The fall of 2023 was a special time for Cottage Grove's Carter Bengtson.
Not only did he make a dramatic rise in cross country, winning the 4A boys title, but he excelled as a defender in soccer, earning first-team all-state honors in helping the Lions reach the state final.
“Last year was the perfect year for everything,” Bengtson said.
Now a senior, Bengtson is looking to go out on a high note in both sports. He will enter the cross country state meet Saturday with the No. 1 time in 4A this season. And the soccer team, seeded sixth, will carry a seven-match winning streak into a 4A first-round game Tuesday against Hidden Valley/New Hope Christian.
“I think we can go pretty far,” Bengtson said. “We've gotten a lot better as the season has progressed.”
Bengtson is having another outstanding season in cross country, winning six of the nine races he has entered. He has run 5,000 meters in a school-record 15 minutes, 9.2 seconds, lowering his personal best by 32 seconds. It is 17 seconds better than the No. 2 time in 4A, which belongs to Marist Catholic senior Conor Thompson (15:26.5).
“He really put in a lot of miles this summer, and it's definitely paid off for him,” Cottage Grove coach Ricky Knutson said. “That's what he really rides through the season. The last two summers have been big for him.”
After going undefeated last year, Bengtson sought higher competition this season. He won the Northwest Classic 4A/3A/2A/1A division on the state course at Lane Community College on Sept. 21. One week later, he recorded his new PR to finish 12th in the prestigious Danner Championships at Nike Portland XC.
“The big races, I felt good,” Bengtson said. “The big races were a chance for me to actually run against people where I'm not coming in as the fastest guy in the race, and I'm able to really see how fast I can go without needing to pace myself the whole time.”
Knutson said that Bengtson's breakout junior season “kind of surprised us. We just didn't have any really big meets on the schedule last year where he was going to get challenged and be able to run with some of those 5A and 6A guys. Being able to do that this year was kind of a fun thing.”
Bengtson said the Northwest Classic was his best race this season. He ran 15:25.5 to beat Oregon Episcopal junior Ronan Gantzos by 13 seconds.
“Northwest Classic felt amazing,” Bengtson said. “Since districts and state are on the same course, I'm basically just trying to replicate what I did in the Northwest Classic.”
Bengtson took third in both The Opener, a 3,000-meter race Aug. 30 at Wilsonville, and the Ultimook Race 4A/3A/2A/1A division Sept. 7 in Tillamook.
The only 4A runner to beat him this season is Newport senior Connor Brown, who finished 22 seconds ahead of Bengtson in winning The Ultimook. But Bengtson wasn't at full strength in the Ultimook, making the long trip to Tillamook after playing a soccer game in Bend the previous night.
“Carter was pretty flat after the game and the travel,” Knutson said.
For the most part, Bengtson has handled balancing both sports with ease. Because the soccer team practices in the evenings, he is able to attend all cross country workouts, except on game days, usually two each week.
“I've been doing it all four years. I'm just used to it at this point,” Bengtson said. “I go to cross country, get the full workout in. My soccer coach knows, once I'm done with cross, I'll get my stuff and just integrate into practice. I'm usually only missing warm-up drills.”
Saturday could end up being a very busy day for Bengtson. He has the cross country race at 12:20 p.m. in Eugene and potentially a soccer quarterfinal match, which would be either in Cottage Grove or at Crook County, a three-hour drive away. Last year, he pulled double duty on the day of the state race.
Bengtson repeated as the Sky-Em League district champion Oct. 26, winning by 38 seconds over Marist Catholic's Thompson. Considering Thompson is one of his top challengers at state, Bengtson is a heavy favorite to repeat.
“Obviously we all know that's the goal, and that's what we're training to do,” Bengtson said. “I'm definitely putting a ton of pressure on myself. If I've done it once, I can do it a second time.”
Once his fall sports end, Bengtson won't have time to rest before joining the wrestling team. A three-time state qualifier, he placed sixth at 138 pounds in the 4A tournament as a junior. Acclimating to wrestling is a process.
“Endurance-wise, I come in just great,” Bengtson said. “I can last a full six-minute match without keeling over and dying. Then I start working on the strength side. I have 12 weeks to build up my strength, and then cut it all back off for running.”
That's because Bengtson will then head into track season. Last season, he was state runner-up in the 3,000 and placed fourth in the 1,500. He holds the school record in the 5,000 for track (15:06.18), ranking No. 4 all-time in the state for 4A.
Bengtson, who has yet to commit to a college, said he wonders how much he could improve in running if it was his lone pursuit.
“I'm pretty happy with how I can do now, doing both,” he said. “Going into college, that will be my chance to just focus on running. I'm excited to see what I can do when I can just focus on one sport instead of four.”
