Banks Girls Cross Country Crowned State Champions
HERMISON, Ore. – The Banks High School girls cross country team secured the OSAA 3A/2A/1A State Championship title on Saturday, marking a historic win for the program. The victory underscores a season of dedication and teamwork,culminating in a dominant performance at the state meet.
sophie Schoolmeester led the charge, finishing in first place with a time of 17:54.59. Junior Lydia Shellman contributed a seventh-place finish (18:59.02), while sophomore Rachael Kelly placed 20th (19:52.98) and junior Meaza Wilson secured a scoring position in 37th (20:46.78).
“She talked a lot about how she wanted to do as well as she could for herself today, but she’d take a team title over anything,” Schoolmeester said of Sophie. “She’s become a really great leader. She believed they could do it and thinks this is the coolest thing ever.”
The team’s success is especially notable for schoolmeester, whose mother noted she hadn’t previously embraced team sports.”Sophie wasn’t really a team sports kid…but she played soccer and didn’t love it,” Coach Schoolmeester explained. ”When we were walking away today,I said,’what do you think about team sports today?’ And she said,’well,I love it today.'”
Freshman Molly Schoolmeester also contributed to the team’s success, showcasing promising talent. Additional Banks runners completing the course were Aurora Goodwin (21:02.67) finishing 44th, and Mayli Taylor (23:27.87) in 85th.
“It’s a team, and you don’t win with a good fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh runner,” Coach Schoolmeester emphasized. “Those later runners are still displacing points, and we learned last year with our boys that every point counts.”
The Banks boys team also delivered a strong performance, finishing fourth overall. Alejandro Abnal led the Braves with an eighth-place finish (16:16.50), followed by Amin Diani in ninth (16:29.00) and Omar Diani in 13th (16:42.60). Douglas McConnell (18:01.40) and Mark Anunsen (18:26.90) rounded out the scoring runners in 42nd and 52nd place, respectively. Caplin Lipscomb (18:37.00) and Nate Bair (20:06.50) also competed, finishing 56th and 86th. Despite missing two graduating runners from last year’s team, the Braves secured a podium finish, placing just five points from a potential championship.
