Kennedy cross country competes at Estacada Invitational

Kennedy High School cross country continued its season on Wednesday, Oct. 16, competing at the Estacada Invitational at McIver State Park.

Senior Yulissa Chavez Cortes produced the Trojans’ best performance, running a time of 20 minutes, 39.97 seconds to finish 16th overall out of the 136-person field, leading the girls team to a 13th-place finish out of 18 teams, totaling 302 points.

Senior Isabel Berning ran a time of 22:12.13, finishing 46th, followed by senior Stephanie Cardenas Garcia at 52nd, running a time of 22:30.27. Senior Paityn Garcia finished 107th in 25:27.65.

Freshmen Jazmyne Santana and Reaghan Williams rounded out the team, finishing 112th and 119th, respectively, clocking in at times of 26:23.75 and 27:07.

On the boys side, Bohden Sowa led the Trojans with a time of 19:35.98, finishing 99th out of 158 runners. Sophomore Kaleb Eder crossed in 113th in 20:31.01, while sophomore Lukas Bauman finished 140th in 21:44.56. Freshman Samuel Sandoval was on his heels, registering a time of 21:44.70 to finish 141st.

With only one meet left before the district championships on Wednesday, Oct. 30, Chavez Cortes and Sowa are in favorable position to attain an individual qualifier to the OSAA state championships in Eugene on Saturday, Nov. 9.

The top seven finishers at each respective district meet secure an automatic qualifier to the state meet. Chavez Cortes’ personal best of 19:55.60, which she ran at the Vernonia Invitational on Oct. 10, is the fourth-fastest time in the district and 18th-fastest in 3A/2A/1A. Sowa, meanwhile, currently holds the seventh-fastest time in the district with a personal best of 18:29, which he also recorded at the Vernonia Invitational.

In terms of team standings, the girls, who won the district title last year, are currently projected to finish fifth at districts based off each runners’ best time this season. The boys are in a similar situation, projected to finish sixth. Kennedy’s next meet will be The Bigfoot Classic on Wednesday, Oct. 23, at Alderbrook Golf Course.