Gorze, Comets aiming for impressive encore

Nov. 3—Justin Loftus knows Tyrone Gorze's competitive drive better than most.

But when it comes to the intricacies of what his star senior runner might be shooting for in terms of a certain time at Saturday's Class 5A cross-country state championships, not even the Comets' longtime head coach can put a finger on it.

"I think he's smart and doesn't show his hand until he's on the line," said Loftus with a grin.

You ask Gorze if he's shooting for anything special at Lane Community College in Eugene and the answer, as you might have guessed, is rather coy.

"I definitely think a time goal isn't the main focus of it because there's weather, the course could be all muddy from the rain," said Gorze. "But, of course, I think sub-15 is definitely doable and maybe similar to the time that I ran at the (Midwestern League) district course, even though it was a little different but it's the same location."

Gorze may be playing his cards close to the vest in terms of what he wants to try and accomplish this weekend, but there's no doubt he is the unquestioned favorite to win.

The goal is to win.

The goal is to see the Comets win, too.

If both of those things happen Saturday, then Gorze and Crater will repeat as 5A state champions after sweeping the titles 12 months ago.

The manner in which they potentially do it again this year is where things get interesting.

"I think more than just individual, it's just team-wise," Gorze said of capping his senior cross-country season on a big note. "This season, I feel like we've gotten a lot closer as a team. I want to repeat as individual (champion), but it's more important to repeat the state title as a team. I definitely feel like we have the team to do it and we had everybody return from last year other than one guy. We have a really strong team."

In a senior season in which he has only run in four races entering the state meet, the University of Washington-bound Gorze has the chance to put himself into even more elite territory with a second straight individual title.

Gorze would join the likes of Crater's Andy Monroe and Josh Elliott and Ashland standout EJ Holland to have won two straight individual titles.

Holland set the meet record of 14:30.4 in 2019 as he won the second of his back-to-back titles, although the course then was 4,920 meters compared to the 5,000-meter one Gorze will be running this weekend.

That year, by the way, was Gorze's freshman season and first trip to state. He finished ninth.

Summit's Matt Maton previously held the state record of 14:45.0, which was set in 2014.

While on a slightly different course at Lane last Wednesday, Gorze won his second straight Midwestern League title with a time of 14:41.4.

"It's definitely going to be pretty emotional because it's my senior season," Gorze said. "I'm going to be there to compete but also be there for the team and see what we can do."

Gorze knows that the focus has been on him in pretty much every race he's run this season. By now, that's something that isn't new to him knowing full well he's the reigning Oregon Gatorade Runner of the Year.

"I think the pressure gets to you a little bit, but I'd say by now I've ran enough races and it's my senior year, so I'm pretty mature," Gorze said. "Especially over the summer I gained a lot more experience, but I'm just going to approach it like I would any other race. This time it's state and it's a bigger deal so I'm going to treat it like it's a bigger deal, but it's just another race and I'm looking forward to it."

DyeStat ranks Gorze third nationally behind Newbury Park (Calif.) twins Leo and Lex Young, who will be racing against Gorze next season in the Pac-12 Conference at Stanford.

"He puts pressure on himself to be the best person at everything he does and to be a good person, a good runner and a good representation of our school," Loftus said. "I don't see him thinking there's a microscope (on him), but more thinking the pressure was to get through all of this stuff and the money's in the bank."

Coming off a dominant display at the MWL district meet, the Crater boys enter the state meet, as they have been all season long, as the team to beat.

The Comets have five of the top 12 entries in the 5A field, with sophomore Josiah Tostenson — who finished second behind Gorze at state last year — back to full health after being limited earlier in the season. Fellow sophomore Tayvon Kitchen, juniors Caleb Doddington, Shaun Garnica and Jeffrey Hellman and senior Ryder Hvall have all had strong seasons.

Outside of the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic in mid-September, this will be the only time the Comets will have all of their top runners available, Loftus said.

DyeStat has the Crater boys ranked seventh in its latest national rankings.

Milwaukie's Logan Law as well as Ashland senior Nathan Stein — who was third behind Gorze and Tostenson at the MWL district meet — will also be in the mix for trophies on Saturday.

"This team's just crushing it right now," Loftus said. "This is a week where we get to put it all out there and see how it goes. As long as we're healthy when we step up to the line, things will go as planned."

The Crater girls will also be shooting for the top spot in 5A after taking the top four spots at the MWL district meet, although they will be pressed by a Summit program that has won 13 straight team titles, all but two of which coming at the 5A level.

The team to win the team title the year before Summit's streak started in 2008? That would be Crater.

"It's so fun having two teams that are on the same plane and really focused and motivated to do this," Loftus said. "They just have a lot of purpose and want to do something special on a regular basis. Not just race, but doing the right things on a regular basis is just huge."

Lindsay Siebert showed in her MWL-winning race last week that she is back to full health after a midseason illness. Siebert was the first of four straight Comets to cross the line and finish atop the MWL standings, with senior Samantha Payne, sophomore Emma West and senior Haylee Baldwin following suit.

Ashland, which finished second behind Crater at districts, will also have a full team running Saturday.

"Lindsay's coming into form and she's looking strong," Loftus said. "She tells me every day how good she feels — which is great because we have three girls right behind her who are excited to run at state. There's three seniors where this will be their last time, so that's awesome that if we can close the gap then we at least have a shot at getting a trophy.

"We'll hold our own because we're Crater."

North Medford will have three runners participating in the 6A girls race, including senior Reese Meager, who is coming off a fourth-place finish at the Southwest Conference district meet last Tuesday.

Fellow Black Tornado seniors Marisela Villa and Eleanor Nichol also qualified for state after their sixth- and eighth-place finishes at districts.

For the 6A boys, senior DJ Scott and sophomore Devon Scott are South Medford's two qualifiers. DJ Scott finished 12th at the SWC district meet, while Devon Scott was 14th.

In the 4A girls race, Phoenix senior Kyla Potratz will be in the mix to win a state title after finishing third last year.

Freshman Nathan Hammond is the Pirates' lone entry on the boys side.

At the 3A level, St. Mary's senior Saniyah Ayala enters with the fourth-fastest entry time and will be the Crusader girls' only runner.

The St. Mary's boys, however, will have a full squad competing after they took second at the 3A District 4 meet last week.

Like both Crater teams, this will be the second time in less than two weeks that the Crusaders will have run at Lane Community College.

Reach reporter Danny Penza at 541-776-4469 or dpenza@rosebudmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @penzatopaper.