La Grande brings home a top-10 team finish

EUGENE — It was a successful weekend for the

La Grande cross country team at the Class 4A State Meet in Eugene.

The Tigers boys team finished in eighth place with a score of 222, one spot higher than it placed last season. The girls team placed 13th with 332 points.

La Grande coach Laura Schwartz said. “I think all the runners did the best they could.”

Schwartz mentioned that some of the runners were getting over the flu and that may have affected some of the times.

Nur Sofe was the top performer for the boys, finishing in 30th with a time of 17:45.

Emerson Hovekamp placed 53rd at 18:18 and Conor Wood came in 68th with a  time of 18:31.

On the girls team, Mollee Shaw was the top finisher at 21:54, good for 33rd place.

Shaw was the sixth sophomore to cross the line. Ally Paine was the next Tiger across  finishing 94th with a time of 24:24.

“I think all of my runners this year worked hard and put in the miles they were supposed to,” Schwartz said. “It was a focused and cohesive group that were a lot of fun to coach.”

The girls team finished one spot higher than Baker, something it was unable to do at the district meet.

Six runners  will graduate this year, and Schwartz expects four to return next season plus some other commitments.

“Overall this was a awesome season, and I’m really pleased with how everyone did.”