In recent years, Crater's boys gained national attention in distance running with record-breaking standouts such as Tyrone Gorze, Tayvon Kitchen and Josiah Tostenson,
Now the Comet girls are getting their turn in the spotlight.
Crater is No. 2 in the nation in DyeStat's girls cross country rankings, behind only Union Catholic of New Jersey. Justin Loftus said it is the best girls squad he has coached at Crater, including 5A title teams in 2007 and 2024.
How good are the Comets? When they won the prestigious Clovis Invitational on Oct. 10 in California, they set a combined team time record for the course, which has been used for California state meets since 1987 and the Clovis Invitational since 1980.
“They're bought in 100 percent,” Loftus said. “I keep trying to tell the kids, 'This is an incredible experience we're having right now. We're going to have some bumps in the road. Let's keep it going and do the best we can.'”
Three Crater girls are ranked among the top six in the state this season for all classifications in junior Adley Damon (second) and seniors Brynn Davenport (fifth) and Gwen Vanwart (sixth). Junior Mari Dunlap is No. 16.
Damon (17:00.1), Davenport (17:03.7) and Vanwart (17:16.5) have the three best times in 5A. The Comets are so deep that they have nine runners ranked among the top 19 in 5A.
Crater won the 5A title in 2024, knocking off a Summit team that had won 15 consecutive state championships. The Storm rebounded last year to outscore the Comets 51-83 for first place.
“We had some injuries last year, so we did the best we could with some of the newcomers and all those different factors,” Loftus said. “I don't think losing the state title was extra motivation for this year. Motivation is always there with this group. Over the last three or four years, I just go to practice and I feel so lucky to be a part of it.”
Davenport, the 5A runner-up last season, is coming off a track season in which she won the 3,000 state title and was second in the 1,500. The Utah commit has “taken it up a notch everywhere” this season, according to Loftus.
“She's been amazing this year, just her leadership and being more inclusive in trying to bring our girls up,” Loftus said.
Davenport and Damon – a transfer from St. Mary's, where she placed sixth in the 3A/2A/1A meet last year and was state runner-up in the 3,000 in track – have been the team's top runners. At Clovis, Damon finished third, Davenport fifth and Vanwart sixth.
Damon has made dramatic improvement from last season, when her personal best was 18:12.8.
“She's made an incredible transition to our team,” Loftus said. “Adley already had an amazing work ethic. She came in from a great program at St. Mary's. She jumped right in and has pretty much gone with whatever we're doing.”
Vanwart, the 3,000 state runner-up in track, also has reached a new level. Dunlap is running strong after being plagued with an injury during track season. Senior Grace Havniear is a top 25 placer at state the last two years.
Crater also added a promising freshman in Emma Wigelsworth. She has the Comets' best-ever 1,500 time in middle school.
The team is loaded with talent, but Loftus said what separates the Comets is their camaraderie and relentless drive, much like the boys team, which has won the last five state titles.
“They like being together and working hard together,” he said. “Showing up at 10 o'clock at night when nobody is out and doing a workout together after a football game.
“We had really good teams from 2007 to 2011, and they really bought in during the summer. They have that times 10 now. That's really what's feeding the success.”
Stumptown Showdown
Wells junior George Lora pulled away from the field to win the Stumptown Showdown on Saturday at Lents Park in Porltand.
Lora finished in 14:31.8 to beat Franklin senior Felix Snyder (14:47.1) and West Linn senior Leo Brown (14:50.8). Lora's time is the second-best recorded in the state this season behind South Eugene senior Yosuke Shibata (14:20.7).
West Linn won the 22-team boys meet with 72 points, outscoring Franklin (82) and Wilsonville (119).
Mountainside junior Grace Keene took the girls race in 17:21.28. Junior Grace Beachy of Ellsenburg (Wash.) was second in 17:26.8 and West Linn junior Eleanor Wyatt was third in 17:41.7.
Franklin scored 91 points to win the 18-team girls division, turning back Lakeridge (97) and Mountainside (108).
Meriwether Classic
David Douglas junior Faysal Abrahim clocked 15:09.7 to win a duel with McMinnville senior Isaiah Carpenter (15:10.5) for first place out of 278 runners in the Meriwether Classic on Friday at Meriwether National Golf Club in Hillsboro.
Carpenter led McMinnville to the boys title. The Grizzlies scored 59 points to beat Central Catholic (88) and Neah-Kah-Nie (98).
Banks sophomore Molly Schoolmeester (18:38.7) held off senior teammate Lydia Shellman (18:45.4) for first place in the girls race.
Sherwood outscored Banks 48-82 to take first place out of 23 girls teams. Sherwood was led by senior Tyler Thomas (fifth), junior Lucy Tomb (sixth) and sophomore Nezeya Bugher (seventh).
jerryu@osaa.org
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