They ran over hills, among forest flora, even through a tunnel.
And though they were a long way from home, surrounded by hundreds of peers with elbows flying, the girls of the Evergreen Storm found they were right at home among some of the best distance runners in the nation.
On Dec. 11 in Hoover, Ala., five middle school students from Clark County capped a whirlwind trip with a top-10 showing at the USA Track and Field Junior Olympics Cross Country Championships.
“We got to run on a really cool trail,” said Alexis Fuller, a Shahala Middle School eighth-grader who finished 31st in a field of 276 runners at the national meet.
Fuller and four teammates took eighth place among 26 teams in the division for girls born in 1996 and 1997. The Storm was only six points out of sixth place. And they were the highest placing team with only the minimum five runners in the race, quite a result for a team running 4,000 meters for only the third time.
Joining Fuller on this cross-country cross country journey were Alexa Efraimson (50th place in 15:31), Cassie McKinney (63rd in 15:45), Lexa Howell (136th in 16:31), and Alissa Pudlitzke (150th 16:38). The five carried the banner of an upstart team that formed last month at the conclusion of the middle school cross country season.
From the start they trained with the goal of peaking for the nationals. They trained through the state and regional races before backing off a week prior to the nationals race.
“They trained really hard,” said Chantel Efraimson, Alexa’s mom, who was the team’s coach. “They have a will to succeed. They worked very hard through challenging weather conditions and not once did they complain.”
The 4,000-meter Junior Olympics distance was about one mile longer than the 1.5-mile races middle school teams run. So the team had to put in extra miles to build the fitness base needed for the longer distance.
They held regular training sessions three days a week at Union High School, running on the track and on a trail around the school grounds.
The impetus for entering Junior Olympics cross country this fall was a narrow miss in a relay race during the track and field season. In July, Fuller, Efraimson and McKinney ran on an Evergreen Storm team that placed ninth for their age in the 3,200-meter relay at the Junior Olympic track and field nationals. The top eight teams received medals.
That near miss was a sign of the runners’ potential, and planted a seed for cross county season.
A dozen girls ran for the Storm on Nov. 13 in the Oregon state Junior Olympics cross country meet, carrying the team to first place. At the regional championships one week later, the Storm finished second behind an established Puget Sound area club.
Those strong performances intensified interest in making the trip to Alabama for the nationals. The cost of the trip and conflicting commitments kept several runners home — including Prairie High freshman Nicole Goecke who is on the Falcons girls basketball team.
In Alabama, the Storm girls experienced a course that was challenging for its hills, narrow segments, and gravel paths.
“There were a lot of people. It was really crowded, and really narrow in spots,” said Howell, a Shahala Middle School eighth-grader.
“It really pushed us,” said Cassie McKinney, a seventh-grader at Frontier Middle School.
McKinney passed five runners on an uphill stretch near the end of the race and had another slide down the hill past her.
“I was really nervous, but excited,” Pudlitzke, a Liberty Middle School eighth-grader said about her pre-race state. “There were so many runners, that was the biggest difference” from the state and regional meets.
The nervousness went away as soon as the race started, the girls said. It was the competition and the course that prevented them from the top-five finish they hoped for.
“It showed we can be pushed, and we can do well even in our toughest and our most nervous meets,” Alexa Efraimson said.
The girls were hoping for slightly better results at nationals. But as a first-year team with only five runners participating, the eighth-place finish is a good start — especially since all five are at the younger end of their two-year age division.
Next year, all can again compete together in the same age group. Not only will they have this year’s experience to rely upon, but they will be racing younger competitors.
Chantel Efraimson said she would like to increase the training to five days a week next fall to better mirror the work being done by top teams around the country. Before that challenge, there is the summer track and field season.
A triathlete and marathoner, Chantel Efraimson won’t be surprised if the girls of the Evergreen Storm continue to excel.
“They have a special talent, and they are willing to put in the hard work to accomplish their individual goals,” the coach said.
