Local prep runners participate in national cross country event
![Members of the North Central girls cross country team, shown in an Oct. 17 photo, including 2017 state champ Erinn Hill and 2018 state champ Allie Janke, will participate in the Foot Locker Cross Country West Regional on Saturday. (Dave Nichols / The Spokesman-Review)](https://thumb.spokesman.com/uO6q6eDqVn9RLDznlEJuDvMVKgE=/600x0/media.spokesman.com/graphics/2018/07/sr-loader.png)
The region’s top runners are scheduled to compete in the Foot Locker West Regional Cross Country Championships at Mt. San Antonio (California) College on Saturday, racing against their counterparts from 11 other Western States and U.S. citizens in overseas military installations.
The Spokane contingent at the West Regional meet – one of four Foot Locker regional competitions held across the country – is led by Ryan Kline of Central Valley and Allie Janke of North Central. Kline finished fifth in the boys State 4A championships and Janke was the girls State 3A champion.
The top 10 boys and girls at the West Regional meet will advance to the Foot Locker Cross Country Nationals in San Diego on Dec. 8, joining top qualifiers from the Northeast, South and Midwest.
Last year, Katie Thronson of Lewis and Clark and Turlan Morlan of Gonzaga Prep qualified for the national meet, becoming the 28th and 29th Spokane-area runners to qualify since its inception in 1979. Thronson finished 19th at the national meet and Morlan 37th in the field of 40 national competitors.
“The Spokane area has a long and storied history of distance running, as evidenced every year by the success of local runners who compete at the high school level,” Bloomsday race director Don Kardong said via news release. “Bloomsday is proud to recognize their achievements by sponsoring this trip to Foot Locker, where Spokane’s finest high school runners can test their mettle against the best from the West.”
For more information on the Foot Locker regionals and nationals: footlockercc.com/west.
Runners sponsored to the meet by the Lilac Bloomsday Association:
Girls: Erinn Hill (NC), Allie Janke (NC), Marie Taylor (NC), Gabi Davis (LC), Mia Hill (NC), Naomi Butler (LC), Kenzie Gaines (LC), Halle Caviness (Ferris), Amelu Ruff (NC), Audrey Thronson (LC), Noelani Kruss (GP), Alexis Parker (Mead), Madelyn Buckley (Lakeside), Matise Mulch (Lakeside), Marin George (Deer Park) and Madison Lee (NC).
Boys: Jacob Easton (University), Ryan Kline (CV), Caleb Lloyd (Mead), Jonas Bears (GP), Leif Swanson (NC), Silas Chapman (NC), Bas Holland (Cheney), Daniel Jarvis (Mead), Alec Kness (NC), Sam Anderson (GP), Giovanni Raskell (West Valley), Lukas Brown (Mt. Spokane), Isaac Morris (NC), Travis Hicks (U-Hi), AJ Paulson (Mead) and Eli Gilbert (Mead).