EUGENE — Weston-McEwen’s Evelyn Hodgson turned in a time of 19 minutes, 8.5 seconds to place second at the 2A/1A state cross country championships Saturday morning at Lane Community College.

A sophomore, Hodgson ran with winner Jael Legutki of Brandon step for step the first 2K of the 5K race. Legutki put a little distance between herself and the rest of the pack to win the race with a time of 18:57.90.

“She just looked strong and fluid the whole race,” W-M coach Bill Dobos said. “She just had the endurance at the end. About the second lap, she started picking off a couple of runners and hung with the lead runner. She passed Piper (Braseth) on the hill, and on the second lap, she got ahead of Melody (Stock). We are excited for her. It was a good year.”

Hodgson, who won the Special District 4 title last week, was 21st last year as a freshman. Her time this fall was 50 seconds faster than last year.

Imbler’s Braseth finished fourth with a time of 19:21.20, improving on her eighth-place finish last year.

Union’s Gia Savage led the Bobcats, placing 12th with a time of 20:42, leading the Bobcats to the team title with 40 points. It’s the first title for the Bobcats since 2015, and the 16th title in program history.

Lakeview was second (46) and Bandon third (54).

The Heppner girls, who received an at-large berth to state, brought home a team trophy, placing fourth with 69 points.

“I was impressed with how they showed up today,” Heppner coach Russ Nichols said. “I wasn’t expecting it, but I knew they could do it. We tend to come on strong at state.”

The Mustangs were led by Brooklyn Hendricks (20th, 21:38.10), followed by Mikalie Duncan (21st, 21:38.40), Khloe Rodriguez (34th, 23:05.50) and Cora Munkers (36th, 23:14) and Hailey McDaniel (50th, 24:52.30).

The Special District 4 had three of the top four runners in the race, and Union and Heppner grabbed state trophies.

“I was chatting with the Bandon coach,” Nichols said. “We each got an at-large berth and we each got a trophy. Eastern Oregon is so tough.”

2A/1A boys

Weston-McEwen’s Arden Shaul finished just off the podium in 12th place with a time of 16:54.70 at the 2A/1A state championships at Lane Community College.

“He gave it everything he had,” Dobos said. “He was running against some fast guys. When he came onto the track with about 300 meters to go, I could see he had nothing left. When they hit the track, that’s where the real race is. He has nothing to feel bad about.”

Stanfield’s Yahir Coria was 19th (17:08.90), while Nixyaawii’s Sun Schimmel was 25th, clocking a 17:21.

“Sun’s goal was to get in the top 10,” Nixyaawii coach Weyekin Wildbill said. “He’s done an amazing job getting back to state and finishing out his high school career. He is in good spirits. We had that conversation that the 17:50 that he ran two years ago would not have placed 20th this year. We knew it would be fast this year.”

Schimmel was the lone Golden Eagle to qualify for state. The school and community gave him a sendoff Thursday afternoon.

“That big send off was such a special moment for him,” Wildbill said. “It was pretty cool to see and celebrate him and his accomplishments. I’m going to miss him and his work ethic and passion for running. We have a tough league, which makes us better. It has pushed Sun.”

Bandon’s Beckett Pahls won the race with a 15:52.6, followed by Knappa’s Rowdy Justus (15:59.40).

Knappa won the team title with 32 points, while Union was second (70) and Stanfield sixth (206).

4A boys

Pendleton freshman Liam Pennington finished just off the podium, placing 13th with a time of 16:42 at the 4A state championships at Lane Community College.

The Bucks finished eighth in the team standings with 172 points.

“We’re really happy with how all the kids ran today,” Pendleton coach Maddy Naughton said. “Liam is now tied with Jack Reynolds for second all-time for the No. 2 time on the top-10 list. The boys went in ranked 10th, but they came out eighth. The score was a tie, but our sixth runner, freshman AJ Browning, beat Marist’s sixth runner. We’re especially happy for outgoing senior Autry Robinson, who had an outstanding last race of his high school cross country career.”

La Grande won the team title for the second year in a row with 72 points, led by Cooper Altenberg, who was second with a time of 15:39.10.

Corbin Sage of Marist won the title with a time of 15:18.90.

Also scoring for Pendleton were Farley Hill (30th, 17:14.20), Autry Robinson (50th, 17:46.50), Ryan Simpson (57th, 17:57.30), and Gabriel Rock (57th, 17:57.30).

4A girls

Pendleton’s Isabella Allen made the most of her first state cross country championships, placing 46th with a time of 21:13.50.

“Izzy ran a very strong race,” Naughty said. “I think she might have had the fastest time for a Pendleton girl in quite a few years.”

La Grande had two runners in the top 10 and won the team title for the second year in a row with 51 points. Philomath was second (80), while Banks was third (92). Katherine Kessi of Scappoose won the individual title with a time of 18:14.30, 16 seconds faster than the No. 2 runner.