Cooper Altenburg and Vance Koyle, two La Grande Middle School students, have made their mark on the National running scene. Below are articles from their successes. We are honored to have such motivated young men as part of our school district! Congratulations on a job well done!
The boys did base-work and strengthening over the summer and competed in some local races including the Catherine Creek Scamper and Imbler's 4th of July Run before heading into 2024, and their final, middle school season of cross country. Altenburg dominated the Eastern Oregon middle school scene, earning first place in each local XC race during the season. Koyle placed in the top 8 in each of the local races, and they both set personal records in each distance ran over the season including the 1.5 mile, 2500k, 3000k, 2 mile, and 4000k distances. During their middle school season, Altenburg often traveled to Oregon's West coast to race against the fastest kids in Oregon and challenge himself to compete amongst the best. Both boys traveled to Idaho to run Bob Firman, a large competitive race in Idaho where they placed 2nd(Altenburg) and 16th (Koyle). The duo also played an integral part of their LGMS team at the middle school Eastern Oregon Championship in Pendleton, where the La Grande Middle School boys' team became 2 time consecutive champions. La Grande Middle School XC season officially ended on October 25th, and the boys have continued on since then, knowing that if they qualified for nationals, they'd be running until December 14th. First, both needed to qualify at state level in Monmouth Oregon, and the regional level in Tacoma, WA. Altenburg walked away from the 4,000k Oregon qualifier with a qualifying 2nd place finish with a time of 13:25.9. Koyle also qualified with a placement of 8th with a time of 14:20.9. Knowing that they would need to place 30th or better at the Tacoma regional qualifier, both boys were nervous and excited. Altenburg came in 5th, with a time of 13:34.5. Koyle came in 29th, with a time of 14:29.5 This qualified the duo for the USATF National XC Meet in Shelbyville, Indiana, where they will compete on December 14th. Altenburg is ranked 22nd, while Koyle is ranked 200th.”
FB group support page post National meet:
What a crazy ride! Cooper got 15th with a PR time of 12:55.9, making him the fastest 4k Oregon runner at Nationals and an All American. Vance also ran a lifetime PR with a time of 14:00.2, placing 142nd out of 421. We are so proud of them for their hard work, dedication, and heart. Both are happy with their performances and will be headed home feeling accomplished.
**Thank you to Jill Pedro and Linda Sweet for the story.