Every fall, Nike sponsors a high school national cross country championship; they try to bring in as much talent as they can from throughout the country, so it’s organized into regional qualifiers. They chose to have the northwest qualifier in Boise (at Eagle Island State Park) this year, so I got to shoot it!

Probably the best thing about this assignment was getting to shoot a sport that I’ve competed in for the last ten years – high school cross country in Georgia, Division 1 Cross Country and Track and Field at Auburn, and now running on my own in Boise. Conveniently, that helps quite a bit with photographing racing – not only do I have the perspective of a runner artistically, but also I’m able to follow the entire race, rather than being pinned to just the couple of points that are close enough to walk back and forth from the start-finish area.

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The Championship division Women’s race:

And the Championship division Men’s race:

You can find more info about Nike’s high school cross country championships at the official web site: Nike Cross Nationals