Gorze Has Graduated, But The Five Behind Him Are Back For Crater

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Boys NXR Northwest Preview

The return of NXN last December turned out to be pretty good for the home state. Jesuit finished second behind Newbury Park and Crater was fourth. 

The Crusaders of Jesuit graduated three talented seniors from one of the best teams in state history and are working to reload behind senior Caden Swanson, the lone holdover from the third-place team at RunningLane in 2021 and also last year's national runner-up. 

Crater's Tyrone Gorze, who completed his high school career in the realm of Oregon all-time greats Steve Prefontaine and Galen Rupp, has moved on to the University of Washington. But a very good group of runners behind him, led by junior Josiah Tostenson, are back and that's a good enough reason to place to Comets at the top of Northwest region. 

Coeur d'Alene figures to take a big step forward from last year's seventh place result at NXR Northwest with every member of the team coming back and an impact freshman adding strength to the top five. Keep in mind that Idaho has not qualified a team to NXN yet, despite the fact that Rocky Mountain nearly made it last year and finished the season ranked No. 10. 

Franklin of Portland has a well-rounded pack that may be ready to compete for the school's first NXN berth and second Oregon 6A title in the past four years. 

In Washington, Seattle Prep returns its top four from a team that upset Bishop Blanchet and won the WIAA Class 3A championship last year. 

Bozeman MT's Nathan Neil (third), Rocky Mountain ID's Landon Heemeyer (eighth) and junior Vincent Recupero of Bishop Blanchet WA (ninth) are the top individual returners. Neil, an NXN qualifier, was 25th at the national meet.

1. Crater OR. Gorze was the headliner last year and carved his identity into a talented 2023 senior class, but now it's time to meet his former teammates. Tostenston is the heir apparent at No. 1 and has been one of the top milers in his class since the eighth grade, including a sophomore year 4:05.47. Seniors Jeffrey Hellman, Shaun Garnica, Caleb Doddington and junior Tayvon Kitchen give the team a very tough five. Garnica, Doddington and Kitchen all have 5,000-meter track PRs under 15:30. If there is a question, it's about the depth that comes after those five. Junior Grant Headley and freshman Maxwell Miracle may be the next in line but there are several candidates to complete the top seven. 

2. Coeur d'Alene ID. The Vikings have already logged an impressive team performance, winning the Libby Invitational in Montana with a perfect score of 15 and five scorers under 16 minutes. If that's the starting point for this team, then it could be an exciting year. Junior Maximus Cervi-Skinner, who was 11th at NXR Northwest last year (one spot behind Tostenson), is the No. 1 for a team that includes seniors Jacob King and Lachlan May, junior Zackery Cervi-Skinner and freshman Wyatt Carr, who was sixth at the USATF Junior Olympic (13-14) Cross Country Championships last year.

3. Franklin OR. The Lightning opened the season at the Wilsonville Night Meet and six members of the team ran 9:15 or better for 3,000 meters in the races, which are broken up by class. Junior Brennan McEwen leads a tight pack that includes Emil Nelson, Rowan Haywood-O'Neill and Rowan Horner, and juniors Zafer Courcelle and Leaf McQuillen. Franklin finished third at the regional meet in 2019 and this team could match or exceed that. An NXN berth is a possibility. 

4. Jesuit OR. The Crusaders are bound to fall off a bit after graduating Jacob Nenow, Gus Clevenger and Josh Augustine. That trio did historic things at a school with decades of tradition. This year's team starts with Swanson, junior Coen Strub and sophomores Matthew Wroblewski and Kellen Williams. All of them ran on the second-place team at NXN last year and Wroblewski was the top freshman in the race. Juniors Andrew Bromert and Loland Fleming should fill out the top seven nicely and the race for the 6A title with Franklin could be very close. 

5. Seattle Prep WA. The Panthers bring back seniors Jack Henzke, Liam Riley and Nicolas Davila and junior Hudson Atrosh from the state championship team and all four of them finished in the top 23. Henzke was fifth and Riley was seventh. This group seems poised to surge well past last year's eighth place at NXR Northwest. Juniors Shane Effgen, Toto Mounir and Wyatt Heily and seniors William Huddleston and Seamus Alspach contribute additional depth.

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