Summit Girls Win 6A Title, Emboldened By Recovery Of Coach

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

EUGENE -- The Summit (Bend) OR girls soared into national contention during a month when there was deep concern for coach Jim McLatchie behind the scenes. 

The Storm have risen to No. 2 with a deep lineup that was on full display Saturday at the OSAA Cross Country Championships at Lane Community College. Summit was entered in the Class 6A race after more than a decade of dominance in Class 5A. 

And with junior Fiona Max leading the way in 17:29 – just three seconds off the state course record – the Storm scored 39 points to unseat 2017 champion Jesuit, the No. 8 team in the country. 

But the most important part of the afternoon for Summit was that McLatchie was there. The coach with the Scottish brogue and white beard suffered a stroke in mid-October and spent the second half of the month in the hospital. 

McLatchie coaches the team in partnership with his wife, Carol, but it is the one who writes the workouts. 

"Even in ICU, I asked him 'What are we doing on Wednesday?' and he was (rattling off workout details)," Carol McLatchie said. 

Jim McLatchie is up and mobile again and his mind and humor are as strong as ever. 

A girls cross country team that is as deep as any in Oregon history had moments of deep concern as the momentum of the season began to build.

"It's 100 percent a humbler," Max said. "It gives us a moment to take a step back and realize that everything has to be lined up perfectly for us to have our best meets. We take a breath, realign and realize that we're here for each other, we care about each other and every (opportunity) is special."

Max and a handful of teammates visited McLatchie in the hospital. 

"That man's made of iron," she said. 

One of Summit's seven assistant coaches, Dave Sjogren, stepped in to take a bigger role day to day with the team as Carol monitored Jim's progress. 

McLatchie's recent health scare is related to a heart attack he survived five years ago. 

The girls on the team have seen first-hand that time is precious. 

"He's our dad," Max said. "It definitely added to the stress of the past few weeks. He just got out of the hospital and was at our workout on Wednesday. It was great to see him back on his feet and swearing again. We pushed past it as a family."

Max was followed across the finish line by freshman teammate Teaghan Knox (18:01 for fifth), Isabel Max (18:13 for eighth), Kelsey Gripekoven (18:16 for 11th), Azza Borovicka Swanson (18:27 for 14th), Jasper Fievet (18:38 for 22nd) and Stella Skovborg (19:01 for 28th). 

Jesuit senior Makenna Schumacher, the 2017 indiviual champion, finished second in 17:43. The Crusaders, whose veteran coach, Tom Rothenberger, has also surived a heart-related scare, was second with 68 points. 

In the 6A boys race, Central Catholic tipped Jesuit with a sixth-runner tiebreaker after the two old rivals were knotted at 93 points. 

The Rams won for the 11th time in 16 years and this one felt special because the team had flown under the radar most of the fall. 

"It was obviously nerve-wracking but we knew that we came into the meet ranked fourth or fifth, so that we were in it at the end, I couldn't have been more prouder of my guys," said Ben Brown, who placed fourth overall. "We could tell we were not going to get fourth or fifth. We always come here and do special things and race the best race of our season."

Sunset senior Ethan Reese overtook McMinnville's Zane Fodge in the final 300 meters and sped to the 6A boys individual title in 15:37.

A large crowd on the berm at Lane Community College watched not only the showdown between the Summit and Jesuit girls, but also Ashland junior Evan Holland's attempt to go after a sub-15 time that would place him among the best names in state history. 

Holland wanted to put on a show, but his exuberance took him too fast, too early. He went through the first mile in 4:32.

"When I got around the ponds I felt a little zapped," Holland said. "I was going to try to break the junior class record of 14:56, but I got through two miles and was off pace already so I decided to cruise it in."

Holland finished in 15:30. 

Crater, led by the second-place finish of Jantz Tostenson (15:47), won the 5A boys title with 58 points. 

The Hood River Valley girls took advantage of a Summit-less Class 5A final to claim their first state title since 1992. 

HRV put four girls in the top 10, led by winner Frances Dickinson (18:40), and scored 43 points. 

Hood River's sixth runner, Lottie Bromham, continued to show courage in the face of a medical condition called Neurocardiogenic Syncope. Bromham, one of the leaders of her team, loses blood pressure when she gets into an anaerobic state. By the time she reaches the finish line, she faints. 

Bromham's parents, coaches and medical personnel have been working through every aspect of the condition and it's not dangerous, HRV coach Brandon Bertram said. And eventually, she could grow out of it. 

By the time Bromham had recovered, she found that her team had won the state championship. 

"She is such an inspiring person for our whole team and she has been through so much," Dickinson said. "This is a recent condition that we found out about in the past year and she has put in so much dedication and work. She deserves every little bit of everything."

In Class 4A, Marist of Eugene swept the team titles. The boys captured their first state championship title as senior Joey Peterson won the race in 16:10. The Spartans put five scorers in the top 23 and scored 54 points. 

The Marist girls edged out Siuslaw, 70-73. 

Junior Solace Bergeron of Tillamook won her second straight 4A title in 18:32.

The 3A boys had their own race for the first time after breaking apart from the 2A/1A group. Burns put four runners in the top 13 to win the school's first cross country title with 52 points. Enterprise finished second with 54 points with four freshmen among its top five. 

One of the most impressive runs of the day came early, as Tim Stevens of Union won the 2A/1A boys race in 15:32, by a margin of 42 seconds. Union scored 44 points to win its third title in four years. 

Catlin Gabel won the 3A/2A/1A girls championship with 71 points, four points better than Enterprise. Alejandra Lopez of Kennedy ran 19:02 for the individual win. 

Team Champions - 

Class 6A Boys - Central Catholic 93 points (tiebreaker) - RESULTS

Class 6A Girls - Summit 39 points - RESULTS

Class 5A Boys - Crater 58 points - RESULTS

Class 5A Girls - Hood River Valley 43 points - RESULTS

Class 4A Boys - Marist 54 points - RESULTS

Class 4A Girls - Marist 70 points - RESULTS

Class 3A Boys - Burns 52 points - RESULTS

Class 3A/2A/1A Girls - Catlin Gabel 71 points - RESULTS

Class 2A/1A Boys - Union 44 points - RESULTS