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)