New Weekend And New Test For Some Of Woodbridge's Sweepstakes Champions, Including Evan Noonan and Jane Hedengren

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Ken Martinez photos

Fresh off their victories at the 42nd Woodbridge Cross Country Classic last Saturday night, the No. 1 ranked Herriman UT boys, Dana Hills CA's Evan Noonan and Timpview UT's Jane Hedengren are all headed to the Bob Firman Invitational this weekend in Idaho. 

The Friday and Saturday schedule at Eagle Island State Park is loaded, with more than 4,440 high school and middle school athletes from nine states set to compete on the course that also serves as the home of NXR Northwest. 

WATCH THE BOB FIRMAN INVITATIONAL LIVE ON RUNNERSPACE (+PLUS required)

But all eyes are on Herriman, the top-ranked team in the country and back-to-back winner of the Doug Speck Sweepstakes title at Woodbridge. 

And Noonan, who won the biggest race so far this season with a 3-mile course record 13:41.3. 

And Hedengren, the U.S. No. 2-ranked individual, who survived an epic final sprint against Boerne Champion TX sophomore Elizabeth Leachman. 

All who attended Woodbridge will get a much different experience at Eagle Island, with its varied terrain, 180-degree turns, a steep hill and a sandy beach. 

"The kids set the schedule in May and decided they wanted to do this trip and felt like it would be a good thing to see the differences in a flat fast course versus a harder strength-based course," said Herriman coach Doug Soles, who previously won 10 Woodbridge titles at Great Oak CA.

"It allows us to mentally prepare for the different types of courses we will see in the postseason."

Nine different Herriman Mustangs ran under 14:54 on the fast 3-mile course at Great Park in Irvine, Calif. Senior William Steadman led the team with his eighth-place finish in 14:07.9. Yet another runner, Max Hofheins, was ill at Woodbridge and could bounce back to the team's No. 2 by the end of the season. 

"We are still battling for top seven spots, so this gives that top group a chance to show what they can do on a strength course, which may play out totally differently than how Woodbridge did," Soles said. 

At Eagle Island, the 5-kilometer course record is 14:51.6 by Tyrone Gorze of Crater OR, who ran that time at last year's NXR Northwest before racing to third place at Nike Cross Nationals. 

The Bob Firman Invitational course record is 14:58.4 by Rocky Mountain ID senior Landon Heemeyer, who is due back to defend his title against Noonan and everyone else. 

Heemeyer was ninth at the CHAMPS Sports national cross country final in San Diego last December. 

Herriman will face competition from Dana Hills, which was eighth at Woodbridge last weekend, Trabuco Hills CA, which was 11th; Northwest No. 5 Seattle Prep from Washington; Idaho powers Rocky Mountain and Boise; Star Valley of Wyoming; and Orem and Layton of Utah. 

Additional top individuals include JoJo Jourdon of Olympus UT (fourth at Woodbridge) and Jack Meier of West Salem OR (14th at Woodbridge), Nate Stadtlander of Meridian ID and Austin Westfall of Orem UT, who Saturday at the Border Wars XC Invitational.

Hedengren is the headliner of the elite girls field after running 15:32.5 for a course record and the fastest 3-mile cross country time in U.S. prep history. She beat Leachman at the line last Saturday by a tenth of a second. 

The team race appears to be a battle between three of the top four teams in the Northwest, with US#26 Boise ID, US#32 Lincoln OR and US#39 Preston ID going head to head in a regional preview. 

Rocky Mountain ID, Orem UT, Herriman UT and Timpanogos UT are among the challengers. 

Nelah Roberts of Skyline ID, who finished 24th at NXN last year and opened her season with a victory at the Tiger/Grizz Invitational, is another national level competitor. She finished second at the Bob Firman Invitational last year. 

Boise's Allie Bruce leads the Brave and has won both of her early season races. She was 10th at Bob Firman last year. 

Keira Saavedra leads Lincoln and opened her season with an 18:17.5 at the PIL Preview at Portland's Lents Park. 

Saturday's high school portion of the meet includes 3,439 entries from 153 schools. Friday evening's races are for the middle school athletes.