05 Nov ARCHERS XC MEN PLACE 2ND AT STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
The Archers boys’ cross country team placed second at the OSAA 1A/2A State Championship meet on Saturday, November 3, at Lane Community College in Eugene, OR. The Archers advanced to their first State meet competition by winning the overall District title on October 25. They entered the State meet with a 4th place ranking in the OSAA Coaches’ poll and a confident outlook. Sophomore Seth B. said, “We felt great. The amount of work this season was such a jump from last year, and we had good regular season meet results. I knew we didn’t have to make a miracle happen at State; we were in a place to execute the goals that we set early in the season.”
At the State meet, Seth paced the team by placing 6th overall, with the other Archers scoring runners finishing in pairs at 16th/17th and 31st/32nd. The team from Union/Cove dominated the race, winning the team title with 44 points. But St. Stephen’s was able to take 2nd place with 101 points, just 1 point ahead of 3rd place and 3 points ahead of 4th place. After the meet, junior Aiden S. was elated: “Second in state is a huge milestone for our program. But with this team – these incredible people – I’m sure there’s many more to come.”
2018 was the 7th season for the cross country program at St. Stephen’s Academy. The school has a strong middle school cross country program which feeds their high school cross country team. Both the boys’ and girls’ Archers middle school teams placed 2nd in their district this season. The high school girls’ team also had a strong season, though they didn’t have a large enough team to qualify for team scoring.
Prior to this season, St. Stephen’s had competed only once in the high school State Championships, sending an individual qualifier in 2015. The boys’ 2018 XC team consists of two seniors, two juniors, two sophomores, and one freshman, drawing from a high school student body of 20 boys. This season was Coach Tim Tsuei’s third year of coaching cross country at St. Stephen’s.
In addition to their athletic achievement, the Archers won Academic All-State this season. Their average grade point average of 3.94 is the highest among all 1A/2A teams in the state. And Les Schwab and the OSAA have recognized the team as the 1A team of the month.
Senior Evan T. summed up the season and the impact of the achievement to the program: “Over the last four years, I’ve had the joy of being part of something great. I’ve seen this program develop from humble beginnings to the unprecedented success of this season, and I couldn’t be prouder. I couldn’t have asked for better teammates or better brothers, and I know that I’m leaving behind a group of men who will continue to work hard, succeed, and make history. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the Archers.”
Way to go, Archers!