Cascade Burns Through Hilly Stayton Course as Six Cougars Set PRs

Cascade’s boys varsity team placed seventh among 10 scoring teams, while Makenna Burns won the junior varsity girls race to lead the Cougars at the Stayton Invitational on Saturday at Stayton Middle School Nature Trails. The Cascade girls varsity team did not field the five runners needed to record a team score.

The hilly course placed a premium on controlled pacing and maintaining effort across the field. Although the terrain was not considered ideal for personal records, Cascade produced six of them while racing in mainly clear conditions with a temperature of 59 degrees at the start.

Burns delivered Cascade’s top individual result, setting a personal record in the 3,000 meters while finishing first in the JV girls race. Her victory highlighted a strong day of progress for the Cougars, whose runners improved on performances from the same demanding course last season.

Evan Gilmore, Liam O’Brien, Penny Hunt, Hannah Bielenberg and Cristian Sullenger also established personal records. Their performances showed the Cougars could make measurable gains despite the elevation changes and slower conditions that often disrupt rhythm and spread out packs. Cascade’s runners stayed focused on pacing through the hills and carrying their effort to the finish.

The boys’ seventh-place result gave Cascade another team benchmark as the Cougars continue building toward the championship portion of the schedule. On the girls’ side, the absence of a complete scoring lineup did not prevent Burns, Hunt and Bielenberg from producing significant individual performances.

Cascade’s cross country team will next compete away at the Nike Portland Classic on Saturday, September 26th. The meet will give the Cougars another chance to build on the personal records and course-to-course improvement established at Stayton.