in 14:50.7 and Lincoln's Tucker Bowerfind joined the sub-15 list by running 14:59.0. 

In the girls race, US#4 Summit showed up with force and put three runners – Ella Thorsett (17:27.6), Teaghan Knox (17:40.9) and Maggie Williams (17:49.2) – under 18 minutes.

The program that won the 2018 Nike Cross Nationals title continues to thrive. The team's 4-5-6 runners, Barrett Justema (18:05.5), Payton Finney (18:30.7) and Camille Broadbent (18:35.5) left no doubt as the Storm scored 45 points and US#26 Lincoln was next with 96. Franklin was third with 136 and Ida B. Wells was fourth with 150. 

"We came into this race not sure what to expect, because it's a completely new course," Williams said. "It was good to get out and get a feel for it and run together."

Up front, the second half of the race came down to a tug of war between Franklin's Kaiya Robertson and Lincoln's Kendall York. They traded the lead and at times ran side by side entering the home stretch and a tunnel of noise from a large crowd. 

Robertson managed to outkick York, barely, and collapsed two steps over the finish line after running 16:58.6. York was right behind her in 17:00.9. 

In 2019, four Oregon girls ran under 17:30 – three of them on a state meet course that measured 100 meters too short. This year, eight have run faster than 17:30. 

"We passed each other so many times," Robertson said. "I got the feeling that we are both front-runners, so I was like, 'What, I'm not leading the race? What?'" 

York was trying to throw some surges at Robertson, knowing that it was her best chance to beat a strong kicker. 

Both of them, now, are looking at results that show that they aren't far off best times of Lake Oswego's Kate Peters or Jesuit's Chloe Foerster – both of whom are ranked in the top 10 nationally. 

"I never thought I'd catch up to them by the end of the season, or breaking 17 (minutes), that seemed like a crazy goal," York said. 

In the college races that preceded the middle school, youth and high school portion of the meet, unattached former Colorado runner Ryan Forsyth won the 8,000-meter race in 23:32.2 and Portland sent a strong enough team to score 15 points against Southern Oregon (78) and Carleton (94). 

Kassie Rosenbum of Loras College (Iowa) won the women's 6,000-meter race in 20:10.9 and had a margin of 17 seconds at the finish. Carleton (81), Seattle U (98) and Portland (99) were the top teams.