Homecoming
Left to right: Maddie Meyers, Kayla Richardson, Kyla Becker, Lyndsey Abt, Erica Doering, and Meagan Wakefield at the start of the race. Photo by Amanda Prifti.
Written by Karl Dickman, edited by Chris Smith
Stumptown Cross #4 at Fernhill Park was Rose City Track’s homecoming meet. The park is a popular running and training spot for the large contingent of the team that lives in Northeast Portland.
This meet was the women’s team’s rematch with Team Red Lizard, coming off their win at Blue Lake two weeks earlier. The rematch was a hard-fought battle for every point. Kyla Becker surged to a commanding lead halfway through the race, winning it overall and coming through the finish 16 seconds ahead of Red Lizard’s Isabelle Brauer. Maddie Meyers, less than a month after her OTQ in Chicago, finished fourth and beat Ari Fisher by four seconds. Kayla Richardson finished 29 seconds behind Allison Crocker, and Lizzie Harmon, in her final XC race before CIM, finished six seconds behind Jessie Rubin.
With all four scorers across the finish line, the team score was tied at 18–18, to be broken by each team’s fifth finisher. It came down to a duel between Lyndsey Abt and TRL’s Regina Lopez, who had been running in the same pack the whole race. In the end, Regina (a 2020 OTQ marathoner) beat Lyndsey by six seconds, shutting Rose City out of a repeat win.
Left to right: Maddie Meyers, Kayla Richardson, Lyndsey Abt, Laura Thomas, Kyla Becker, Lizzie Harmon, Meagan Wakefield, Erica Doering, and Sara Bea Myre. Photos by Amanda Prifti.
Blue Lake and Fernhill are surely some of the fiercest team competitions that Stumptown Cross has seen in years. Cross-Country isn’t about superstars. It’s about depth. Every place matters. The narrow win at Blue Lake and narrow loss at Fernhill reflect a team that is committed to showing up in numbers and performing their best. A total of ten team members competed in the women’s race, a tie for second-largest women’s team of all time.
Left to right: Lizzie Harmon, Kayla Richardson, Mia Yerton, Lyndsey Abt, Kyla Becker, Erica Doering, Maddie Meyers, Meagan Wakefield, and Sara Bea Myre. Photo by Amanda Prifti.
6k race results
Laura Thomas came to the starting line struggling with asthma that had been worsening since Blue Lake. LT says:
I went into this race with a lot of uncertainty. Would I be able to toe the start line at all, let alone finish? My asthma had been flared up for over a week at that point, but I wanted to race or at least try. My race plan was to run the first two loops very controlled, picking it up for the remaining ones if I could breathe enough to send it. I'm happy to report that I executed as planned.
Running what I ran all alone and in tough course conditions, while having a bad asthma month is pretty impressive.
Meagan Wakefield, joining the XC squad in the middle of her build to CIM, says, “SO FUN. Beautiful day, always a joy to be out there with teammates.” Meagan ran the soggy, muddy course in Vaporflies. She says, “[I] will be more intelligent about footwear in the future.”
Kayla says, “I was so appreciative of everyone who came out to cheer and support us. It made a world of difference to have the course lined with folks shouting for us and to have the tent area feel so festive. Kept me accountable throughout the whole race.”
Lizzie Harmon congratulates Mia Yerton on a strong performance. Also pictured (left to right): Lyndsey Abt, Maddie Meyers, Kirk Sutherland, Meagan Wakefield, and Kayla Richardson. Photo by Amanda Prifti.
Mia Yerton says, “I love the secret witch activity that we have added to the cross country season. I wasn’t feeling too confident going into the race after having some light mileage weeks, but my secret witch note reminded me that I had a good base, and that I just ran a great half marathon. That put things into perspective for me and I definitely thought about it during the race.”
The men’s team finished fourth of five teams with 59 points, 7 points behind Jacuzzi Boys with 52. They fielded nine athletes, their biggest team of the season.
8k race results
After racing a 6k at Blue Lake, the men’s race moved up to 8k (almost exactly 5 miles). Alex Kurt says, “Fernhill was the first 8k I’ve run since college. I don’t remember them being so long.”
Harry Holzgang was excited to have another opportunity to race at Fernhill. He has fond memories of competing in several big invitationals there back when he was running for Klamath Union High School. Harry says, “Fernhill was a good day for a team race. My primary goal was to beat my time for last year, a goal that I got more nervous for realizing I hadn’t done as bad in 2024 as I remembered. I ended up beating my 2024 time but not by much. It was a tough day and twice a teammate helped me pull out of negative thinking and back into racing. If I was running as an individual I would not have beat last year’s time and easily been a minute or so slower.”
Supreeth Mannava, another runner on the CIM train, says, “I definitely think I’d like to get across that marathon training and cross country can co-exist! Doing a long warmup and then racing was a super fun way to approach the race in a way that allowed me to still run the race really hard and get those race day feelings again without worrying that it would impact my training for CIM. Had a lot of fun absorbing the energy from teammates around me racing and cheering and surprised myself with a very solid performance!”
Alden Roy says, “Never underestimate a course you've never stepped foot on.”
Left to right: Alden Roy, Kasey Geller, Alex Kurt, Michael Mayper, Supreeth Mannava, Brad Doering, Harry Holzgang, Karl Dickman, and Ryan Misjan. Photos by Amanda Prifti.
Brad Doering says:
Fernhill the experience was awesome. So many people on the team came out to run or cheer, which was absolutely amazing. The team continues to be so supportive and welcoming that it makes running and competing worth it.
Fernhill the race was a mixed bag. I thought I went out conservative and started out sub-6 pace, which on a shorter race would have been fine, but my first XC 8k in 14 years was not fine. I was happy with my time overall, but going out too fast, really fighting it in the middle of the race to feel like I was going to be able to make it to the end of the race, and then trying to pick it up to finish the race after being in survival mode for so many miles was a mental challenge I haven’t experienced much recently but was glad to experience after the dust settled.
And Fernhill the course was interesting. I feel like it had the makings of a fast course that was just completely bogged down by all of the mud. It was challenging to say the least. Running that course in spikes left my calves, quads, and hamstrings feeling completely toasted to a point they haven’t been to in many years.
Overall, I’m happy to have another race for RCTC under my belt, another cross country race done in the Stumptown series, and have taken a rest week this past week to let my body heal up so that I can try to put together a good performance at Pier Park, my “home” course.
The heavy rains throughout the week had left the race course waterlogged, and the rolling hills and upward slope of the park added to the challenge. Buoyed by the companionship of their teammates and the vocal support of the cheer squad, Rose City Rose met the challenge and turned in another strong team performance. A shout out to the cheer squad for making this homecoming extra special: Ashley Meagher, Eric Laurel, Jesse Otto, Lucy Brookham, Rachel Wysocki, and coffee supplier Kirk Sutherland.
One big happy family. Photo by Amanda Prifti.
Left to right: Ryan Misjan, Alex Kurt, Alden Roy, Harry Holzgang, Supreeth Mannava, Karl Dickman, Brad Doering, Michael Mayper, and Kasey Geller. Photo by Amanda Prifti.