Dobyns-Bennett junior Luke Mussard finished 179th at the Nike Cross National cross country meet on Saturday in Portland, Ore. He covered the 5-kilometer course at Glendoveer Golf Course in 17:00.6.
Dobyns-Bennett junior Luke Mussard finished 179th at the Nike Cross National cross country meet on Saturday in Portland, Ore. He covered the 5-kilometer course at Glendoveer Golf Course in 17:00.6.
PORTLAND, Ore. — On a blustery day at the 17th Nike Cross National cross country meet at Glendoveer Golf Golf Course, Dobyns-Bennett junior Luke Mussard — and much of the rest of the field — had a tough day at the office.
One of the deepest fields on record boasted five boys runners with personal bests of 4:01 or better in the mile as well as more than 35 individual state champions.
“It was a real eye-opening experience racing all of those talented guys,” Mussard said. “It was definitely the most stacked field I’ve ever been in.”
Mussard got out well but faded in the latter stages of the race to place 179th out of 198 finishers. His time for the rolling, twisting 5-kilometer course was 17:00.6.
He was the first individual boys qualifier from Dobyns-Bennett for any national meet since Kevin Odiorne made the Kinney Nationals field in 1990.
Mussard got out well in the first 1.3K, crossing the first checkpoint in 3:47.9 and in 22nd. At the first mile, he was 33rd and crossed in 4:44.3.
“I got out really well and it was really fast. Our first 800 was well under 2:10,” Mussard said.
From there, the stifling winds and rolling hills took their toll, and he lost almost 100 places during the next mile.
Mussard is just one of five Northeast Tennessee boys to qualify as an individual for a national meet. Daniel Boone qualified for the same Nike national meet in 2014, running as the Gray XC Club.
“The experience has been great being around everyone out here and we all have similar mindsets,” Mussard said. “What I can take from the race is knowing the course and how it rolls. Just being here and the experience along with controlling my emotions. All this will pay off next year and hopefully I get to come back.”
TAKING THE GOLD
In the first Nike national meet since 2019, Newbury Park of California lived up to the hype of the nation’s top prep team, winning the team title with 66 points in a landslide over Portland Jesuit of Oregon (152 points).
Newbury Park’s Aaron Sahlman won the individual title in a scorching 14:44.5, passing teammate Leo Young in the final 200 yards to claim the gold.
In the girls’ race, Southeast regional champion Irene Riggs of Morgantown, West Virginia, dominated the race from the start and won in 16:40.9.
Riggs was only three seconds off the course record held by Katelyn Tuohy, who won the NCAA Division I individual title for North Carolina State two weeks ago.
Kinetic XC Club of Saratoga Springs, New York, won the team title with 81 points, beating out Niwot of Colorado (109).
