CAMAS — Maybe it’s the trails.
Maybe it’s the training.
It’s definitely the talent.
The Camas cross country program is showing no sign of slowing down.
Tuesday, the Papermakers staked their claim as the favorite to win the boys and girls titles at the 4A Greater St. Helens League district meet next month.
The boys team beat defending district champ Skyview 22-45. Yacine Guermali, a junior, covered the hilly 5,000 meter Round Lake course in 17 minutes, 34 seconds to win by 58 seconds.
The girls team, meanwhile, is shooting for its fourth state title in five years. With six of seven varsity runners back and the addition of speedy freshman Rachel Blair, the Papermakers are the team to beat.
As athletes and volunteers disassembled a canopy tent and gathered cones after the Tuesday’s race, coach Laurie Porter was asked why talented runners seem to sprout in Camas like the flower for which the city is named.
“It’s a big running community,” she said. “A lot of parents that are here for their kids are runners too. It’s becoming the running mecca of the area. And I think we have some of the best training grounds anywhere.”
The hilly and wooded areas around town are just where Blair loves to run. The freshman is coming off winning the 3,000 meter title for 13-year-olds at the United States Track and Field Junior Olympics National Championships this summer.
One of her favorite running routes is the thigh-destroying incline up Prune Hill on Parker Street.
“I actually love the hill workouts,” she said. “I just love the challenge and the feeling of accomplishment after.”
Blair is the latest alumna from Evergreen Storm Track Club to make an instant impact for Camas. At last year’s state meet, Emma Jenkins placed fourth and Emily Wilson 11th as freshmen after running for Evergreen.
Tuesday, Blair, Jenkins and Wilson placed first through third, respectively, in a race that Camas treated more like a tempo workout.
That wasn’t the case in the boys race, where the Papermakers went 100 percent.
Though Skyview was without one of its best runners in Chanse Gilbert, who has lingering tightness in his calf, Camas runners claimed five of the top seven places.
Senior captain Adam Ryan says this year has a special feeling about it.
“In my four years, it’s definitely the best Camas has been,” he said. “I’m just glad to be part of it as captain. … We’ve grown so close together as friends. That makes racing so much easier to fight for each other and put others before yourself.”
The Camas boys also had a fast freshman show up on the first day of practice. Daniel Maton is the younger brother of Matthew Maton, who last spring became just the sixth U.S. high school runner to run a sub-four-minute mile. While his older brother is now at the University of Oregon, Daniel Maton moved to Camas from Bend, Ore.
Maton had been running among the lead varsity runners until suffering an achilles injury in a race last weekend. Porter said it’s still unclear how long he’ll be sidelined.
But Camas has plenty of depth. Tuesday, Dustin Zimmerly, Ryan, Nick Carter and Nick Duffy all finished within 20 seconds of each other as the second through fifth-fastest Papermakers.
While the Camas girls might have a state-title-or-bust attitude, the boys want to join the party.
“Watching the girls success that they’ve had over the years kind of raises the bar for us,” Ryan said.
