Category CYO Championship

Braving the Mud: The Grit and Glory of Youth Cross Country

Sr. Krista von Borstel, SSMO Leave a comment

More than 300 young athletes gathered at Camp Howard near Sandy, Oregon, on October 10, 2026, for the annual CYO Big Foot Cross Country Championships. The family-oriented event combined spirited competition, outdoor adventure, and plenty of community fellowship.

The championships featured two races—the 1,500-meter and 3,000-meter events—with runners competing in three age divisions. Roadrunners included third- and fourth-grade athletes, Cubs represented fifth and sixth graders, and Cadets included seventh- and eighth-grade runners.

The weather added an extra challenge to the course. Heavy rain fell throughout the evening before the event and continued into the morning, leaving the trails and fields muddy. By race time, however, the skies had cleared. The wet conditions did little to dampen the athletes’ enthusiasm, and no one seemed to mind the mud as runners made their way through the course.

Families and spectators enjoyed a welcoming selection of food and beverages throughout the day. Hamburgers, chili, and elephant ears were among the favorites, while free beverages—including coffee, tea, hot cocoa, and hot cider—helped keep everyone warm and comfortable. The food, conversation, and encouragement from family members added to the festive atmosphere.

Competition was strong in every race, with runners demonstrating determination, teamwork, and sportsmanship. Medals were awarded to the top eight finishers in each division for both the 1,500-meter and 3,000-meter races. Trophies were also presented to the top two teams in each division.

While the races celebrated individual accomplishments, the Big Foot Championships were just as much about community. Parents, siblings, coaches, volunteers, and athletes came together to support one another and enjoy a memorable fall day at Camp Howard.

With clear skies arriving just in time, muddy trails, enthusiastic runners, and a warm family atmosphere, the 2026 CYO Big Foot Cross Country Championships were a wonderful celebration of youth athletics and community spirit.

Congratulations to the CYO Staff and Liz Lloyd, CYO Director of Cross Country

LINK TO INDIVIDUAL RESULTS: https://live.athletictiming.net/meets/77272

Girls 3000meter

1stSt. Pius X (14)
2ndValley Catholic (36)
3rdAll Saints
4thOur Lady of Lourdes
5thNot enough runners for 5th place

Boys 3000meter

PlaceSchool
1stSt. Clare (26)
2ndSt. Pius X  (41)
3rdValley Catholic 
4thMadeleine
5thAll Saints

Girls 1500meter

PlaceSchool
1stSt. Pius X (16)
2ndSt. Clare (23)
3rdAll Saints
4thHoly Trinity
5thFMES

Boys 1500meter

PlaceSchool
1stSt. Clare (32)
2ndAll Saints (35)
3rdSt. Pius X
4thMadeleine
5thOur Lady of Lourdes

Photos by Clayton Smith/CYO Photographer

CYO Championship Cross Country provides opportunity for family fun and youth enjoyment at Camp Howard

2026 CYO 8th Grade Boys Championship Highlights

Sr. Krista von Borstel, SSMO Leave a comment

2026 CYO 8th Grade BOYS City Championship at Valley Catholic School

LINK to VIDEO:
https://youtu.be/-XCbFTiaLVE

Home Team: St. Pius X

A group of young basketball players wearing green and white uniforms, standing together in a gymnasium with a victory plaque and a sign that says 'WE LOVE CYO'. Coaches and a female team member are also present in the photo.

Coaches Min Lee, Chris McCollister

Players: Griffin, Emmett, Max, Micah, Nico, Alexander, Berkeley, Jameson

Mascot: Panthers

Visiting Team: Holy Family

A youth basketball team in red uniforms poses for a group photo in a gymnasium, holding a trophy. They are standing on a wooden floor with sports banners in the background.

Coaches: Chris Wojnar, Andrew Over, Marcus Penhale

Players: Jack, Tomas, Atticus, Dylan, Rory, Anthony, Kobe, Jackson, Jacob

Mascot: Cardinals

Game Highlights:

Quarter 1: St. Pius X 19 – Holy Family 9

Quarter 2:St. Pius X 30 – Holy Family 24

Quarter 3:St. Pius X 48 – Holy Family 42

Quarter 4:St. Pius X 58 – Holy Family 51

CYO 7 Boys BXB Nail Biter to the End

Sr. Krista von Borstel, SSMO Leave a comment

2024 CYO 7th Grade Boys City Championship at Valley Catholic School

Home Team: All Saints

Coaches: Damien Barron, Michael Barron

Players: Any, Deacon, Devin, Henry, Kien, Kyan, Luke, Oliver, Sebastian, Seth, William

Mascot: Ramblers

Visiting Team: St. Anthony

Coaches: Kenneth Fleming, John Larosa II, Jennifer Schmitz

Players: Alex, Bassel, Ben, Carson, Conor, Gabriel, Garrett, Isaiah, Marc, Rey

Mascot:  The Hawkes

Game Highlights:

All Saints led the contest by a margin of 5 by the end of the first quarter.  St. Anthony won the regular season contest between the clubs.  In the second half, the Hawkes fought their way back to tie the game at 18 all as All Saints took a 2-point lead into the half.

The second half opened with Seth from All Saints connecting on a 3 point and immediately blocking the shot of the Hawkes and getting the ball.  Ben from St. Anthony connected on a three pointer to keep the Hawkes close.  The third quarter ended with a 1 point difference favoring the Ramblers.

The fourth quarter was the “game” and with under three minutes St. Anthony took the lead for the first time and there were 5 lead changes until St. Anthony sunk a three pointer and added a point on the foul.  With 29 seconds in the game, the Hawkes lead by 5 points. With 17.2 to go, the Ramblers put in a three pointer to cut the deficit to 2.  All Saints gave it their best shot in the last few seconds but could not get the ball to drop in the hoop.

Quarter 1: All Saints 13 – St. Anthony 9

Quarter 2: All Saints 20 – St. Anthony 18

Quarter 3: All Saints 31 – St. Anthony 30

Quarter 4: All Saints 38 – St. Anthony 41 FINAL

CYO 6 Boys CITY BXB Upset

Sr. Krista von Borstel, SSMO Leave a comment

2024 CYO 6th Grade Boys City Championship at Valley Catholic School

Home Team: St. Pius X

Coaches Darin Widmer, Christopher McCollister, J.D. Larson, Min Lee

Players: Aaron, Alexander, Avery, Grant, Griffin, Jace, Jameson, Max, Micah, Nico

Mascot: Panthers

Visiting Team: Holy Family

Coaches: Chris Wojnar, Andrew Over, Marcus Penhale

Players: Anthony, Attivus, Dylan, Jack, Jackson, Jacob, Luke, Rory, Tomas

Mascot: Cardinals

Game Highlights:

St. Pius won the contests by a narrow margin in pre-season play.  Holy Family jumped out to a 10 point lead in the first half with St. Pius X in close pursuit.  Holy Family continued to lead by 10 at the end of the third quarter in a very exciting game by both teams.  The fourth quarter was truly the game with boy teams vying aggressively for the ball and making many of the shots they put up.  With four minutes left in the game, Holy Family lead by 12 with both teams matching basket for basket.  With 1:41 left in the game, it was an 8 point game with both teams still in it to win it.

Quarter 1: St. Pius X 12 – Holy Family 14

Quarter 2: St. Pius X 16 – Holy Family 26

Quarter 3: St. Pius X 29 – Holy Family 40

Quarter 4: St. Pius X 49 – Holy Family 57

CYO 6 Girls City BXB a Cat & Dog Fight

Sr. Krista von Borstel, SSMO Leave a comment

2024 CYO 6th Grade Girls City Championship at Valley Catholic School

Home Team: St. Pius X

Coaches: Chris Philippi, Chris Bloomer

Players: Avery, Chloe, Emma, Emma, Sarah, Sophia, Tatum, Zoe

Mascot: Panthers

Visiting Team: St. Thomas More

Coaches: Jimmy Sharp, Jay McGrain

Players: Alexandra, Caitlin, Izzy, Maren, Mia, Presley, Rose, Shannon, Stella

Mascot: Bulldogs

Game Highlights:

A balanced game through the first quarter into the second half when the Panthers outscored the Bulldogs finishing the half with an 8-point lead.  The Panthers owned the second half with the Bulldogs never giving up.  Trailing by 20, the Bulldogs had tenacity but not the ability to pull out a win today.

Quarter 1:

Quarter 2: St. Pius X 19 – St. Thomas More 11

Quarter 3: St. Pius X 29 – St. Thomas More 19

Quarter 4: St. Pius X 47 – St. Thomas More 27 FINAL

CYO 8 Boys BXB Championship

Sr. Krista von Borstel, SSMO Leave a comment

2023 CYO 8th Grade Boys City Championship

Home Team: Holy Redeemer

Coaches: Joseph Hagedorn (Head Coach), Geraldo Mena Jr. (Asst), Senora Thirdgill (Asst)

Players: Zahir, Nicholas, Hendrik, Jonah, Yerosan, Jack, Christian, Finn, Vicente, Calvin, Julian, Christian, Arush, Dominic

Mascot: Wildcats

Visiting Team: Valley Catholic

Coaches: Chris Boudreaux (Head Coach, Joel Frank (Asst.)

Players: Jack, Garrett, Zareh, Pavley, Pretham, Henry, Kaiyan, Jack, Brandon

Mascot: The Valiants

Game Highlights:

The first two quarters of the game were very exciting back and forth action with great play from some top talents in the eighth grade from Holy Redeemer and Valley Catholic.  Unfortunately, Holy Redeemer was plagued by playing time issues and did not get all their players their mandatory playing time even after they were reminded by the CYO Basketball Commission at the beginning of the game and each quarter of the game.  Finally, toward the end of the game the team worked to get all their players their required time and at that point, it was too late for strategy.

Two basic rules of CYO are 1. There is a place for everyone, no one is cut.  2. Everyone plays and in volleyball and basketball there are mandatory playing times.  In basketball, each player is required to play for 8 minutes of the game.  This is a full quarter.  It is possible to get 20 players on a team a full quarter.

Congratulations to Valley Catholic for their win in the 2023 CYO 8th grade boys Championship.

Half Time Score: Valley Catholic 23 – Holy Redeemer 21

Quarter 3: Valley Catholic 35 – Holy Redeemer 34

Quarter 4: Valley Catholic 53 – Holy Redeemer 42

CYO 8th Grade Girls BXB play for the Gold

Sr. Krista von Borstel, SSMO Leave a comment

2023 CYO 8th Grade Girls City Championship at Valley Catholic School

Home Team: Valley Catholic

Coaches Zach Bromert (Head Coach), Frank McKeen (AS), Maggie McKeen (AS)

Players: Hannah, Leah, Meghan, Ruby, Avery, Malia, Louisa, Leah, Grace, Stephanie, Natalie

Mascot: The Valiants

Visiting Team: St. Rose

Coaches: Craig Thomas (Head Coach), Joe Healy (AS), Christopher Brennan (AS)

Players: Delaney, Gabriella, Peyton, Fia, Caitlin, Portland, Kate, Isabella, Regina, Bennett

Mascot: The Hawks

Game Highlights:

Basketball Commissioner, Steve Mueller set the stage as he announced the CYO 8th grade Girls Basketball championship beginning with team names.  He made the calls throughout the game giving the kids a sense of true championship and it was very special for all of the players.

Valley Catholic and St. Rose both had an enthusiastic start playing each other toe to toe in the first quarter. Valley Catholic made some fast break points immediately in the top of the second quarter and outscored St. Rose 12 to 2.

In the second half.  In the third quarter the scoring was balanced for both teams. The Valliant’s outdistanced the Hawks in the fourth quarter with a final score of 44 – 27.

Quarter 1: Valley Catholic 11, St. Rose 9

Quarter 2: Valley Catholic 23, St. Rose 13

Quarter 3: Valley Catholic 32, St. Rose 21

Quarter 4: Valley Catholic 44, St. Rose 27

CYO 6th Grade Boys Crown a Winner

Sr. Krista von Borstel, SSMO Leave a comment

2023 CYO 6th Grade Boys City Championship at Valley Catholic School

Home Team: St. Andrew Nativity School

Coaches Clay Alexander

Players: Andre, Daniel Arthur, Caeden, Justin, Deandre, Shamar, Ramon, Keenan, Israel

Mascot:

Visiting Team: St. Pius X

Coaches: Clayton Lindsay (H), Andrew Ruginis (AS)

Players: Zachary, Parker, Carter, Luca, Jack, Charlie, Lucas

Mascot: Panthers

Game Highlights:

First half – The two teams stayed evenly matched throughout the first half with the score staying within 1 to 4 points of each other.

Second Half – St. Pius X garnered a considerable lead which St. Andrew Nativity worked hard to close, getting within 5 in the fourth quarter.  In the end, St. Pius X by 6 in a great game by both teams.

Quarter 1:  St. Pius X 10 – St. Andrew Nativity School 6

Quarter 2:  St. Pius X 20 – St. Andrew Nativity School 16

Quarter 3: St. Pius X 36 – St. Andrew Nativity 24

Quarter 4: St. Pius X 50 – St. Andrew Nativity School 43

CYO 6th Grade Girls BXB teams In it to Win it

Sr. Krista von Borstel, SSMO Leave a comment

2023 CYO 6th Grade Girls City Championship at Valley Catholic School

Home Team: St. Anthony

Coaches Charlie Keller, Aubrey Turley

Players: Madeline, Josie, Bridget, Brenna, Kayla, Leighton, Presley, Allison

Mascot:  The Hawks

Visiting Team: St. Ignatius

Coaches: Andy Hryclw, Zach Puent, Adam Kelly

Players: Asha, Jade, Ella, Emma, Lucia, Margaret, Maddie, Amelia

Mascot: The Gators

Game Highlights:

First half, Two feisty, great shooting teams very well matched creating a lot of excitement.  Neither team was afraid to shoot three pointers and they sunk them like pros.

In the second half, St. Anthony overpowered St. Ignatius, widening the gap and St. Ignatius could not make it up.  It was a great game with a lot of intensity.

Quarter 1: St. Ignatius 6 – St. Anthony5

Quarter 2: St. Anthony 12 – St. Ignatius 10

Quarter 3: St. Anthony 19 – St. Ignatius 11

Quarter 4: St. Anthony 35 – St. Ignatius 22

CYO 5th Grade Boys Battle for the City Gold

Sr. Krista von Borstel, SSMO Leave a comment

2023 CYO 5th Grade Boys City Championship at Valley Catholic School

Home Team: St. Pius X

Coaches: J.D. Youngblood Larson (H), Christopher McCollister (AS)

Players: Christopher, Griffin, Easton, Max, Jace, Micah, Nicholas, Jake, Alexander, Jay, Avery

Mascot: Panthers

Visiting Team: St. Clare

Coaches: Steven Lodzinski (H), Michael Humm,(AS) Luke Leahy, (AS)

Players: Oscar, Desmond, River, Keagan, Ritwik, Amos, David, Maddox, Sam, Elliot

Mascot: The Dragons

Game Highlights:

A high scoring game with both teams sinking 3 pointers toward the end of the first half with the score vacillating until St. Pius X drilled the last basket of the half to go ahead by 3.  Amos for St. Clare hit three, three-pointers.

St. Clare broke open in the third quarter behind some three-point shooting including another by Amos to close out the period. St. Clare added 17 points to St. Pius X’s 6.

Both teams performed well in the fourth quarter but St. Clare outscored St. Pius X by one point with thirteen for the quarter.  The game was fun to watch and kept the fans on the edge of their seats!

Quarter 1: St. Clare 17 – St. Pius X 15

Quarter 2: St. Pius X 40 – St. Clare 37

Quarter 3: St. Clare 54 – St. Pius X 46

Quarter 4: St. Clare 67 – St. Pius X 58