This coming Wednesday, October 26th, La Salle’s cross country team is set to compete in the 5A Northwest Oregon Conference District race at Blue Lake park.

This comes after a strong season with two dual meets, one hosted by La Salle at CCC on September 21st against Milwaukie, Rex Putnam, and their strongest competitor so far, Wilsonville.  At the home meet, the boys varsity team, led by junior Andy Krueger and sophomore Luke Mariani, placed second after Wilsonville, with Milwaukie in third and Putnam in fourth. The girls team also placed in second behind Wilsonville with top runner Brigid Hanley running a 21:59 5k, placing ninth overall.

The other dual meet was hosted by St. Helens at McCormick Park with Sandy, St. Helens, and Milwaukie on October 12th. Boys varsity placed third behind St. Helens and Scappoose in their second dual meet of the season at St. Helens, with girls varsity placing fourth after St. Helens, Scappoose, and Sandy.

According to Coach Rathmann, who is in his second year of being the head coach, and in his eighth year of coaching overall, “[The team has] done pretty well” with the boys currently ranked third and the girls in fifth, only 8 points behind Putnam, in the district. Rathmann is excited to see the team compete in districts, saying that “[The] boys have a shot for state, and an outside chance of winning districts.”  Number one boys varsity runner Andy Krueger, junior, said that he thinks the team can make it to state and that he is hoping to run under a 17 minute 5K, a season best.

The top girls varsity runner, sophomore Brigid Hanley, has a very good chance of  qualifying individually for the state meet, according to Rathmann. To qualify for the state meet, she will have to be in the top seven finishers at Wednesday’s district meet. “Brigid’s our consistent runner and the sky’s the limit” for her, Rathmann said.

Sharing how she is feeling heading into districts, Hanley said that “I’m pretty nervous — I have to finish in the the top seven to make it to state. I’m also nervous for  what the rain will do to some of the grassy parts of the course. However, I am excited to try my best and finish the season out strong.”

Hanley is currently ranked 10th in the district with a personal record of 20:37, almost a three minute improvement for her, she said.

Overall, with a strong regular season now behind them, things are looking promising for both the boys and girls teams for this year’s district meet.