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LISD teams take flight for Nike Cross Nationals

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One final meet remains for the Cedar Park boys, the Vista Ridge girls and Vista Ridge boys' runner Zach Ornelas - the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Ore. on Saturday.

For the Timberwolves and for Ornelas, the meet caps an amazing season of expectation. But for the Lady Rangers, the meet offers a bit of redemption after a shocking upset at the Region II meet several weeks ago.

One thing is for sure: Both teams are excited to be running with the best teams from around the country.

“Getting to Nike Nationals brings such a huge sense of accomplishment,” said Cedar Park coach Timo Sheard. “We know this is probably one of the biggest races this program has ever run in and we're excited.”

Reaching the national meet had always been a goal for the Cedar Park boys, who were ranked no lower than third in state the entire season.

Running behind talents like Parker Stinson, Jay McIllece, Sean O'Neil, Chris Galvin, Austin Geerts, Austin Krohn and Brandon Wilkerson, Cedar Park started its run to nationals with by winning the District 16-5A championship. A runner-up finish at the Region II championships and a third place effort at the state meet kept the T'wolves in line for the Nike South Regional qualifier on Nov. 22 at The Woodlands.

A second place finish there punched Cedar Park's ticket to nationals.

“We're going to have to change our perspective for this meet,” Sheard said. “We know we're the underdogs at this meet, but we also know we earned our chance to run here as well.”

As for Vista Ridge, the last two weeks have been eventful ones as the travel party to Portland grew from three to nine in the last few days.

At Nike South, Ornelas qualified for nationals by placing fourth overall individually.

He was joined by both Amanda Russell (fourth at Nike South) and Ashley Isham (fifth at Nike South), while the Lady Rangers made a case for an at-large bid by finishing third overall.

“We knew we had those three running for sure,” said Vista Ridge coach David Hilsenteger. “But we also knew we had a good chance to see the girls qualify as well.”

The girls team then had to wait until last Sunday to find out if they would be joining the trio at nationals.

“I got the call a little before noon,” Hilsentger said. “I told Zoe (Galbraith) that we were in, and then things got a little chaotic.”

Hilsenteger estimates over 50 calls and text messages came to him from members of the team and well wishers.

The meet offers the Lady Rangers a shot of redemption as well.

After winning the District 16-5A championship, Vista Ridge finished a disappointing fourth at regionals and missed a shot at state.

Now the team gets a final chance to run together.

“It's definitely a shot at redemption for the girls,” Hilsenteger said. “They were disappointed at not being able to run at state, and they showed they could produce at Nike South to have this chance to run at nationals.”

This story was originally published on December 5, 2008.

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