Mountain View runner Kolby White, center left, grabs the baton from Dakota Thornton as they lead the Central Oregon Cross-Country Relays at Bend Pine Nursery Park Wednesday afternoon. Mountain View went on to win the boys division of the race, as well as the girls and co-ed divisions.

Cross-country runners at Bend Pine Nursery Park on Wednesday followed their normal routine for suppressing prerace jitters, engaging in sprints, leg kicks and quick jumps.

But unlike a usual high school meet, the Central Oregon Cross-Country Relays were more about team building and less about setting new personal records. While a typical cross-country meet is composed of individual 5,000-meter races, Wednesday’s event consisted of four-person relay teams with boys, girls, and co-ed divisions. Each runner ran two laps of 1.2 miles each for a total of 2.4 miles, or roughly 3,800 meters.

Mountain View coach and meet host Don Stearns said he created the event last year as a tuneup for the Class 5A Special District 1 meet, which this year is also being held at Bend Pine Nursery.

“The race is shorter so it doesn’t take as much out of your legs,” Stearns said.

Blue skies and a slight breeze set the tone for this year’s version of the Central Oregon Relays.

Bend High coach Kyle Will said he sees the meet as a needed break from the pressure and anxiety of competitive racing during the regular season.

“It’s a much more relaxed and fun feel,” Will said.

All teams were required to maintain the same racing order during the relays, which were about eight loops totaling nine miles. More than 50 relay teams participated, including local squads from Madras, Crook County, La Pine, Bend, Mountain View and Summit high schools. Teams from as far as Paisley and Lakeview were also in attendance Wednesday.

The host Cougars swept all three divisions. Mountain View’s boys team of Dakota Thornton, Kolby White, Gabe Wyllie and Jake McDonald won the boys race, while the Cougars’ girls squad made up of Hayati Wolfenden, Mikayla Cant and sisters Kiersten Hatton and Tia Hatton claimed the girls division. Mountain View’s co-ed team of Macaulay Wilson, Krysta Kroeger, Riley Anheluk and Chris McBride also placed first.

“I like that it’s a flat, fast course,” said Thornton, a freshman. “It’s different than the other meets we do.”

The competition’s unique structure is what attracted Lakeview, whose team drove four hours to attend the meet.

“It’s the only relay we come to all season,” Honker senior Cathy Platt said.

Every few minutes, runners were greeted by a chute of teammates as they passed white batons made of PVC pipes at the handoff line, which was marked by bright orange cones.

In addition to an exciting atmosphere, the meet gave Mountain View, Summit and Bend runners a chance to familiarize themselves with sections of next week’s Class 5A Special District 1 district meet course. The rest of the Central Oregon teams will also be competing in district meets next week.

“They have done all the physical training,” Will said about runners heading into their postseason races. “Now it’s about their minds believing they can do it.”

Outlaws take second, third at Elmira meet

ELMIRA — Running in their final cross-country meet before the Sky-Em Championships next week, the Sisters girls placed second at the Country Fair Classic while the Outlaw boys finished third.

Zoe Falk paced the girls team with a third-place finish. Marist of Eugene won the girls team race.

In the boys competition, Marshfield of Coos Bay finished first, Sheldon of Eugene placed second and Sisters took third. Brandon Pollard led the Outlaws in the boys race with a sixth-place finish.

The Outlaws compete at the Sky-Em district meet at Eugene’s Lane Community College on Thursday, Oct. 27.

— Bulletin staff report