Coming off its second 2A/1A boys cross country championship in four seasons, Knappa's boys had to patch up their lineup to have another title shot this season.
The Loggers graduated state champion Wyatt Jacobson and the No. 5 state placer in Gavin Jasper, who now run on college teams at Eastern Oregon and Montana Western, respectively.
“Wyatt and Gavin were big shoes to fill,” said sixth-year coach Amanda Isom, whose resume also includes state runner-up finishes in 2023 and 2024.
But as Knappa prepares for the Special District 1 championships Friday, it appears to have a realistic shot at repeating as state champion. The Loggers have five runners ranked among the top 14 times in 2A/1A this season.
Junior Rowdy Justus, who took third at state last year, is leading the way. He has carried forward the momentum from track season, when he finished runner-up to Jacobson in the 3,000 meters in the 2A meet. His best time on the 5,000-meter course this season is 15:39.2, second in 2A/1A this season only to Bandon junior Beckett Pahls (15:31.3).
“He recognized that someone needed to take Wyatt's spot as our leader this year,” Isom said. “He's been filling that role great. He put in more miles this summer. We're seeing his time drop slowly but surely.”
Justus will have plenty of competition in going after the state title.
“He wants to win, and he has a shot,” Isom said. “It will be a battle. It's going to be an exciting race. There are going to be a lot of guys in the sub-17 range. The cool thing about Rowdy is he's way more concerned about wanting to win as a team than as an individual.”
The Loggers got their biggest boost this season from sophomore Kyler Rodriguez. He has lowered his time to 16:06.3 from 18:23.8 last year, when he won the JV district meet.
“Tremendous improvement,” Isom said of Rodriguez, a state qualifier in the 800 in track. “I sort of saw it coming based off how he did in track, but I wasn't expecting that big of a jump. He's a big part of replacing Wyatt and Gavin.”
Rodriguez's brother, Isaiah, was the state runner-up for Knappa as a junior in 2021 and moved on to a college career at Western Oregon.
“I was hoping that Kyler would follow in his footsteps,” Isom said.
Rodriguez and junior Logan Affolter, who placed 15th at state last year, have traded off as the No. 2 runner behind Justus. Senior Paul Thompson and sophomore Trey Lempea have been the team's No. 4 and No. 5 runners, respectively.
Knappa must deal with teams such as Union, Bandon and Regis in the state meet Nov. 7 at Lane Community College in Eugene. After winning their first-ever state title in 2022, the Loggers were second to Union/Cove in 2023 and 2024.
Umpqua Invite
Bandon sophomore Jael Legutki and Springfield junior Adrian Estes were the winners in the Umpqua Invite on Oct. 21 at Stewart Park in Roseburg.
Legutki, who took 12th in the 3A/2A/1A girls meet as a freshman, earned her fifth win of the season. Her time of 18:50.4 beat North Bend junior Addison Horning by nearly five seconds.
Roseburg scored 92 points to defeat Bandon (110), North Bend (112) and Thurston (113) first place in the 11-team girls race.
Estes, the No. 8 placer in the 5A boys meet last year, won in 15:37.6. Bandon junior Beckett Pahls was second in 15:48.8.
Thurston (82) outpointed Bandon (89) and Springfield (94) to win the team scoring.
Bigfoot Classic
Neah-Kah-Nie junior Dylan Sigman finished first out of 129 boys in the Bigfoot Classic on Oct. 21 at Alderbrook Golf Course in Tillamook.
Sigman clocked 16:18.8 to hold off Nestucca senior Mason Vu (16:23.9) and Molalla senior Nick Wood (16:26.0). Sigman's performance helped Neah-Kah-Nie edge Molalla 39-42 for first place among 13 teams.
Taft senior Ava Zalewski was the top finisher out of 77 girls at the meet. Zalewski completed the course in 19:15.1, far ahead of the runner-up, Central junior Anya Griffith (20:05.3).
Molalla outscored Astoria 65-83 to place first out of 10 girls teams.
jerryu@osaa.org
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