BAKER – The Baker cross country team was not carrying a driver or putter on Friday, November 1 while taking a quick stroll of the Baker City Golf Course. Driving home, both the boys and girls did enjoy the title of Greater Oregon League champions as the Bulldogs team is headed to state.
The Bulldog boys scored 21 points to take the title. In second place and also making plans for a state run was the La Grande Tigers. The Ontario boys, as a team, missed a state berth by a total of one point when La Grande finished with 56 points compared to Ontario’s 57. McLoughlin, with 109 points, finished fourth.
While he will not be joined by his teammates, Ontario junior Lance Trees will be packing and preparing for the state meet after finishing second. With the exception of Trees, Baker dominated the individual standings, taking four of the top five positions.
Baker Kale Cassidy, the favorite coming into the race, did not disappoint, winning in a time of 16 minutes, 13.06 seconds. Following Trees, Baker junior Jake Cuzick finished third at 16:52.00. The top three runners clocked in under 17 minutes.
Baker sophomore Gavin Stone finished fourth followed by teammate, senior Lucas Stearns.
The Baker girls would not allow the boys to take the state trip alone. The Bulldog girls also are district champions after outdueling La Grande. Baker put up 25 points while La Grande, also making the trip to state, compiled 40 points. McLoughlin was third with 77 points and Ontario finished fourth, putting up 103 points.
Baker and La Grande split on the top five runners while McLoughlin senior Mekenna Simpson also received the nod for her last attempt at a state title.
Both Baker junior Sydney Keller and La Grande senior Maia Vandervlugt finished the court in under 21 minutes. Keller claimed the title of district champion with a time of 20:17.00 with runner up Vandervlught posting a time of 20:56.18.
In third, Baker junior Corah Downing crossed the line in 21:09.84 with La Grande sophomore Corbyn Sexton in fourth after a time of 21:14.34.
Boys
Team scores: 1. Baker, 21. 2. La Grande, 56. 3. Ontario, 57. 4. McLoughlin, 109.
Individual results: 1. Kale Cassidy (Baker), 16:13.06. 2. Lance Trees (Ontario), 16:43.59. 3. Jake Cuzick (Baker), 16:52.00. 4. Gavin Stone (Baker), 17:07.03. 5. Lucas Stearns (Baker), 17:14.53. 6. Cristian Mendoza (La Grande), 17:30.18. 7. Braxton Bisenius (La Grande), 17:34.09. 8. John Niehaus (Baker), 17:38.56. 9. Justin Ash (Baker), 17:51.62. 10. Jaden Schnepp (Ontario), 17:55.44. 11. Donald Sweet (La Grande), 17:59.44. 12. Hayden Younger (Baker), 18:09.91. 13. Jacob Moore (Ontario), 18:10.22. 14. Caleb Murie (La Grande), 18:10.56. 15. Michael Gomez (Ontario), 18:17.72. 16. Bryan Abrego (McLoughlin), 18:44.00. 17. Froylan Santiago (Ontario), 19:23.28. 18. Dima McCarthy (La Grande), 19:43.84. 19. Luis Solis (McLoughlin), 19:44.62. 20. Carter Perry (La Grande), 19:58.03. 21. Alec Kahalekomo (Ontario), 20:10.06. 22. Garrett Street (La Grande), 20:22.91. 23. Ethan Jones (McLoughlin), 20:54.18. 24. Isaiah Claudio (Ontario), 21:37.22. 25. Max Knifong (McLoughlin), 22:18.41. 26. Ian Miller (McLoughlin), 27:59.41. 27. Julian Saldana McLoughlin), 33:50.90.
Girls
Team scores: 1. Baker, 25. 2. La Grande, 40. 3. McLoughlin, 77. 4. Ontario, 103.
Individual results: 1. Sydney Keller (Baker), 20:17.00. 2. Maia Vandervlugt (La Grande), 20:56.18. 3. Corah Downing (Baker), 21:09.84. 4. Corbyn Sexton (La Grande), 21:14.34. 5. Mekenna Simpson (McLoughlin), 21:16.78. 6. Sydney Lamb (Baker), 21:30.75. 7. Salena Bott (Baker), 22:04.15. 8. Jayden Rice (Baker), 23:01.72. 9. Audrey Garlitz (La Grande), 23:14.97. 10. Lacey Jones (Baker), 23:38.34. 11. Rebekah Shaw (Baker), 23:42.53. 12. Gladys Alf Rippee (La Grande), 24:29.50. 13. Anne Sweet (La Grande), 24:35.12. 14. Brooklin Warne (McLoughlin), 24:36.03. 15. Angeles Flores (McLoughlin), 24:43.44. 16. Liana Livingston (La Grande), 25:04.15. 17. Trinity Farr (Ontario), 25:34.97. 18. Jacki Martini (La Grande), 25:57.03. 19. Kinsley Kemble (Ontario), 26:55.12. 20. Cynthia Bauer (Ontario), 26:55.66. 21. Jessica Hernandez (McLoughlin), 27:55.22. 22. Michaela McElrath (McLoughlin), 28:06.91. 23. Melissa Jagelski (Ontario), 28:24.97. 24. Monica Gomez (Ontario), 29:01.53. 25. Ashley Jones (McLoughlin), 33:21.69.
