Rapid City's Tony Smoragiewicz trudges through a muddy cross country course at the Nike Nationals in Portland, Oregon on Saturday. Smoragiewicz finished ninth.

PORTLAND–The lead runners broke hard and fast at the Nike Cross Country National Championship race Saturday in Portland. South Dakota state champion Tony Smoragiewicz found himself 40^th after the first half mile, slogging through mud, wind and a slippery course on a true cross country day in which weather dominated course conditions. “The start was really fast.” Tony reported after the race. “It was so muddy that you had to go out fast or get trapped in the back. A kid in front of me fell down in the mud at the hale bales.”

At the one-mile post, Smoragiewicz had moved up to 20^th position, and then spent the last half of the race neck-in-neck with the top 20 high school runners in the country. With rhythm and pace victims of the mud, all runners struggled to keep their focus. But at the finish line, the Rapid City Central star was in 9^th place, an incredible finish in the star-studded field of 199 runners including last year’s winner, Craig Lutz, who finished third. Lukas Verzbicas from suburban Chicago won this year’s championship in a time of 15:59.2. Smoragiewicz finished thirty seconds behind, in 9^th place, at 16:29.9.

Smoragiewicz after finishing the race in 16:29 on Saturday.

Verzbicas is considered the premier high school runner in the country, and beat Smoragiewicz only a week ago in Wisconsin at the regional qualifier for the Foot Locker Championship which comes next for the runners on December 11 in San Diego.

Eight of the top ten finishers in this year’s Nike Championship are high school seniors. Only Smoragiewicz and Edward Cheserek (2^nd) are underclassmen. Saturday’s results set Smoragiewicz up for heavy consideration as a favorite in 2011.

On the women’s side, Steven’s freshman Tamara Gorman finished 30^th with a time of 19:37.9. Because she is so young, Gorman can look forward to moving into the top ten over the next two years and competing for the national title as a junior and senior.

For most of the last year Smoragiewicz and Gorman ran just below the radar screen. Startling race observers, often surprising even themselves. That won’t be the case anymore. Both are now completely in focus on the national scene.