Celie Mans, left, won individual honors as the Siuslaw girls ran off with the district title for the 13th year in a row. Kelly Potter photo

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10221535_girls1.png - Kelly Potter photo

Celie Mans was happy with her 42-second win, and was pleased she ran more than a half minute faster than her winning time last season.

But she really broke into a grin knowing her Siuslaw Vikings girls cross country team won Thursday's district meet at William M. Tugman State Park.

"I'm excited we are the 13th straight district winners," Mans said. "It's super cool to be part of something so long in Siuslaw school history, and it never gets old."

Mans, a junior, also continued to improve over her times in 2014, which got off to a slow start because of injuries.

"I'm feeling way stronger than last year," she said, looking ahead to a possible state title next week in Eugene. "There'll be competition, but I'm ready to give it my best shot."

There was little competition for Mans on Thursday, completing the 5,000 meters in 18 minutes, 36 seconds, well ahead of Marshfield freshman Jazmin Chavez, who clocked 19:18.

Junior Morgan Bingham posted a personal-best 19:30 to finish third and senior Sierra Potter a season-best 20:25 for fifth as the Vikings won the team title by 17 points over runner-up South Umpqua, 33-50.

North Bend was third with 60 points and Marshfield fourth with 84.

Also scoring Thursday for the Vikings were freshman Kaeli Ramos, 10th overall with a personal-best 20:45, and junior Destinie Tatum, 14th overall in 21:24.

Senior Mikaela Siegel was 18th in 21:45 and freshman Trinity Ramos 21st in 22:12 for Siuslaw.

"Our season doesn't mean anything until we get here and do well," Siuslaw coach Chris Johnson said. "Everything is practice until this day.

"There is no state meet until you come to the district meet. This is by far the most important meet of the year."

Now the top-ranked Vikings will move on the the 4A state championships on Oct. 31 at Lane Community College in Eugene.

A top finish at state by Mans seems a given. Bingham, new to the program this season, appears to be a rock-solid contributor as the Vikings' No. 2 runner, while Tatum and Ramos have shown marked improvement this year.

Then there's senior Sierra Potter, who seemingly is always ready to rise to the occasion.

"Sierra Potter, I want to kill her half time time, but she's always been a championships season kind of kid," Johnson said. "When the meets are the biggest, she has a tendency to come through."

Potter has scored well in three district and two state meets for the Vikings.

"Races are so much easier for me than practice," Potter said. "There's no girls to catch in practice, they're all running with you."

Well into the race Thursday, she spotted her own personal rabbit, North Bend's Gabby Hobson, who finished fourth in 20:26.

"I saw Gabby running ahead of me, and I'm close to her," Potter said. "I told myself I cannot get further back, because I don't want my team to lose."

Mans, for her part, had no rabbit to chase, only her own personal goals.

"It's a little easier when you have someone to run with who pushes you," Mans said. "But you can't forget to push when you're by yourself."

Mans finished nearly 37 seconds faster than her winning time in 2014. She's also posted better times over 2014 in the District Preview Meet, the Woahink Invitational, the Mariman Invitational and the George Fox Invitational.

All that's left is the state championships, where she finished fourth last year in 19:15, some 17 seconds behind the winner.

"The course at Lane is way tougher than this, definitely," Mans said. "It brings out your strengths and exposes your weaknesses. It can break someone, or it can make someone good."

And she'll be looking for her team to improve right along with her.

"It's been fun seeing our growth this season," Mans said. "It's real encouraging, and makes us want to do good."

NOTES

Varsity team scores: Siuslaw 33, South Umpqua 50, North Bend 60, Marshfield 84.

Siuslaw JV results: 3. Kaylee Graham 22:45. 7. Lainey Goss 23:11. 9. Hayleigh Middleton 24:19. ... North Bend was the only school fielding a complete team.

Middle school results (3,000 meters): Siuslaw had 69 points to finish second behind North Bend, with 33, in a six-school race ... Seventh-grader Brea Blankenship was the top Siuslaw runner with a time of 13 minutes, 1 second to finish ninth overall in an 81-runner field.

Middle school results are online at http://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/Results/Meet.aspx?Meet=93849#20444