Eleanor Roosevelt puts it all together at Portland Meadows

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

For the first time this fall, Eleanor Roosevelt CA coach Joe Robles put his top seven on the starting line together, on the Portland Meadows course at Nike Portland XC.

The Mustangs won the Jim Danner boys championship with 68 points, packing their top four among the first 21 finishers. The No. 6 team in the country split 52 seconds on its scoring five, paced by Tyler Spencer's fourth-place finish (15:20.4). RESULTS

"This is the first time we took the reins off," Robles said. "A lot of people were asking what we're going to do at finally full strength, and we're doing pretty well."

James Mwaura of Lincoln (Tacoma) WA tore away from the field after the first mile and pushed himself to a strong winning time of 14:54.3. Alex Slenning of Wilson (Portland) OR was second -- running by himself between Mwaura and the pack -- in 15:15.1.

Eleanor Roosevelt's Raymon Ornelas was 11th, Raul Chavez was 18th and Michael Sahagun was 21st. 

"They were hungry, because we've been kind of holding them back," Robles said. "They were excited to run."

The primary competion came from Crater OR, which went 12-13-14 and was led by senior Andy Monroe, who made his season debut coming back from a torn plantar fascia. The Comets' remaining scorers were 26th and 52nd.  

Camas WA, led by Daniel Maton's seventh-place finish, was third with 131 points.  

Mwaura (US#5) ran 13 seconds faster than he did last year at Portland Meadows, when he was fourth.

"I wanted to be smooth and comfortable the first mile and then start dropping it the second mile and then, the last one, just (go) all out," Mwaura said. "I feel amazing. I feel strong right now."

For the second weekend in a row, Lexy Halladay of Mountain View ID won a major invitational. This time she ran 17:19.6 and dashed away from challenger Ginger Murnieks of Sprague OR in the final half mile. Murnieks ran 17:25.7 for second and Sunset OR junior Ember Stratton, the 2015 winner and 2016 runner-up, was third in 17:39.7.

After going hard in back to back weeks at Bob Firman and Nike Portland XC, Halladay said she was looking to a three-week buildup to her district meet. 

"I'm trusting my coach and the training he's having me do right now so that I can peak at the right time at the end of the season," Halladay said. "It's OK to be sore for these races because I want to do better at the national races."

Halladay's teammates had a strong showing as well and No. 22 Mountain View won the team championship with 77 points. The No. 19 Apollos of Sunset OR, which have been hampered a bit by illness, were second with 89 points.  Vista Murrieta CA was third with 101 points and Summit OR was fourth with 126.