Rodriguez-Villen, Lanese, Haase Nab Top-Five Finishes at National Junior Olympic Finals in Texas

Results 

On Saturday (10-Dec), 168 athletes representing 12 teams from the Pacific Northwest association competed at the USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships in College Station, Texas.  The event was held on the Texas A&M University Dale Watts Croups Country Course. A total of 2828 athletes and 226 teams from across the country competed in the championships.

Races were contested in 6 age divisions (8 & under, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, 15-16, 17-18) for boys and girls.  The top 25 finishers in each age division earned all-American status and the top 3 teams were presented with championship recognition. 
 
A total of 17 athletes from the Pacific Northwest association earned all-American honors and one (1) team earned a top-three finish. 

Pacific Northwest clubs that fielded complete scoring teams were: Rain City Flyers (7 teams),  West Seattle Road Runners (5 teams), Whisper Running (2 teams), Cascade Striders (2 teams), and Salish Stride Youth Running Club (1 team).

The storylines of the day for the Pacific Northwest athletes were the individual top-5 finishes by Martina Rodriguez-Villen (2nd place, 9-10 girls), Everly Haase (4th place, 7-8 girls), and Quenton Lanese (4th place, 11-12 boys) and the oh-so near team win in the 7-8 girls division by the West Seattle Road Runners.

In the 7-8 girl's race Everly Haase led her West Seattle Road Runners team to a second place team finish.  Haase finished fourth in the race running 7:38 over the 2 km course.  Her teammate Lanna Caprara finished 18th to join Haase on the awards podium to receive her championship medal and all-American hat.  The team scored 67 points which tied The California Comets but the Comets were declared the team champions based on the "fifth runner" tie-breaker.  Other scoring members for the squad were Maya Morales Rowe (47th), Isobel Laing (49th), and Eleanor Roth (69th).  The Rain City Flyers finished ninth in the team scoring.

In the 9-10 girl's race Martina Rodriguez-Villen (Rain City Flyers) finished second in the closet race of the day.  She battled eventual winner Isla Rahmer of New Mexico down the final straight with Rahmer winning by just .5 seconds (11:17.3 to 11:17.8).  Her finish was the highest placing on the day for the Pacific Northwest athletes.  She was joined by teammate Leah Kussick on the awards podium as Kussick finished 10th running 11:38. The duo lead their team to a sixth place team finish, scoring 167 points.  The West Seattle Road Runners scored 161 points to grab the fifth place team finish.

At last year's championship in Kentucky Quenton Lanese (Barron Park Striders) won the 9-10 division.  A year later, despite being at the "bottom" of the 11-12 division, he ran to a fourth place finish covering the 3 km course in 9:47.  The race was won by Karanveer Patil of Illinois in 9:28.  

Other Pacific Northwest athletes earning top-10 individual finishes were:
• Elin Beeler (Cascade Striders, 6th 11-12 Girls)
• Sophia Koch (Salish Stride Youth Running Club, 7th 13-14 Girls)
• Oliver Hale (Rain City Flyers, 8th 7-18 Boys)

Below is the complete list of Pacific Northwest athletes who earned all-American honors:

7-8 Boys            

8. Oliver Hale (Rain City Flyers)
24. Benjamin Vogele (Rain City Flyers)

7-8 Girls            

4. Everly Haase  (West Seattle Road Runners)
18. Lanna Caprara (West Seattle Road Runners)

9-10 Boys            

11. Gus Kemper (Mercer Island Bluebirds)
15. Micah Weber (Federal Way Track)

9-10 Girls            

2. Martina Rodriguez-Villen (Rain City Flyers)
10. Leah Kussick (Rain City Flyers)

11-12 Boys            

4. Quenton Lanese (Barron Park Striders)

11-12 Girls            

6. Elin Beeler (Cascade Striders)
18. Ella Haber (Rain City Flyers)

13-14 Boys            

20. Henry Herb (Rain City Flyers)

13-14 Girls            

7. Sophia Koch (Salish Stride Youth Running Club)

15-16 Boys            

20. Jacob McManus (Whisper Running)

17-18 Boys            

19. Joseph Blanshan (Whisper Running)

17-18 Girls            

15. Alexis Buhman (Snohomish Track)
20. Angelina Pamatian (Snohomish Track)
 

Next year's championship will be held in Louisville, Kentucky on December 9.