PREP XC: Crater's Payne wins at Woahink Lake Invite

Mail Tribune, Medford, Ore.
·2 min read

Oct. 2—FLORENCE — Samantha Payne was one of the leaders of the Crater pack during Wednesday's impressive showing at the Max King Invitational.

On Saturday, she got herself a win.

Payne, a senior, took the top spot in a top-5 filled with Rogue Valley runners and the Crater boys shared the team title with Philomath at the Woahink Lake XC Invitational at Honeyman State Park.

Payne, who placed third at the Max King Invitational, finished with a time of 20 minutes, 37.5 seconds, which was just under three seconds ahead of Philomath sophomore Adele Beckstead.

North Medford seniors Reese Meager (21:17.8) and Eleanor Nichol (21:27.3) finished third and fourth, respectively. The Black Tornado's Maritza Villa (22:37.5) and Julianna Scull (22:43.3) also finished back-to-back in 12th and 13th, respectively.

On the boys side, Crater sophomore Tayvon Kitchen placed fifth in 17:27.3 and was one of five Comets in the top 20.

Fellow sophomore Ivar Hokanson (18:18.4) was 12th, junior Caleb Barsalou (18:23.6) finished 13th and junior Jeffrey Hellman (18:31.3) — running in his first 5,000-meter race this season — was 15th. Crater sophomore Grant Headley (18:35.0) finished 17th.

North Medford's Logan Huffman (17:33.4) finished sixth, while Elijah Zavala was 11th (18:14.4).

The Crater boys wound up in a tie with Philomath with 58 points. North Medford finished fifth with 106 points.

THE HARRIER CLASSIC: At Albany, Ashland senior Nathan Stein put forward another strong early-season showing, finishing third in the 5,000-meter race at Bryant Park.

Stein recorded a time of 15:35.3, finishing behind Wilsonville senior Carter Cutting (15:27.4) and senior Kanoa Blake (15:29.4) of Crescent Valley.

Fellow Ashland senior Finley Taylor (17:45.5) finished 40th.

Nikaela Apilada was Ashland's top girls finisher, placing 30th with a time of 20:58.3. Stella Mason (21:35.5) and Annika Wells (21:45.8) were 47th and 54th, respectively,

Wilsonville won the boys team title with 93 points, while Crescent Valley (76 points) edged Corvallis (84) for the girls title.