Two weeks after losing to his district rival, reigning 6A boys cross country champion Malachi Schoenherr found a measure of redemption by winning the Rose City Championship Invite on Friday at Rose City Golf Course.
The Sheldon senior clocked 14 minutes, 39.22 seconds on the damp, soft course to hold off Warrenton senior Jayden Warner (14:39.39). South Eugene senior Yosuke Shibata, who finished ahead of Schoenherr in the Nike Portland XC Danner Championships on Sept. 26, was third in 14:50.23.
“It was another step in proving that I'm the best in the state, at least I believe,” Schoenherr said. “These meets during the year, obviously I want to run fast, but we put all of our chips into state and NXR. Hopefully, when NXN comes around, I'll be on that start line competing for the win.”
In the Nike Portland XC race at Blue Lake Park, Shibata was the top Oregon finisher, beating Schoenherr by two-tenths of a second to claim second place. Unlike in that race, though, Schoenherr was not content to sit back and let Shibata dictate the pace.
Shibata took the lead on the first loop but Schoenherr stayed with him, along with Warner and Summit junior Bjorn Blankenship.
“I let him take the lead and I just kind of sat on his shoulder, just waiting for him to come back a little bit,” Schoenherr said. “At Nike Portland, he took the race out and it worked for him. So this time I kind of wanted to spook him a little bit.”
Schoenherr, Warner and Shibata were up front with about 1,200 meters left when Schoenherr made a push. Warner went with him, but Shibata fell back.
“I knew Yosuke was hurting a little bit,” Schoenherr said. “I could hear it in his breathing.”
Warner made a move with about 600 meters remaining. Schoenherr tried to match, but opted to give Warner some room, and fell about 5-10 yards behind.
“I kind of thought to myself, 'I'm going to use the downhill before the finish to catch back up to him,” Schoenherr said. “As soon as I turned the corner to go down the hill, I put my head down and just started going for it. I just kept on the gas.”
Schoenherr took the lead on the turn heading into the final straightaway and had just enough to beat Warner by .17 seconds.
“I watched the video of the finish back, and I was like, 'Oh, that was a little closer than I thought it was,'” Schoenherr said. “I should have run through the line. I'll use that for later.”
The win helped Schoenherr settle a score with Shibata. The two will square off again in the Southwest Conference district meet Oct. 29.
“I just put the Nike Portland race behind me,” Schoenherr said. “But I have that kind of inner competitiveness that I wanted to get back at him again.”
Schoenherr has shown progress from last year, when he was plagued by illness through much of the season. A year ago, he finished 15th at Nike Portland XC and sixth at Rose City.
He believes he is in a strong position for the stretch run.
“I'm not fully tapered yet,” he said. “I've been hitting 70 miles a week, and came down to 60 this week, which felt like a dream. So I had a little bit of extra strength. We're just now starting to hit workouts pretty hard.”
In the girls race at Rose City, Lincoln junior Ellery Lincoln cruised to victory in 16:56.96. She improved on her time of 17:41.0 from last year's meet, when she placed 12th.
North Salem senior Nelida Dalgas (17:10.27) and Caldera junior Maddie Carney (17:50.24) were second and third, respectively.
Summit's boys and girls each won team titles. The boys, led by Blankenship (fourth), scored 91 points to defeat Wells (111) and Lincoln (156). The girls, led by senior Sophia Capozzi (seventh), scored 103 points to beat Lincoln (121) and Sage Creek, Calif. (121).
Perry tops 4A
La Grande senior Brooke Perry, the reigning 4A girls champion, recorded the top time in 4A this season in finishing as runner-up in the Max Jensen Invitational on Saturday in Richland, Wash.
Perry timed 18:26.45 to place behind Kamiakin (Wash.) freshman Jaycee Jenkins (18:23.93). Heading into the meet, Perry had won all four of her races this season.
La Grande sophomore Lindsey Brown was third in 18:28.48, the No. 3 time in 4A this season.
Champoeg Invitational
Wilsonville senior Liam Wilde dominated the Champoeg Invitational on Friday at Champoeg State Park. His time of 15:10.9 was far ahead of the runner-up, Springfield sophomore Adrian Estes (15:47.0).
Dallas senior Kelsey Rodli picked up her third win of the season in the girls race. She finished in 18:31.3 to beat junior teammate Amber Green (18:45.6).
Molalla outscored Sprague 94-129 to capture the 20-team boys division. Dallas scored 51 points to turn back St. Mary's Academy (64) and win the 16-team girls division.
Paul Mariman Invitational
Cascade Christian senior Sebastian Hehn (16:08.7) and Philomath sophomore Cassidy Smart (18:49.9) were the winners in the Paul Mariman Invitational on Saturday at Philomath High School. Cottage Grove's boys and Philomath's girls won the team scoring.
jerryu@osaa.org
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