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Gorze gives it a go in quest to go sub-14 By Danny Penza Oct 14, 2022 08:15 AM A A 5 View all photos Comet senior unable to hit sub-14-minute goal in 5,000-meter run at Crater Twilight It was no secret what Crater senior Tyrone Gorze was shooting for Thursday night. He didn’t just want to win the boys 5,000-meter run at the third annual Crater Twilight meet, he wanted to do so in historic fashion. Gorze got the win, but joining one of the exclusive clubs of high school running will have to wait for another day. Gorze’s goal of going sub-14 minutes came up just a little short, as the Comets’ reigning Class 5A state champion finished with a time of 14 minutes, 11.38 seconds. “He ran strong,” said Crater head coach Justin Loftus. “He put it out there, for sure. It’s pretty hard running (the last) 2 miles and doing that kind of run by yourself.” Entering Thursday, only eight high school boys had ever run under 14 minutes in the 5,000 on the track, with the most recent coming this past May by Newbury Park High’s Lex Young at the Sound Running The Track Meet. Young, a Stanford commit, ran 13:43.95 in setting the junior class national record, just edging out Gerry Lindgren for second all-time behind the legendary Galen Rupp, who ran 13:37.91 the summer after graduating from Central Catholic in 2004. At the same meet in which Young went second all time, Gorze ran the 5,000 in 14:00.34. Chris Derrick of Neuqua Valley High in Illinois ran 13:55.96 at the 2008 Arcadia Invitational for the fastest 5K time in a high school-only race. The lofty goal entering Thursday’s race came during a week in which Gorze announced his intentions on where he will run next year. Gorze had a plan all along of announcing his college choice at some point this fall. When asked about it following his participation in the World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia, back in August, Gorze didn’t give an exact date, but hinted at it likely being during the cross-country season. On Tuesday, Gorze announced on his Instagram page that he had committed to run at the University of Washington. “There’s definitely some good competition out there, so I know he’s looking forward to getting some races in and testing himself with those guys,” said Loftus. As expected, Gorze was incredibly fast from the get-go, pairing with teammate Josiah Tostenson to break away from the pack within the first three laps. Gorze started to make his move to pass Tostenson right around the 1-mile mark, with the Comets’ uber-talented sophomore pulling out of the race along the backstretch — which was all part of the plan, according to Loftus. “He’s racing tomorrow and he was out for a little, so we’re breaking back in,” Loftus said of Tostenson, who is running in the Rose City Championship Invitational in Portland on Friday. That left Gorze, decked out in all black, to run well out in front the rest of the way with only his personal drive to help set a staggering pace. “We haven’t done a ton of interval or pace work stuff other than just basic threshold stuff, so it was a good test for him to see where he was at,” said Loftus. “I was pleased, and he was 14:29 last year when we did this.” Marshfield senior Alexander Garcia-Silver, last season’s 4A state champion, finished second behind Gorze with a time of 14:40.23. Ashland senior Nathan Stein (14:59.30) was third, while a pair of Comets, junior Caleb Doddington (14:59.30) and sophomore Tayvon Kitchen (15:26.50), finished fourth and fifth, respectively. In the girls race, Phoenix senior Kyla Potratz came away victorious, pulling away late to win in 18:19.59 and setting a new school record in the process. She finished ahead of a trio of Comets in consecutive order, respectively, in senior Samantha Payne (18:40.77), junior Lindsay Siebert (18:50.63) and senior Haylee Baldwin (18:52.36). North Medford senior Reese Meager (18:54.95) rounded out the top 5. Crater won both of the team titles on Thursday night, with the Comet boys finishing 62 points ahead of runner-up South Medford and the girls well ahead of Grants Pass in second. “It was a magic night honestly and we had a ton of people in the stands,” said Loftus. “It was rockin’ and rollin’; Tyrone adds to it all and he’s a huge element for everyone.” Boys TEAM SCORES: Crater 17, South Medford 79, Grants Pass 96, Hidden Valley 103, North Medford 137, Phoenix 154, Klamath Union 180, St. Mary’s 214. INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (Top 10): 1, Tyrone Gorze, C, 14:11.38; 2, Alexander Garcia-Silver, M, 14:40.23; 3, Nathan Stein, Ashland, 14:59.30; 4, Caleb Doddington C, 15:25.92; 5, Tayvon Kitchen, C, 15:26.50; 6, Shaun Garnica, C, 15:31.75; 7, Grant Bohannon, HV, 15:56.58; 8, Gianni Altman, Gold Beach, 16:02.83; 9, Matt Rieman, GP, 16:10.84; 10, Ryder Hvall, C, 16:15.36. Girls TEAM SCORES: Crater 27, Grants Pass 54, Klamath Union 69, Phoenix 100, South Medford 122. INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (Top 10): 1, Kyla Potratz, P, 18:19.59; 2, Samantha Payne, C, 18:40.77; 3, Lindsay Siebert, C, 18:50.63; 4, Haylee Baldwin, C, 18:52.36; 5, Reese Meager, North Medford, 18:54.95; 6, Emma West, C, 19:02.44; 7, Saniyah Ayala, St. Mary’s, 19:18.91; 8, Eleanor Nichol, North Medford, 19:24.30; 9, Isabela Coffman, KU, 19:41.25; 10, Taylor Weber, GP, 20:14.58. Reach reporter Danny Penza at 541-776-4469 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @penzatopaper. Crater's Tyrone Gorze laps teamates with 300-meters to go winning the Crater Twilight 5k at Dutch Meyer Stadium in Central Point Thursday night. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] Phoenix's Kyla Potratz pushes to the finish winning the Crater Twilight 5k at Dutch Meyer Stadium in Central Point Thursday night. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] Crater's Tyrone Gorze (1) at the start winning the Crater Twilight 5k at Dutch Meyer Stadium in Central Point Thursday night. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] Crater's Tyrone Gorze holds pace alone winning the Crater Twilight 5k at Dutch Meyer Stadium in Central Point Thursday night. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] Phoenix's Kyla Potratz leads heading to the final lap winning the Crater Twilight 5k at Dutch Meyer Stadium in Central Point Thursday night. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune]