IDAHO STATE MEET

Boise Girls, Borah's Nathan Green Get 5A Three-Peats In Pocatello

Eastern Idaho collected seven of 10 available team titles at state championships

By Marlowe Hereford for DyeStat

A change of venue 13 days before state meet weekend ultimately provided a relatively flat and fast setting for personal-record times, impressive low scores, extended win streaks and historic firsts for Idaho cross country runners.

Split into two days with limited spectators and moved from Eagle Island State Park west of Boise to Pocatello's Portneuf Wellness Complex, the site of last year's meet, due to COVID-19 restrictions in Ada County, Idaho's state meet began with a bang Friday.

In Class 5A, national power Boise extended its state title streak to three consecutive years by coming up just shy of a perfect score with 18 points. Freshman Samantha Smith, also a member of Boise's girls soccer team, won the individual title in 17:45.34 to lead a 1-2-3 Boise finish with senior Rosina Machu (18:17.83) and freshman Allie Bruce (18:22.46) taking second and third, respectively. Juniors Logan Smith (18:55.40) and Annika Zuschlag (18:59.20) also broke 19 minutes and finished fifth and seventh.

Boise head coach Aaron Olswanger said he and his runners had not discussed pursuing a perfect score entering the state meet, adding that the Brave had to adjust to the increased wind. After calm conditions for the 3A and 4A races, wind inceased to 18 miles per hour by the 5A meet.

"When (Samantha) made her move, she made it known," Olswanger said Saturday morning. "Halfway through the race, we knew we were going 1-2-3 .The gaps opened up so big. Fortunately, Rosina and Allie got to run together the second half of the race to push each other." 

Olswanger said his runners were not impacted by the change of venue, and they looked forward to running at a course where they did so well last year. The Brave entered Friday having competed in four meets, all close to home. Due to COVID-19 restrictions in Ada County, they had not faced any teams outside of Boise School District until the 5A District 3 championships Oct 23. Additionally, Boise leads the Nike Cross Virtual standings.

Earlier in October, Olswanger described 2020 as the hardest year of his career. Saturday morning, he said what will stand out to him most about this season is how flexible his runners have been and how they never sacrificed the team culture they have built.

"Looking back at yesterday, I'm still in awe," Olswanger said. "I don't know if I'm more impressed with the 18 points, the fact we got our third in a row or we beat the next team by more than 80 points. Talking with some of the parents, they talk about how great our culture is. We've got a great thing going on and I think it's gonna continue. We didn't have to sacrifice that with this crazy season. We were able to do enough with our team, break it down into smaller groups and give kids more attention."

A three-peat of another kind and a 'four-peat' of sorts occurred in the 5A boys race to end the day. Borah senior and Washington commit Nathan Green, who on Oct. 14 ran a personal-best 14:54 5K, claimed his third consecutive individual state title in 15:26.53. 

He is Idaho's first 5A boy to win three consecutive individual state titles since Boise's Eric Fitzpatrick won three in a row from 2007 to 2009, and the seventh to do it in any classification.

Similar to the Boise girls, he entered Friday having competed in five meets in Ada County. Two of them were duals. He said he prepared by completing long workouts and running in Boise's foothills.

"To get three in a row after this kind of year, I think it shows less about me and more about (Borah head coach) Tim (Severa)," Green said Saturday morning. "It didn't look for a long time that we would have a season. I don't think if he would have pushed me to keep doing as well in workouts that I would have done as well this season. I think a lot of the credit given to me is owed to him."

Severa called coaching Green an honor and remembers sending Borah 2020 graduate Zach Garey to recruit him for cross country after seeing him run a 4:43 mile as an eighth grader.

"He liked football a lot," Severa said. "He really is a track guy, but he's a pretty dang good cross country runner. He doesn't overtrain. He's starting to love running more. It's been a real honor to coach him and see where he started."

Green ran with Idaho Falls senior Mitchell Athay for much of the race, tucking behind him in the wind. At 4,000 meters, Green surged ahead to get the win by almost 13 seconds.

"He's one of the strongest Idaho boys I've ever had to run against," Green said of Athay, a four-time state medalist. "Having him in competition was honestly amazing."

Green said he plans to take time off now that state is behind him, as traveling to any out-of-state meets would be too risky for his family due to COVID-19, and he is looking forward to track and pursuing a four-minute mile. 

Athay's second-place finish in 15:39.07 led five top 11 finishes by Zac Bright (third in 15:45.17), Luke Athay (fourth in 15:55.94), Joseph Ereaux (10th in 16:21.36) and Porter Elison (11th in 16:23.42) to give Idaho Falls the 5A team title with 23 points. It was the first title at the 5A level since 2002 for the Tigers, who moved to 5A this year after winning three consecutive 4A state titles including sweeping the 4A boys and girls titles last year.

By winning a fourth consecutive title, albeit in a new classification, the Tiger boys became the first sports program in Idaho Falls High history to do so.

Seniors Athay, Ereaux and Elison ran on all four title-winning teams, while Bright was part of the last three and an alternate in 2017.

"It's absolutely amazing to have been a part of all these state titles," Athay said Saturday morning. "In 2017, winning state was our huge goal. Us four seniors, then we were like, 'what if we did this all four years?' It's so good to see what you've worked so hard to achieve."

Idaho Falls head coach Alan McMurtrey said he was hopeful for five medalists, but the Tigers surpassed that. As he described the achievements of the class of 2021, he choked up.

"I'm pretty fortunate to have that opportunity to work with those four young men," McMurtrey said. "It's been so fun. They come to practice every day with a smile. They're all different kids, all four of them. But as a group, man, they're strong."

Athay said going out with a fourth consecutive title was the goal even with moving to 5A and contending with the likes of Rocky Mountain and fellow District 6 team Madison, but a score as low as 23 was not expected. Another memorable moment from Friday was seeing his younger brother, freshman Luke, pass two seniors in the final 300 meters to move from sixth place to a photo finish for fourth place.

"Zac Bright finished a few seconds behind me then I was like, 'Yo, there's my brother hauling away in that home stretch,'" Athay said. "Me personally, I can't imagine getting fourth as a freshman. I was 16th. I'm so proud of him."

With Idaho Falls' departure for 5A, the 4A titles were up for grabs. For the third time in four years, the girls team title was decided by five points or fewer, and on Friday it went to Idaho Falls' district rival Skyline. The Grizzlies edged fellow east Idaho program Preston 62-67 to claim their second title in program history three years after winning the first. On Friday, both Preston and Skyline had four runners finish in the top 20, but the difference came down to Skyline freshman Nelah Roberts claiming the individual title in 17:52.06. 

Roberts, whose older brother Harrison was on Skyline's 2016 4A boys state title team and older sister Adria was on the 2017 4A girls state title team, is Skyline's first ever girls individual state cross country champion. Her time is also a school record and the fastest 5k by an eastern Idaho girl, breaking teammate Sariah Harrison's record of 17:54.36 from the 2018 state meet. Harrison was Skyline's second finisher Friday, placing eighth in 19:24.67, while fellow senior Raegan Hart was 10th in 19:31.19.

Roberts said a sub-18 minute time was not on her mind Friday and she started the race in tears with nerves because of Skyline being favored to win the team title. She stuck with Bonneville sophomore and fellow District 6 runner Alivia Johnson for much of the race, then started pulling away in the final mile. Johnson, who beat Roberts in five previous meets this season, ultimately placed third in a personal best 18:06.96, and the two found each other in the finish area.

"At the beginning, Alivia flew out super fast," said Roberts, who also played soccer this fall. "Probably about a half mile or mile in, I was like, 'I feel really good.' We were together until probably about the last mile. There was a slight incline leading up to the finish. My dad always tells me hills are one of my strong points. I went really hard up the hill."

Skyline head coach Sean Schmidt said he was 'totally surprised' by Roberts' finish.

"I knew she had something extra in the tank, but I thought we would have to wait until track to see it," he said Saturday by text message. "At the two-mile mark, I told Nelah to lean forward down the hill and keep pushing. It was a great effort."

Schmidt added that the team title win could not have happened to a 'nicer group of girls.' A day that began with nerves ended with elation for Roberts, who said the Grizzlies embraced and cried upon learning they won by five points.

"I don't think I'd ever felt so much suspense in my life," Roberts said. "We were all sobbing."

Preston did claim the 4A boys title, 49-66 over District 5 foe Pocatello, thanks to five finishes in the top 25. Sam Jeppsen (fifth place in 16:06.82), Edison Leffler (sixth in 16:07.34) and Garrett Hale (ninth in 16:10.10) led the effort. Pocatello senior Shane Gard, who finished 20th at last season's state meet, won the individual title in 15:42.29.  

Sugar-Salem added to eastern Idaho's title haul on Friday, completing its fourth consecutive sweep of the 3A boys and girls team titles. The Diggers won their fourth consecutive girls title 43-71 over fellow east Idaho team Snake River and extended their 3A record win streak to six on the boys side with an 81-point margin over conference foe Teton. The girls had five medalists, led by junior Jaresa Jackson's repeat as individual runner-up in a personal best 19:38.58, while sophomore Porter Holt finished third in 16:50.12 to lead all seven of Sugar-Salem's boys to top 13 finishes.

The titles give head coach Brett Hill a combined 47 state titles in his coaching career between track and cross-country.

For as much as Hill has seen in his career, he saw a first on Friday in the boys race.

"In all my  years coaching, I've never had an eight-second gap between runner one and runner six," he said Saturday morning. "Then it was only another 17 seconds back to my seventh guy. My boys just ran as a solid group the entire race. They moved up slowly. At the mile mark, we weren't winning it. Snake River was winning it."

The Diggers also bested east Idaho teams in a battle for the top three trophies on the girls side, and Hill said they felt a bit of pressure for the first time in recent seasons.

"We probably ran better than we'd had all year," Hill said. "We knew it was gonna take that kind of effort because Snake River had really improved and so had South Fremont."

Gooding senior Owen Rogers, who was third last year, won the 3A boys individual title in 16:21.50 while McCall-Donnelly senior Sophie McManus won the 3A girls title in 18:47.66 a year after winning the 2A individual title.

On Saturday, one east Idaho streak continued in 2A while one of the most storied in Idaho ended. Salmon collected four top 10 finishes to claim its third consecutive 2A boys title with 33 points, getting a 1-2 finish from senior Johnathon Simmons in a personal best 15:38.04 and his younger brother, freshman Daniel Simmons, in a personal best 15:50.93. The individual title was the third in a row for a Salmon boy, and second consecutive for Simmons. 

A year after taking second place to district rival Soda Springs by 18 points, Bear Lake claimed the 2A girls title with 53 points and six runners finishing in the top 21. Sophomore Elise Kelsey, who finished third last year, led the Bears by placing second in 19:03.89. Taking second in the team standings with 79 points was Soda Springs, which entered Saturday as owners of Idaho's longest active state title win streak for any sport for any classification with 14 consecutive titles. Wendell sophomore Jessica Duran, 17th at state last season, won the individual title in 18:55.20.

Thanks to four top-10 finishes, Victory Charter snapped Liberty Charter's three-year win streak to claim the 1A boys team title with 41 points. Senior Connor Gardner, who was fifth at state last season, did keep the individual title with Liberty Charter as he won in 16:00.01 on Saturday.

History was made on the girls side, as Raft River claimed a program first title with 41 points and 1-2-3 finishes from Kaybree Christensen (first place in 18:11.21), Karlee Christensen (second place in 18:29.88) and Allie Black (19:27.93). Kaybree was also 1A state champion in 2018, her first year of cross country. This is the first time Raft River has sponsored a cross country team since 1999. Aside from the Christensens, who are twin sisters and Utah State commits, the other five girls are first-year runners.

Team champions