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Potratz races to historic crown for Phoenix By Danny Penza Updated: Nov 05, 2022 09:48 PM A A 3 View all photos Senior runner becomes first-ever Pirate to win individual girls title; Crater girls finish second in 5A finals EUGENE — Finishing third at last year’s Class 4A cross-country state meet gave Kyla Potratz the belief that bigger things could be on the horizon in her senior season. On Saturday, those hopes became a reality. In what Phoenix head coach John Cornet called “the perfect race,” Potratz pulled away on the 5,000-meter course at Lane Community College to become the first-ever Pirate girl to win an individual state title. Potratz’s winning time of 18 minutes, 47.5 seconds marked the first time she has gone under the 19-minute mark on a cross-country course this season. “It’s, honestly, a bit hard to wrap my head around and it’s pretty overwhelming,” Potratz said of her historic accomplishment. “It’s been a goal of mine for a really long time.” “It’s a big relief. Ever since (finishing third) last year at this meet, it’s been my goal and in the back of my head. It just feels really good.” In the 5A girls race, Crater junior Lindsay Siebert finished third with a time of 18:13.9 to lead a Comets squad that placed three in the top eight en route to a second-place effort behind champion Summit. The Storm finished with 30 points, while the Comets had 70 and third-place Crescent Valley had 98. The Storm, back down in 5A this season, has now won 14 straight girls team titles. “Incredible,” Siebert said of the Comets’ performance Saturday. “We have been making that our goal for a very long time and everybody has been working their butts off to get it done. I’m very proud of them, I’m proud of us and we deserve our spot.” Potratz was one half of a Phoenix duo that went 2-3 at state last year, with the now-graduated Sophia Stubblefield taking second in front of Potratz. This season, Potratz entered the state meet on the heels of a dominant win at the Skyline Conference districts, and she carried all of that momentum into her trip to Eugene. Potratz knew that La Grande’s Emily Tubbs was going to come out fast and try to put the field away early. Potratz was right behind Tubbs at the 1-mile split. The key was to stick to the plan. “It really depended on how fast the field was going,” Potratz said. “I was either going to (make the move) at the 2-mile mark or the 1K mark. No matter, at either one of those I was going to go and try to hold on.” That she did. It was time to make the move with the 2-mile marker approaching, and from there the gap between Potratz and the rest of the field grew. At the 2-mile split, Potratz was a tenth of a second behind Tubbs. By the time she hit the Lane track for the final 300 meters, nobody was near her. La Grande — which won the 4A girls title — saw its top three runners finish 2-3-4 behind Potratz, as Cecilia Villagomez (19:13.8) was second, while Tubbs (19:35.9) was third and Brooke Perry (19:38.1) was fourth. “I was up with Emily and she’s a really strong runner,” Potratz said. “She’s good on the turns and on the hills she would gap me a little bit. It was really scary because I know she has a lot in her. Then we just hit the 2-mile mark and I just gave it all I had hoping that I could hold onto it — and I did.” Siebert had plenty of company on the 5A podium, as a pair of fellow Comets earned medals. Sophomore Emma West (18:43) finished fifth and Samantha Payne (18:48.8) was eighth. Crater senior Haylee Baldwin (19:31.1) finished 17th and freshman Hannah Pygman (21:02.2), the fifth and final runner to count toward the Comets’ team score, was 41st. “We weren’t that far off (Summit),” Crater head coach Justin Loftus said. “We have some strong kids coming back and it’s exciting.” Siebert said she hadn’t felt all the way back from a midseason illness until last week’s Midwestern League district meet at Lane. While the course Saturday was slightly different than what the Comets saw last week, Siebert was one of the leaders of the pack from the first trip up the trademark hill just beyond the starting line. Crescent Valley sophomore Emily Wisniewski led wire-to-wire to earn her second straight individual title in a time of 17:58.6. Summit’s Barrett Justema (18:09.1) was second. “I feel like I did extremely well and (18:13) was well under my goal,” Siebert said. “I’m more than thrilled. The goal was 18:30. I feel incredible. I’ve just been getting a little wrapped up in the rankings and saying, ‘You’ve got to beat those rankings, you’ve got to beat those rankings!’ That’s definitely what I did.” At the 6A level, North Medford’s Marisela Villa (19:45.4) finished 45th, while Black Tornado teammates Reese Meager (19:52.9) and Eleanor Nichol (20:13.8) were 59th and 67th, respectively. In the girls 3A/2A/1A race, St. Mary’s senior Saniyah Ayala finished 18th with a time of 20:20.4. Phoenix's Kyla Potratz is emotional crossing the finish line winning the girls 4A State Cross Country Championships at Lane Community College in Eugene Saturday. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] Phoenix's Kyla Potratz makes her move on La Grande's Cecilia Villagomez past the 2-mile marker winning the girls 4A State Cross Country Championships at Lane Community College in Eugene Saturday. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] Reach reporter Danny Penza at 541-776-4469 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @penzatotpaper. 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