Staff report
Columbia Gorge News
THE GORGE — Trout Lake senior Melody Stock was the top individual finisher from the Gorge, and the Hood River Valley boys took fifth at the 2026 OSAA state cross country championships in Eugene.
The Lane Community College course wasn’t conducive to too many personal bests — with 10 races held back-to-back over six hours. But Stock navigated the 5,000-meter course on a partly cloudy day to third place — in her second appearance at state. She was timed in 19 minutes, 19 seconds, bettering her time on the course in 2025 when she was 13th overall in 19:30.
Stock was part of a six-runner pack leading the race through 2,000 meters. Eventual winner Jael Legutki of Bandon built a 20-meter lead by 3,000 and the gap was 11 seconds on eventual runner-up Evelyn Hodgson of Weston-McEwen at 4,000.
Trout Lake’s Felicity Peck, a freshman, finished 10th in 20:09. Trout Lake did not qualify as a team.
Class 5A, Hood River
The Hood River Valley boys team finished fifth out of 12 teams at the 5A championships with 166 points. Summit of Bend, paced by individual champion Bjorn Blankenship, won the meet with 28 points.
The Eagles, who two weeks ago won the Northwest Oreg...