Great Oak Ventures Out To Take On Bob Firman Invite

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

The top cross country program in California, and of the best in the country, will fly to Boise, Idaho this weekend for the Bob Firman Invitational.

Great Oak, coming out of dominant performances on both the boys and girls side at the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic in Norco, Calif., welcomes the challenge of taking on some of the top teams and individuals from the Northwest and Utah.

“It opens the eyes for the kids to how some of these courses (around the country) are different and tough,” Great Oak coach Doug Soles said.

The lure of variety and curiosity about what’s going in other places has led Great Oak to make annual trips out of California to find competition at big meets in Texas, Oregon, Arizona, Minnesota, North Carolina and New York – all since 2010.

Great Oak last came to the Eagle Island State Park course three years ago, the same year the boys went on to win the Nike Cross Nationals title. The Bob Firman Invitational course is the same one used for NXR Northwest in November.

The elite varsity girls race goes off at 11:20 a.m. on Saturday. The boys follow at 11:50 a.m. (Mountain).

Junior Tori Gaitan, coming off an impressive victory at Woodbridge that moved her to No. 10 nationally, will be tested Saturday by some of the top runners in Idaho and its neighboring states. Gaitan, along with teammates Arianna Griffiths, Fatima Cortes and Audrey Dang, figure to all be somewhere near the front.

Ember Stratton, a senior transfer at Missoula Hellgate MT, is rounding back into form after injuries derailed much of her junior year at Sunset OR. Stratton was the 2016 NXN runner-up as a sophomore.

Northwest No. 2 Boise, led by Eve Jensen and Maggie Liebich, Northwest No. 5 Bozeman, led by Terra Trom, and North Central WA of Spokane, led by Allie Janke and twins Mia and Erinn Hill, should offer some strong competition in the team race.

The Great Oak boys, who put 20 runners under 16 minutes last weekend on the 3-mile Woodbridge course, should have no trouble finding a combination to take the team victory.

The biggest challenge could come from Southwest No. 3 Skyridge UT, which finished just eight points behind American Fork at the BYU Autumn Classic last weekend (83-91). Another could come from Northwest No. 4 Rocky Mountain of nearby Meridian, Idaho.

Grant Gardner of Springville UT, ranked No. 14 in the latest DyeStat rankings, will be looking to improve upon his ninth-place finish at Bob Firman last year.

Another runner to watch is Borah ID sophomore Nathan Green, who ran 4:15.81 for the full mile last spring. Green has beaten NXN 16th-place finisher Nicholas Russell of Bishop Kelly ID twice in the past month by slim margins. Russell was fifth at Bob Firman last year.

A third Idaho standout, Stetson Moss of the brand new Thunder Ridge High, is injured and will not compete. He was 17th at NXN last December.