CRESWELL CROSS COUNTRY RUNNER BRANDON MOEHLMANN EARNED A TRIP TO STATE CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS THIS WEEKEND BY PLACING FOURTH IN THE BOYS’ 5,000-METER RACE DURING THE SPECIAL DISTRICT 3 3A BOYS’ DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIPS HELD OCT. 25 AT VALLEY OF THE ROUGE STATE PARK IN GOLD HILL. Tom Page/For The Creswell Chronicle
Sophomore Brandon Moehlmann earned a trip to state and his fellow cross country Bulldogs also ran competitive races during the Special District 4 3A Boys’ and 3A/2A/1A Girls’ District Championships, held Oct. 25 at Valley of the Rogue State Park in Gold Hill.
Moehlmann placed fourth in the boys’ 5,000-meter race with a time of 18:16.26. The top five individual finishers advance to state.
Finishing close behind Moehlmann was fellow Creswell sophomore Josiah Lee, who placed seventh in 18:31.58. Sophomore Jackson Velarde placed 24th in 20:20.10, sophomore Seth Handman placed 25th in 20:31.30 and freshman Gonzalo Cardenas finished in 35:28.18.
The Bulldogs placed third in team standings with 85 points. Brookings-Harbor won the Special District 4 team title with 31 points and Cascade Christian placed second with 48 points. The top two teams advance to state.
”It’s almost unheard of, having this young of a team do so well,” said Creswell Head Coach Jonathan Ferguson. ”We only raced freshmen and sophomores this year on our boys’ team and we were one place away from qualifying for the state championships.”
Winning the Special District 4 3A Boys’ District Championship was Kaleb Carmesin, a freshman from Brookings-Harbor, with a time of 17:25.21.
In the Special District 4 3A/2A/1A Girls’ District Championships, McKenzie Traetow, a senior and first-year runner, placed 37th of 95 runners with a time of 24:09.02.
”It was great seeing McKenzie improve the way she did this season. She has been a great leader for our team this year,” Ferguson said.
Senior Emily Garcia finished in 31:26.70.
Maddy Woodward, a senior from Pleasant Hill, won the individual girls’ district championship with a time of 20:04.50.
Lakeview won the girls’ team title with 55 points and St. Mary’s placed second with 71.
Moehlmann will represent the Bulldogs at the OSAA 3A/2A/1A State Cross Country Championships on Nov. 3 at Lane Community College in Eugene.
”I’m happy we got to go out on a strong note,” Ferguson said. ”While only Brandon qualified for the state championships this year, I know that with a little hard work between this year and next, the team is going to have a great shot at competing with some of the best teams in the state.”