NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

Chargers are top team in the country after winning Nike Cross Nationals

By Kerry Barboza - Sports Editor

Published: Tuesday, December 8, 2009 3:32 PM CST

As of Monday, Boerne Champion cross country coach Dave Fulkerson was still on Cloud 9. It’s understandable that Fulkerson was walking on air after what the Chargers did on Saturday.

Everybody knew Boerne Champion had the best cross country team in the state, but now everybody knows they have the best high school boys team in the United States.

The Boerne Champion boys team won the 2009 Nike Cross Nationals held in Portland, Ore., edging a team from Spokane, Wash., by six points, 195-201.

“It’s going to be a special memory for a long time, but I’m starting to come back down to reality a little bit,” Fulkerson said on Monday. “This is pretty cool, it’s something special, it’s something you don’t even imagine happening, you don’t even dream about it.”

Travis Barclay was Boerne’s top finisher in eighth place with a time of 15:42, Nathan Christianson was 16th in 15:59, Ryan Miller came in 49th in 16:14, Ethan Doherty placed 56th in 16:17, Colby McCune finished 66th in 16:22, Moses Luevano clocked in at 16:33 for sixth and Will Mack recorded a 17:09 for 131st.

The Woodlands came in third with 207 points, with Wilmette scoring 208 points for fourth place, which means the top four teams were separated by 13 points as the best high school runners in the nation battled it out in Oregon.

Fulkerson said the race had a live scoreboard, which featured updated results every kilometer. This allowed people in the stands to know instantly where their team stood.