Jesuit girls team takes run at Nike Cross Nationals title

Doug Binder, The Oregonian, December 03, 2009 7:49 p.m.

Annamarie Maag of Jesuit is the two-time OSAA Class 6A champion. - (Olivia Bucks/The Oregonian)

Nike Cross Nationals

What: Cross country race designed to determine national team championships for high school-aged competitors. 

When: Saturday.  The boys championship race is at 10:05 a.m., and the girls championship race is at 11:35 a.m. The distance for both is 5,000 meters.

Where: Portland Meadows (admission is free) 

How they got here: The top two teams from each of nine regional meets automatically qualify for nationals. Four additional boys and girls teams are selected to create a field with 22 teams and 45 individuals on each side. 

Boys: American Fork (Utah) is ranked No. 1, but the competition is expected to be close. York (Elmhurst, Ill.), the 2004 winner, and two Spokane-area schools -- North Central and Ferris -- are among the top four. North Central, which won the Class 3A title in Washington, was last year's champion. There are no Oregon teams in the field, but Ashland's Wilder Schaaf  qualified as an individual. Parker Stinson, from Cedar Park (Texas), is a University of Oregon recruit. 

Girls: Fayetteville-Manlius (N.Y.) seeks its fourth consecutive national championship, which would further stamp the program as one of the best ever in the United States. This year's team might be the best yet after scoring a perfect 15 points at the New York Federation meet. Teams from New York have won all five championships, beginning with the Nicole Blood-led Saratoga Springs team in 2004. Saugus (Calif.) and Saratoga Springs (N.Y.) rank second and third. Oregon's Class 6A champion, Jesuit of Beaverton, is ranked fifth and is led up front by juniors Annamarie Maag and Payton Schutte. Olivia Artaiz, Adrienne Demaree, Sabra DeVoir, Molly Hagler and Shannon Mahoney are also in Jesuit's lineup. 

Also: The four Foot Locker regional races will be staged Saturday  and will determine the field for the national individual finals, Dec. 12 in San Diego. North Medford's Drew Jordan and Rogue River's Cole Watson will compete in the West Region meet in Walnut, Calif. 

-- Doug Binder