Nike Portland XC - September 28, 2024
Blue Lake Regional Park - Fairview, OR
Watch the meet live HERE
Aloha High School hosts the 45th annual Nike Portland XC Invitational at Blue Lake Park. There will nineteen races with 4,000 athletes competing on Saturday. The preview will focus on the boys and girls Jim Danner Championship.
Girls Jim Danner Championship
Jim Danner was the Aloha High School cross country coach in the 1980s who led the girls team to three Oregon state cross country titles in 1980, 1981, 1983 and in his honor let's start with the girl's Jim Danner preview. Athletes to watch at the meet or on the Runnerspace live stream include Cloe Ruth of Silver Creek (NV), Kylah Madariaga of Wenatchee (WA), who won the division one race last year at Nike Portland XC, Jaya Simmons of Valley Catholic (OR), who is the top returner from last year's Jim Danner Championship. Athletes from the Bend, Oregon area, Sophia Capozzi of Summit and Maddie Carney of Caldera are other contenders. Sisters Aleeya and Hailey Cossey of Mt. Si (WA) will lead a strong team and will be individuals to watch.
On the team side, the already mentioned Mt. Si comes in with the most credentials as they were mentioned in the DyeStat top 40 preseason list. Summit always runs strong as a team in Portland and Mountain View (ID) and Central Kitsap (WA) are also annual challengers at Nike Portland XC.
Boys Jim Danner Championship
Although Coach Danner did not have a boy's team state champion, he did coach Oregon state individual champions in Lew Barnes and Alan Foster. Who will be some of the individual stars of this year's Nike Portland XC? Ty Cirino of Central (OR) won last weeks The Mook and has to be considered. Zafer Courcelle and Brennan McEwen bring a one-two punch for Franklin High School. Hayden Boaz of Summit (OR) is one of the returners from last year's Jim Danner Championship. Aiden Le Roux and Brogan Collins of Cheyenne Mountain (CO) come down from altitude to race Saturday. Malachi Schoenherr of Sheldon (OR) won the Oregon track state 3000 meters last spring. Vince Recupero of Bishop Blanchet (WA) was listed in the top 100 preseason individuals on DyeStat ranking.
DyeStat released their top 40 preseason teams last week and we have a match up of two top 40 schools in Cheyenne Mountain (CO) and Jesuit (CA). Franklin (OR) qualified for NXN last year and returns to the Jim Danner Championship. Mountain View (ID), Summit (OR), Millikan (CA), West Ranch (CA), Clovis North (CA) and Central Kitsap (WA) will try to receive a top five team plaque.
Look for the photo galleries of all the races at Nike Portland XC after the meet!
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