Schumachers lead Jesuit teams to Class 6A sweep

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

EUGENE -- It has come back around again for Jesuit cross country, in a big way. 

Coach Tom Rothenberger has been the distance running coach at the school for 36 years and has won many state titles and taken a few teams to nationals before. 

But Saturday's Class 6A finals at Lane Community College revealed a Crusaders program peaking at the right time. Led by the son and daughter of Nike Bowerman Track Club coach Jerry Schumacher, Jesuit swept the team titles and did it with depth that could bode well next weekend at NXR Northwest. 

The Jesuit boys put all seven in the top 18 finishers of the state final. Josh Schumacher, a Foot Locker finalist in 2016, led the charge in fourth place. The seven-man spread was 27 seconds, the scoring five just 20.

Makena Schumacher, a junior, ran 17:45 and won the 6A girls title by seven seconds over Sunset's Kelly Makin.  The Crusaders went 1-3-5 on the way to 47 points.

"It's pretty hard to have a better day than this. It's one of the best days in our school's history," Rothenberger said. 

Jesuit won its first boys title since 2008 and hit a lull a few years back when the team finished 10th.

"We had to re-caliberate about three years ago and just re-commit to that lifestyle," Rothenberger said. "That's what Joshua brought into the program, and Makena. And a lot of teammates joined them."

The boys race went out slow. The first mile was a moderate 5:08 as a lead pack of contenders remained conservative. 

Eventually, Alex Slenning of Wilson made a surge at about two miles and was able to separate a bit from McMinnville's Zane Fodge, Forest Grove's Quincy Norman and Schumacher. 

"I knew the pace was going to drop, so it's either going to be me that does it or I'm going to be chasing them," Slenning said. "So I decided to be in right in front of the pack and be one of the guys who picked up the pace."

A year after placing third, Slenning became Wilson's first individual champion. He ran 15:41, more than 20 seconds slower than the leading times in Class 5A because of the easy going first mile. 

The race of the day came in the 5A boys where Crater senior Andy Monroe, already a two-time NXN qualifier, used every ounce of strength to hold off hard-charging sophomore E.J. Holland of Ashland. They were side by side coming into the finish chute and Monroe rolled forward to the ground with his lean and Holland tripped over the top of him.

They rose to their feet to congratulate one another, but the final half mile had looked like a bare-knuckle brawl. They were both timed in 15:19. 

"It was definitely hard, because I can't really use my toes," Monroe said. "My right foot especially, on the push-off." 

Monroe has been recovering over the past couple of months from a plantar fascia tear suffered last May. 

"He's the strongest kid I know mentally," Crater teammate Jantz Tostensen said.  

Crater dominated the team competition, scoring 32 points.

The Summit girls capped a decade of dominance with their record-setting 10th straight Class 5A title. And they did it by scoring a perfect 15 points and then also won the academic award because the team has a perfect 4.0 grade-point average. 

Summit was led by the 1-2-3 finish of Taylor Vandenborn, Fiona Max and Isabel Max.

"I think that (idea) was totally out of the blue, but amazing to go with the 10," Vandenborn said of the perfect score. 

Fourth-place finisher Kelsey Swenson of cross-town Mountain View prevented Summit from taking the top six places in the race. But Swenson didn't factor into the team scoring because she was an individual qualifier.

Crook County won its first cross country title in 41 years as the boys packed five scorers into the space of 19 seconds. The Cowboys scored 82 points. 

Scappoose's John Kavulich won the 4A boys race in 16:23, moving up one spot from last year. His twin sister Linnae placed second in the girls race.

Tillamook won its second straight girls 4A title, led by race winner Solace Bergeron (18:44).

The Union boys won their seventh small-school state championship. Senior Alex Graffunder sped through the course in 15:33, faster than the 6A and 4A winners. Graffunder also defeated the 2016 champ, his teammate Tim Stevens. Union scored 42 points.

Maya Rayle of Catlin Gabel won the 3A/2A/1A girls title and beat a good field that included previous winner Sailor Hutton of Bandon. Rayle ran 18:33.

Team Champions

Class 6A Boys - Jesuit 35 points

Class 6A Girls - Jesuit 47 points

Class 5A Boys - Crater 32 points

Class 5A Girls - Summit 15 points

Class 4A Boys - Crook County 82 points

Class 4A Girls - Tillamook 37 points

Class 3A/2A/1A Boys - Union 42 points

Class 3A/2A/1A Girls - Enterprise 63 points