EUGENE — Summit coach Kari Strang knew that at some point the girls cross-country team’s historic streak of the past 15 years was bound to come to an end.

A second-place finish at the Class 5A cross-country state championships Saturday afternoon at Lane Community College marked the end of the longest title-winning streak ever in Oregon high school sports. No team in any sport in any classification has won more consecutive state titles than Summit girls cross-country’s 15 dating back to 2008.

But this year, Crater, who Summit was just able to hold off a year ago to extend its winning streak to 15, finally managed to win the team title after finishing second the previous two years.

Crater finished with 55 points and Summit finished with 70. Caldera was third with 80 points.

“I am incredibly proud of the way the girls ran today,” Strang said. “I think each and every one of them has a reason to hold their head high. In my mind there is a difference between losing and getting beat. And we got beat today. We will come back and do our best next year. The team needs to be proud of what they accomplished.”

Many of the seven Summit runners that toed the starting line are younger than the streak that began in 2008.

Junior Sophia Capozzi was the first Storm runner across the finish line, finishing fifth in 18 minutes, 14.1 seconds. Junior Eva Dicharry also landed on the podium with an eighth-place finish in 18:17.1.

The Storm got a pair of gutsy runs from junior Skye Knox and freshman Cassidy Carmichael to help keep within striking distance of Crater in the back half of the race.

Knox, who missed the Intermountain Conference championships with bronchitis, finished 16th (18:57.4). Just minutes before the start of the race, Carmichael’s nose began gushing blood. By the time the race ended, it looked like she had gone 12 rounds in the boxing ring rather than finishing 24th (19:33.6). It was her fastest time of the season.

Summit freshman Abigail Carpenter finished 23rd in 19:25.8.

“Our goal going in was to make sure that everyone gave everything they had,” Strang said. “And I can say with confidence that every girl on our team gave it everything they had. They ran with heart, they ran for each other, I’m just so proud of them.”

Summit’s Boaz takes second in 5A boys race

For four of the five kilometers in Saturday’s 5A boys race, Summit’s Hayden Boaz went stride-for-stride with one of the nation’s top high school distance runners. Boaz and Crater’s Tayvon Kitchen, last year’s state champion, were shoulder to shoulder.

But in the end, it was Kitchen who repeated as the state champion, finishing in 14:42.3, just ahead of Boaz’s 14:49.7.

“That was probably one of the hardest races I’ve run,” Boaz said. “I was just telling myself to stay relaxed and stay on him no matter what. And if I had it in me, to go for it. I just didn’t have it today. It gives me confidence that I can stay with him the whole way.”

When the two of them crossed the finish line, Boaz and Kitchen shared a long hug between two runners that brought the best out of one another on the course.

“I think we both understand that we are both pushing each other here and we are both hurting really bad,” Boaz said. “I think that the awesome part of this sport is you can bond over the fact of how hard we are going.”

Like the result in the girls race, Crater was the top boys team on Saturday, finishing with 46 points, with Summit finishing second with 74 points.

Storm sophomore Bjorn Blankenship finished eighth (15:35.3) and senior Ben Meier finished 18th (15:57.1) to propel the Storm to a second-consecutive second-place team finish.

“It was a great day for the boys,” Strang said. “The growth on that side of our program has been tremendous. You saw those guys give everything that they had.”

Caldera’s Carney third to lead girls team to third

After taking fourth as a team last at last year’s meet, the Caldera girls team moved up one spot in the team rankings to bring home a third-place trophy.

The Wolfpack were led by sophomore Maddie Carney, who finished third with a time of 18:04.8, behind the state’s first girls four-time state champion Emily Wisniewski of Crescent Valley (17:14), and Wilsonville’s Jadyn Kipe, who finished second (18:04.2).

Kipe’s late kick was just enough to overtake Carney at the end. Still, the sophomore was happy with how she ran.

“I really can’t complain,” Carney said. “Getting into the top three was a goal of mine, so I was really happy with how I ran. This summer I really wanted to put in that work and the time and that really paid off this season.”

Three more Wolfpack runners finished in the top 30 with senior Mia Koernig finishing 12th (18:41.2), freshman Miley Morical finishing 15th (18:52.9), and senior Sage Cramp finishing 28th (19:43.0) to help Caldera to its highest finish in program history.

“With that team title it was so close for those top four spots,” Carney said. “I’m really glad we got third. I think it is awesome for Caldera, especially as a newer school.”

Caldera’s Morical third in 5A boys race

It was deja vu for Caldera’s Mason Morical in the 5A boys race. Last year at the state meet, Morical ran down Central’s Ty Cirino on the final stretch of the track to move up from sixth place to fourth place. This year, the junior was in fourth place on the final 300 meters of the course with about 30 meters between him and Cirino.

Even Morical thought he was destined for a second-straight fourth-place finish until he noticed Cirino starting to slow down. Morical had just enough in the tank to make one final push. Morical finished in 15:16.5, and Cirino finished in 15:16.7.

“Placing in the top three was a big goal of mine this year,” Morical said. “Just thinking about that on the track really made me push it even more. I knew I had it in me. I did not think of catching him. But when he looked back at me, I knew I could get him.”

Morical led the Caldera boys to a fifth place team finish.

Crook County boys take third in 4A

With 104 points and a top-10 finish by senior Adam Radabaugh, the Crook County boys finished third in the 4A state race behind only Newport and Cottage Grove.

Radabaugh led the charge for the Cowboys with a seventh-place finish (16:30.0). Junior Hunter Davis finished 23rd (17:19.9) and Taylor Harper finished 24th (17:24.0) to pace Crook County.

Madras’s Picard lands on the 4A podium

With a time of 19:19.8, Madras’ Emily Picard finished seventh in the girls 4A state race and was the only placing Central Oregon runner in the 4A field.