
Take the top 40 runners across all Classes from two of the top HS Running states on the west coast.
Put them all together in a showdown for best of the west.
Drop that showdown in the quintessential center of running.
What you get is Borderclash. This is the ninth season Nike has hosted this showdown of High School’s best. Borderclash has grown to be one of the most talked about events of the cross country season.
Borderclash is hosted on the 2.6 k course on the Nike campus in Beaverton Oregon.
Just being there is excitement enough for these young athletes. The pride and recognition of being the best in their field should be enough, add that to the pleasure and privilege of being at and running at the Nike Campus, a place designed from the ground up to indulge, glorify and proliferate excellence in athletics.
Borderclash is nested comfortably between the Final State championships and the NTN Regionals in Portland, Or and the Footlocker Regional Qualifiers at Mt.Sac, Ca, both on Dec 1.
Some of these runners and teams look on this race as a low pressure, outing, a breather to breath deep and strut their stuff before the real work on the path to the national finals. Many of these young athletes, however, see Borderclash as the final test in a long successful season, to some it will be their last high school race.
Enter Bridget Berg, Senior, Ballard High School 9th Place 4A State 19:04
Second Year attending Borderclash
Bridget began running in her sophomore year. Her original intent was to dive and play tennis. Luck yfor us all she soon found what grew to be her real athletic forte.
Brigdet runs.
From her first days at summer conditioning, her coach, Bruce Drager knew she had that something extra needed to be a winner. It took Bridget until the end of her sophomore year to understand what Coach Drager knew. In a late season 3200 Bridget found here groove, put things together and soundly passed and beat the best 3200 at her school and on her team. After this race Bridget saw herself as the kind of athlete she would grow to be. She set down a vigorous training program and slowly and steadily improved with each race. Last year she placed 18th at her first state meet with 19:37. This year she placed 9th with a 19:07. Two years previous, this fine athlete was jumping of the high dive and hitting a green ball across a tennis court!
This year at Pasco, Bridget Berg became the best High School girl XC athlete to compete from Ballard High School, ever!
Bridget Berg is the first girl, from her school, to place as high as ninth in the state meet.
She is also the first girl, from Ballard, to attend Borderclash, let alone twice.
Last year Bridget went to Borderclash , happy to have qualified, happy to be going, happy to see how it was hanging out with the fast kids. Her intention was just to have fun, enjoy her success and bask in the honor. She finished 31st, maintaining her position in the state finalists with a 17:34
This year is different. She is fully aware of her self in place and time, she understands where she is, how she got there and sees a clear path into the future. Late in her sophomore year she understood that her preparation for success and that success, would become a means to an end. Running would become the path and the tool. She is going to Borderclash this year to add one more successful race to her long list of races.
This is not a rest on the way to Footlocker, for Bridget Berg this is the next race, her next race in a long line of next races.
Borderclash offers an important validation to these young athletes. It allows them to see themselves as the exceptional athletes they are in a large and successful group of other, just like them. It is place they can be comfortable in their ability and grow to understand that there are others like them, set in a place that is built around and proliferates athletic success.
WASHINGTON GIRLS 2007
| Kayla Evans 4A 2nd | | | | Sandra Martinez 4A 3rd | | | | Devin McMahon 4A 4th | | | | Sarah Lord 4A 5th | | | | Alyssa Andrews 4A 6th | | |
| Lacey Wagner 4A 7th | | | | Nicole Cochran 4A 8th | | | | Bridget Berg 4A 9th | | | | Cia Bywater 4A 10th | | | | Lyndy Davis 4A 11th | | |
| Ellie Bonner 4A 12th | | | | Sadie Mohler 4A 13th | | | | Chelsea Orr 4A 15th | | | | Mietra Smollack 4A 16th | | | | Kate Stuart 4A 18th | | |
| Annie Dear 4A 19th | | | | Haley Nemra 4A 20th | | | | Anna Kalbrener 4A 21st | | | | Shawna Schooley 4A 22nd | | | | Katelyn Steen 4A 23rd | | |
| Bronwyn Crossman 3A 1st | | | | Chelsea Burns 3A 2nd | | | | Emily Farrar 3A 4th | | | | Natty Plunkett 3A 5th | | | | Margo Cramer 3A 6th | | |
| Amanda Wright 3A 7th | | | | Clarkie Hussey 3A 8th | | | | Carey Parker 3A 9th | | | | Natalie Afonina 3A 11th | | | | Ruby Roberts 2A 1st | | |
| Annie Moore 2A 2nd | | | | Shannon Porter 2A 3rd | | | | Caroline Austin 2A 4th | | | | Torin Shriver 2A 5th | | | | Marki Creger-Zier 2A 6th | | |
| Becca Friday 2A 7th | | | | Olivia Thomas 1A 1st | | | | Molly Billingham 1A 3rd | | | | Joscelyn Minton .1B 1st | | | | Jillian Altizer | | |
WASHINGTON BOYS 2007
| Miles Unterreiner 4A 1st |
| | | Robby Webster 4A 2nd | | | | Kevin Rosaaen 4A 3rd | | | | Jono Lafler 4A 4th | | | | Anthony Ellis 4A 5th | | |
| Yon Yilma 4A 6th | | | | Kelly Lynch 4A 8th | | | | Shane Moskowitz 4A 9th | | | | Scott Larson 4A 10th | | | | Kyle King 4A 11th | | |
| Shane Weldon 4A 12th | | | | Joey Bywater 4A 13th | | | | Kyle (Vinny) VanSanten 4A 14th | | | | Eric Cronrath 4A 15th | | | | Justin Englund 4A 16th | | |
| Daniel Renz 4A 17th | | | | Jon Phillips 4A 18th | | | | Conner Peloquin 4A 19th | | | | Aiden Irish 4A 20th | | | | Marcus Budig 4A 22nd | | |
| Ryan Prentice 3A 1st | | | | Andrew Kimpel 3A 2nd | | | | Shane Geiger 3A 3rd | | | | Andrew Gonzales 3A 4th | | | | Julian-Blake Cowan 3A 5th | | |
| Steven Hicks 3A 6th | | | | Daniel Paine 3A 7th | | | | Leon Dean 3A 8th | | | | Trevor Thompson 3A 9th | | | | Jeff Howard 3A 10th | | |
| Justin Rose 2A 1st | | | | Abdi Giire 2A 2nd | | | | Danny Lindstrom 2A 3rd | | | | Richard Keroack 2A 4th | | | | Quinton Decker 2A 5th | | |
| Josh Simpson 2A 6th | | | | Mason McHenry 2A 7th | | | | Matt Cronrath 1B 1st | | | | Kyle Johnson 1A 3rd | | | | Tim Welch 1A 4th | | |
Schedule
Saturday, November 17, 2007
| 12:00 - 3:00 | Arrive and register in Tiger Woods Center (see campus map) |
| 2:00 - 4:00 | Running Gait Analysis at the Nike Sports Research Lab. Mandatory course run-through with respective team captains: 3:00 Oregon Girls 3:15 Washington Girls 3:30 Washington Boys 3:45 Oregon Boys |
| 5:00 - 6:00 | Athlete Activity |
| 6:15 - 7:00 | Dinner at Tiger Woods Center |
| 7:00 - 8:30 | Presentation Nike elite athletes and special guest speaker |
| 8:30 - 10:00 | Coaches social |
Dinner will be provided for athletes and coaches free of charge. FAMILIES MAY ATTEND DINNER FOR A COST OF $15/PERSON (under 6 eat free). Dinner passes are available for purchase during registration. Everyone is invited to the post-dinner opening presentation. Sunday, November 18, 2007 | 9:00 | Course opens |
| 10:30 | Girls' race |
| 11:15 | Boys' race |
| 12:00 | Awards presentation (the top 10 individuals in each race and top combined State team will receive special awards) |