The Corvallis High School Boys’ Cross Country team is the Class A state champion and the Corvallis Girls’ Cross Country team took second place at the Class A State competition, in Helena on Saturday.
This marks the boys’ fourth time to take first place in the past eight years. They placed first at state in 2010, 2011, 2015, and 2017, and took second at state in 2013, 2014, and 2016.
On Saturday, the Blue Devils earned 109 points with senior Anders Watt taking third place with a time of 16:40.16, and senior Jake Jessop in 13th place with a time of 17:19.75.
It was the depth of the team that made the difference: senior Grant Martin placed 17th with a time of 17:35.54; senior Spencer Jessop was 27th with 17:51.71; freshman James Wissenbach was 49th with 18:21.47; junior Ben Carrasco was 59th with 18:33.79; and sophomore Cole Henry was 82nd with 18:55.63.
Joanne Cleveland, head coach, said this year the boys’ team was “very determined.”
“They were not satisfied with second last year, so they were on a mission all year to not let that happen again,” she said. “They worked hard all summer and during the season. We had a rough start with the season due to all of the smoke. Luckily the Canyons Athletic Club let us come and use their treadmills, so we were able to keep moving forward with workouts.”
Watt said the race on Saturday was fun but difficult.
“We knew we had a good shot of taking state if everyone delivered,” he said. “It was competitive - there were a lot of good runners out there.”
As a senior, this was Watt’s last cross country race. He is looking forward to competing in track in the spring.
The Corvallis Girls Cross Country team won state in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, they took third at state in 2016, and second this year, behind Hardin.
Freshman Kailee McCready was the top finisher for the Blue Devils. She placed 11th with a time of 20:30.28 and sophomore Lilli Day was 13th with a time of 41:06.94. Junior Kara Wissenbach was 47th with 1:02:20.50; senior Albany Jessop was 24th with 1:23:40.85; senior Olivia Fehr was 30th with 1:45:23.48; freshman Hannah Jankunas was 41st with 2:07:25.29; and sophomore Bree Lewis placed 43rd with a time of 2:29:34.25.
“The girls’ team was a very close group,” Cleveland said. “We had a couple of injuries during the summer from track that prevented a couple of the girls from training much during the summer. We spent the whole season playing catch up.”
The Blue Devils Girls team tied for second place with Polson but won the tie breaker, which is the sixth-place runner from the two teams.
Cleveland said upperclassmen provided a significant contribution.
“We had four senior boys and two senior girls on the state team, which we are really going to miss next year,” she said.
Other local placers include Hamilton cross country with senior Matt Wilson placing second with a time of 16:34:72, and for the girls, senior Lyric Devries placing second with a time of 19:39.80, and freshmen Brynnli Poulsen was sixth with 39:45.34.
