Vikings boys, girls will be favored at district


Cross country coach Chris Johnson has the Vikings ready to collect more championship hardware.

The Siuslaw Vikings boys and girls cross country teams will smoke the competition Thursday in the Far West League championships at Tugman State Park.

At least that's what a hypothetical outcome of best times indicates on Athletic.net, which tracks runners from middle school through college across the nation.

"I think our teams are ready," Vikings coach Chris Johnson said. "We have a few kids who are banged up, but not bad enough to have a huge impact."

On the boys side, Siuslaw would score 30 points with sophomore Brendon Jensen finishing first overall, senior Isaac Griffes second, sophomore Jonah Jarman third, sophomore Kiger Johnson 11th and sophomore Jared Northrop 13th.

Marshfield would finish second with 51, followed by North Bend with 76, South Umpqua with 103, Brookings-Harbor with 115 and Douglas with 171.

On the girls side, the Vikings would score 31 points with sophomore Hannah Rannow finishing first overall, freshman Brea Blankenship third, sophomore Chloe Madden eighth, sophomore Anne Wartnik ninth and freshman Gracie Freudenthal 10th.

South Umpqua would secure the league's second slot at state with 55 points, followed by North Bend with 61 and Marshfield with 73. Neither Brookings-Harbor nor Douglas has a complete team.

"Both South Umpqua's and North Bend's girls and Marshfield's and North Bend's boys are threats," Johnson said. "All three programs have great coaches who know how to get teams ready when it matters."

Thursday's meet might be the last district meet at Tugman State Park for the Sky-Em League-bound Vikings.

"It's a little odd to think that it's the last district meet at Tugman State Park with us going to the Sky-Em next year," Johnson said. "We've had a lot of great memories there. I hope we can make a few more worth remembering."

Jensen has the best time this year of 16 minutes, 46.0 seconds for the 5,000-meter event, while Griffes has run 16:47.4 and Jarman 17:17.7.

Rannow has a district-best 19:13.2, while Marshfield's Jazmin Chavez has run 19:33.1 and Blankenship 20:06.5.

"I think the individual races will be thrilling as well," Johnson said. "Should be a day filled with excitement."

The Oregon School Activities Association's state championships are Saturday, Nov. 4, at Lane Community College in Eugene.