CatlinSpeak

Luca Ostertag-Hill ’16 and Mckenzie Spooner ’14 led their respective teams to 7th place finishes at the OSAA 3A/2A/1A Cross Country State Championships at Lane Community College on Saturday, November 3.

This was the first trip to Lane in six years for the Catlin Gabel boys, and the 12th consecutive team trip for the girls.

“It’s funny how disappointed we are,” head coach John Hamilton commented after the race. “We basically finished where we were seeded; we were just hoping we could have moved up a little bit.”

Catlin’s girls, shorthanded with only six out of a possible seven runners, ended their streak of eight consecutive years of top two finishes.

The boys team qualified for the state meet for the first time in six years! (Photo: Brian Hoyt)

Spooner (20:41) finished 11th, just one spot off the individuals podium. Senior Hannah Jaquiss (21:09) finished nine places back, with Kelsey Hurst ’14 (22:59), Riley Hutchings ’15 (23:26) and Lauren Fogelstrom ’15 (23:26), rounding out the Eagles’ top five, finishing 61st, 68th, and 69th, respectively.

For the boys, it was good to finally be back at the state meet.

“It’s been a good four years,” senior Casey Currey-Wilson said on the bus ride home. “It was good to end finally racing at state.”

Ostertag-Hill (17:52) finished 26th overall and 1st for the Eagles, with Garet Neal ’15 (18:11), Chris Belluschi ’14 (18:35), and Currey-Wilson (18:43) all finishing with top-55 performances. Senior Cody Hoyt (18:57) rounded out the top five for the boys in 62nd with Catlin’s lone season-best time on the day.

Overall, Union, a 2A school, won the team championships for both boys and girls. The number one female runner in state was Katriel O’Reilly of Union with a time of 19:16, and the top male runner was Nick Obletz of OES, with a time of 15:58.