The Brave took second place by one point to Heritage, 120 to 121, in the Danner Championship, the final varsity race of the day which typically features several nationally and regionally ranked teams. Through the first mile, Boise led the team standings over Heritage by six points. Through two miles, Heritage had taken the lead by one point, and secured the team title as Heritage's No. 1 runner, senior Emry Schwalm, won the individual title in a blazing 16:56.5.

Boise was led by seniors Audrey Orme (second place in 17:08), Reese Kindig (21st place in 18:15.3) and Lucy Spiess (22nd in18:17.10). The Brave were competing at their first Nike Portland since 2019.

"I honestly didn't know what to expect coming in," Boise head coach Aaron Olswanger said Sunday by phone. "We won the Eagle Island meet the week before and didn't think we ran our best race. We had a really solid week of practice. We knew Heritage was good coming in. It was fun to see one of the better teams and we match up pretty with them."

Orme's time was not only a personal best, but it broke Boise's school record for the fastest 5k time by a girls cross country runner and also makes her the fastest Idaho girl thus far this season. Boise's previous school record was set by 2019 graduate Eve Jensen, who ran 17:15.9 at the 2016 Stanford XC Invitational, where she won the high school girls race. Orme's time is also No. 3 all-time on record by an Idaho girl, behind 2023 Post Falls graduate Annastasia Peters (16:53) and 2025 Meridian graduate Paisley Taylor (17:00.12).

"We made it a point for Audrey to get out hard," Olswanger said. "It's really something she's never done before in cross country."

Olswanger said the bond between seniors Orme, Kinding and Spiess is strong, as is Orme's bond with her underclassmen teammates.

He also shared that many people may not know that Orme dealt with injury as a junior and has worked back from that.

"She took that time one to cross strain like a maniac in a good way," Olswanger said. "She did a good job keeping her fitness up. Her outlook on things, just her connection with the girls is so strong. I attribute that to her maturing. The combination of the three of them, the three seniors, they've been together all four years on varsity. It's been so encouraging. It's hard to put it into words. I'm so proud as a coach to see that."

Olswanger added that the Brave are 'in a different place this year.' Boise placed fourth at last year's 6A girls state meet.

"Reflecting with the girls, we have purpose this year," Olswanger said. "I think we're gonna be better moving forward. Nothing will faze them, I don't think. Speaking to that maturity, that extra year of growing last year going through some bumps, really it was a transition year for us. We're in a different place."

On the boys side, Boise placed fourth in the Danner Championship with 235 points, led by junior Luke Bruce's 34th place finish in a personal best 15:34.5. The boys race was also fast, as the top nine finishers all broke 15 minutes. Conor Lott, a senior from Clovis North (Calif.), won the individual title in 14:34.3.

"Our conversations were just to work on our start," Olswanger said. "We're a really good mid-race to end-race team. That's what we worked on going into this week."

Olswanger said the fourth-place team finish was accomplished without Boise's No. 2 runner, senior Ben Hugaboom, who pulled up injured during warm ups.

"We think we could've been third if Ben ran," Olswanger said. "I'm really glad of how the boys battled despite not having Ben. One man's down, the next man steps up."

Olswanger added that the Brave boys have not yet run with a complete varsity team this season. At the Eagle Island XC Invitational on Sept. 20, Boise placed second to Rocky Mountain by 17 points in the boys team standings and was missing its No. 4 runner.

He said competing at Nike Portland brings several benefits, including the opportunity to prepare for Nike Cross Regionals in November in Spokane.

"For us, it's a way for us to race on a fast course," Olswanger said. "There's basically grass and dirt. That start is so hard to simulate in a meet around here, where you have 250 kids on the line all sprinting for wherever you need to go to get in position. Meets like that are really good for us to prepare for NXR. Secondary, just to see some of the top competition. There's a lot of benefits to traveling and doing meets like that."

Mountain View, Timberline, Centennial, Capital, Caldwell, Post Falls and Nampa Christian also competed at Nike Portland. Timberline's girls were sixth, Mountain View's girls were seventh and the boys were 20th and Centennial's boys were 15th and the girls were 16th in the Danner Championship races. Capital's Sage Powell (27th place, 18:19.70) and Amelie Purcell (45th place, 18:41.90) competed as individuals in the Danner Championship girls race. Timberline's boys placed second in the D-I varsity race while Nampa Christian placed fifth and Post Falls placed eighth in the varsity D-2 boys race.

The competition in 6A District 3 is as fierce as last season. Boise won the varsity girls team title at the Eagle Island Invitational on Sept. 20 by 15 points with Timberline in third while Rocky Mountain won the boys team title by 17 points over Boise and by 22 points over third-place Skyline.

"Our district is loaded," Olswanger said. "Coaches have to find new ways to get better. If you want to keep up, you have to keep getting better and better and better. We saw that in Portland. Mountain View and Timberline both had rally good races. Capital improved. We don't get to see courses like this all the time. You've gotta keep doing good things."

Idaho Represented In Recent Rankings

In DyeStat.com's most recent regional team rankings released Sept. 25, Boise was ranked No. 4 and Rocky Mountain No. 5 in the Northwest girls team rankings while Coeur d'Alene came in at No. 2 and Rocky Mountain No. 3 in the Northwest boys team rankings.  Additionally, in DyeStat.com's Top 40 national team rankings released Sept. 18, Rocky Mountain was No. 25 and Boise No. 36 in the girls rankings while Coeur d'Alene was No. 8  and Rocky Mountain No. 32 in the boys team rankings. The next Top 40 rankings will be released Thursday.

On The Horizon

October arrives this week, and the schedule picks up as district championships and the state meet are now weeks away.

Coeur d'Alene, Lake City, Post Falls, Priest River, Logos, Sandpoint and Coeur d'Alene Charter travel to Spokane this weekend for the Eighth Annual Battle for the 509, a meet Coeur d'Alene has won the varsity black division at twice in a row. The meet takes place at the Spokane Polo Grounds, which is the new Nike Cross Regionals Northwest course upon being relocated from Idaho's Eagle Island State Park. The Vikings are coming off an eighth place finish in the 3-mile sweepstakes race at the 44th Annual Woodbridge Cross Country Classic in Irvine, Calif., a race that featured nationally ranked teams such as Herriman (Utah) and Jesuit (Calif.).

The annual Bob Conley Invite takes place Thursday at Portneuf Wellness Complex in Pocatello. As of Sept. 29, 64 high school teams are registered.

Taking place in North Idaho this weekend are the annual Inland Empire Championships on Saturday at Lewiston Orchards, site of this season's state meet on Nov. 1. As of Sept. 29, 34 high school teams are registered.