Full recap from the 2022 Nike Portland XC at Blue Lake Regional Park in Portland, Ore.
FAIRVIEW, ORE. - Anna Callahan's sophomore cross country season was one for the books last fall.
She ran the fifth fastest time in Washington during the 2021 season, running 17 minutes, 30.3 seconds for 5,000 meters, and concluded it with a second-place individual finish at the 4A state meet.
She did all those things while battling a stress fracture in her leg the entire fall.
Now a year later, it's evident Callahan is back to full health after recovering this past offseason with her most recent performance at the Nike Portland XC this last Saturday.
The rising Skyline star finished second overall among a competitive field of girls in the Danner Championship race, running a season best time of 17:38.6 for the 5,000 meter course at Blue Lake Regional Park in Fairview, Oregon.
"It's been really nice to be able to come back out here and see what I can do without having limited miles and limited training," Callahan said.
Callahan worked hard from the start as she kept pace with Montgomery's (California) Hanne Thompson and Summit's (Oregon) Ella Thorsett in the top three for the first mile.
Thompson, who went onto win in 16:49.2, broke away from the pack at mile two as Callahan and Thorsett hung back in second and third. Under a kilometer to go, Callahan began to make her move and opened up a gap between her and Thorsett, who finished third in 17:48.3, to extend her second-place spot
"It was definitely exhausting," Callahan said. "That beginning was really hard mentally, and that ending was very tough."
Callahan was joined by teammate Rebecca O'Keefe in the top 10 as she finished 10th overall in a personal best time of 18:09.9.
Seton Catholic's Alexis Leone finished fourth in a time of 18:01.8, outkicking Clovis North's (California) Ashlyn Leath's fifth place effort of 18:03.2.
Katelyn Galloway of Stadium finished eighth overall in a personal best time of 18:04.8, leading the Tigers to a fifth-place team finish with 258 points.
Natalie Blake and Madeline McKenna finished in the top 30, capturing 18th and 24th place finishes, respectively, in personal best times of 18:28.4 and 18:36.5 for Stadium.
Tahoma, led by Julia Stuard (44th, 18:55.5), finished sixth with 265 points. Central Kitsap, led by Clare Herring (15th, 18:20.3), took ninth, scoring 284 points.
Summit won the team title, scoring 110 points to beat Rancho Cucamonga's (California) 135 points.
Mt. Spokane Charlotte Pedersen ran a personal best time of 18:17.2 to earn 13th place. Issaquah's Katherine Yahn followed in 16th at 18:22.3.
Sehome's Zach Munson gutted out a tough effort in the boys championship race, coming away with a fifth-place finish in a season best time of 14:59.7.
"I think there were a lot of positives that came out of today," Munson said. "Bouncing back from Fort Steilacoom, I really wanted to race to win."
After trailing Millikan's (California) Jason Parra going into mile one, Munson took over the race in the middle half where he would lead by as much as three seconds going into the 4k split.
Under 800 meters to go, Munson got caught by Marshfield's (Oregon) Alexander Garcia-Silver after some late surges and would be outkicked in the final minutes. The Oregon native went on to take the win in 14:55.2.
"I think I raced well in the first three-quarters of the race," Munson said. "When I made my move, I wanted it to be very decisive that I wanted to win. I executed that move well, but it was just a little too early. I fell short, which I'm obviously disappointed about, but there's a lot of learning I get out of it."
Lincoln's (Oregon) Samy Anderson finished second to Garcia-Silver in a personal best 14:57, while Long Beach Poly's (California) Cameron Rhone was third in a personal best time of 14:59.1.
Three other Washington runners cracked the top 10 led by Walla Walla's Brody Hartley finishing eighth with a personal best time of 15:18.7. Washougal's Samuel Grice and Blake Reynolds duked it out for ninth and 10th place as they each ran personal best efforts of 15:24.9 with Grice edging Reynolds out.
Issaquah placed seventh in the team standings, scoring 217 points. Brennen Rickey took 25th in a personal best time of 16:00.6 to lead the Eagles. Teammate, and brother, Connor Rickey followed behind, finishing 26th in a personal best time of 16:01.
Lincoln (Oregon) won the team title over West Salem (Oregon) 106-120.
Selah's Eric Swedin and Nicolas Spencer both ran personal best efforts to finish in the top 20. Swedin ran 15:34.1 to place 12th, while Spencer ran 15:47.3 to finish 19th.
Isaac Brigg's of Rogers (Puyallup) placed 14th in a personal best time of 15:37.9.
Mercer Island's Owen Powell and Jackson's Selena Bangerter had career-best performances in the division 1 races, picking up wins of their own in their respective fields.
Powell took home the boys title in 15:33.2 after trailing the entire race behind Seton Catholic's Joseph Blanshan, who placed second in 15:40.1.
"That was definitely hard," Powell said. "There were definitely a bunch of times where he pulled ahead, and I almost felt like giving up. But I just reeled him by little bits."
Powell also led the Islanders to a second-place team finish, scoring 181 points, trailing Summit by three for the team title.
Northwest's Stephen Bleakley-Harris took fifth overall in a personal best time of 15:46.2.
Bangerter won the girls race easily in a personal best time of 18:29.8 over Jesuit's (Oregon) Lilana Hudnut's run of 18:46.4.
Bangerter's teammate Emma Hamm made her way into the top 10 with a personal best time of 19:06.1 to place 10th overall.
Skyview's Daphne Evenson ran 18:57.7 to earn seventh. Camas' Natalie Peddie ran to a season best 19:04.3 for ninth.
Holy Names took second as a team with 108 points led by Maisie McManus (19:10.9, 14th), Virgina Nelson (19:22, 15) and Sophia Bazzi (19:29.3, 18th).
Wenatchee placed third with 161 points. Addeie Loewen crossed the tape first for the Panthers, placing 33rd in a personal best 19:58.1
Jesuit won the team title with 38 points.
WESCO rival schools Snohomish and Glacier Peak saw their own individuals pick up wins in the girls division 2 and 3 races.
Paige Gerrad of Snohomish won the division 2 race in a time of 18:29.9, holding off Valley Catholic's (Oregon) Jaya Simmons, who ran 18:40.6 to finish second.
Mairin O'Brien placed third overall for Bainbridge in 19:17.1, leading the Spartans to the team title with 73 points.
Clara Diepenbrok of Glacier Peak won the division 3 race in a personal best time of 19:58.9. The Grizzlies were second in the team standings with 103 points.
In the boys division 2 race, Cedarcrest's London Haley was the top Washington finisher, placing second overall in a time of 16:33.8. Cedarcrest took second with 144 points.
Mount Si's Andrew Krejci led the Wildcats to a first-place finish in the boys division 3 race with 66 points as he placed second individually in a personal best time of 17:13.2.
For more results from the 2022 Nike Portland XC, click here.
To view more photos from the meet, click here.
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