Ella Thorsett, the 4A champion as a freshman for Sisters in 2019, has transferred to 6A powerhouse Summit.

To say that the standards for the Summit girls cross country team are set very high would be a massive understatement.

The Storm won 12 straight state championships from 2008 until 2019. The first 10 were at the 5A level and the last two were at 6A. At Nike Cross Nationals, they won the championship in 2018 and placed second in 2019.

Second-year Summit coach Kari Strang was well aware that the job came with very high expectations.

“Oh yeah. I knew it was a hard position to step into, because there is nowhere to go but down,” Strang said. “I think it’s intimidating to step into that, but we are looking at the yardstick differently. Absolutely maintaining that high caliber of competition and excellence is important, but we are just trying to make sure that we are doing everything we can to continue to support and engage cross country runners of all levels in central Oregon, not only at Summit high school.”

The only thing that put a stop to the Storm’s winning streak was the COVID-canceled season of 2020, when no official state championship meet took place. Strang’s entire first season was all about trying to bring a sense of normalcy to a chaotic time.

“I think the hardest part was watching what the athletes were going through. The amount of uncertainty and disruption to their regular lives and just how hard that was for them,” Strang said. “Then trying to do everything in my power to have sport be a positive influence for them and a way to bring some light into a really difficult time, and just keep them motivated and engaged.”

Summit has had more consistent training this summer, getting together for a team camp for a couple days, something they were not able to do last season.

“That was huge from a team bonding and emotional support standpoint for the athletes,” Strang said. “I think it helped them to get really fired up.”

The Storm are also dealing with air quality issues from wildfire smoke that has affected training. 

“We were getting into a rhythm, unfortunately the air quality in central Oregon continues to be an ongoing saga,” Strang said. “This year has been the worst yet as far as the number of days where we have had to make modifications, postpone practices, cancel practices, or move indoors.“

Summit returns a ton of talent, including three runners who were on the 2019 state championship team in seniors Teaghan Knox and Maggie Williams and junior Barrett Justema. 

Knox has multiple top-five finishes in state cross country (third in 2019 and fifth in 2018) and ran fast times on the track last spring (1,500 meters in 4:36.74 and 800 in 2:16.86).

Williams was 16th at the 2019 state cross country meet and became the fourth fastest 800 runner in Oregon high school history last spring, running 2:08.03. Justema was 14th at the 2019 meet and ran top-10 times in 6A last spring for 1,500 and 3,000.

The addition of transfer Ella Thorsett, 4A champion as a freshman in 2019 at Sisters, gives Summit another potential single-digit scorer at the state meet. Thorsett’s time in 2019 (17:43.70) would have put her seventh in the 6A girls race that year and her 3,000 time on the track last spring was fifth fastest in Oregon at 10:11.41.

Strang confirmed that those four runners are healthy and training well so far this year, but she wouldn’t commit to naming a varsity top seven last week.

“I’m not willing to say right now what our varsity team will look like,” Strang said. ”We have incredible depth on the team. There are a number of girls that have an opportunity, depending on what happens over the next couple of weeks, to secure a spot on varsity or even in the top four.”

When asked about the addition of a talent like Thorsett, Strang was more interested in the addition of another high character individual to the team.

"She is just a very nice person, a very kind teammate and she has fit in beautifully,” Strang said. ”I think she is also really excited about the academics at Summit. We have a really strong academic focus on our cross country team."

Thorsett has enjoyed practicing with her new team and coaches.

“So far it has been great,” Thorsett said. “All of the girls are super nice and the coaches are great.”

Thorsett also is excited about training with a new group of talented runners who push her to reach new heights.

“It’s definitely been a change,” Thorsett said. “At Sisters I still was running with boys and training with people running my same pace, but it’s been a great change. I think being able to push each other in workouts has been super helpful. It kind of makes you realize your full potential and getting to help others realize their full potential is super exciting. It makes pushing through the pain a little bit easier, for sure.”

Summit’s boys program has had quite the success of its own over the years, producing many individual state champions as well as winning five straight 5A state cross country titles from 2011 to 2015. This year's team is showing promise.

“We have a number of boys, transfers and up-and-coming athletes, that I think are going to have great seasons,” Strang said. “I’m really excited for the boys, they tend to get overshadowed a bit by the girls. They are very fired up, it’s going to be a fun season for them.”

Senior Jackson Keefer, who was 38th at state cross country as a sophomore in 2019, will be one of the leaders of the boys team.

“He’s extremely strong,” Strang said. “He’s worked harder than about anyone I’ve seen. I’m really excited for his season.”

Another top senior, Mason Kissell, ran the 3,000 in 8:50.76 last spring.

“Mason is also a huge force,” Strang said. “He had some health issues that he’s coming back from and is now running really strong. He is extremely fired up and ready for a great season.”

Some of the boys who will be fighting for spots in the Storm’s top seven include seniors Elijah Pyle and John Deaver, juniors Bailey Martin and Charlie McCabe and sophomore transfer Kirk Lord. 

Strang is looking forward to Saturday as Summit opens the season at the Ash Creek Cross Country Festival at the Western Oregon University campus in Monmouth.

“They always do a nice job of putting that meet on,” Strang said. “There are going to be some great teams in attendance. We are looking forward to getting out there. We didn’t travel at all for cross country last year. Just the opportunity to get over to the valley and see some of our fellow teams out there that we love to compete against.”