Bismarck High School cross country standout Joash Osoro finished third in Nike Cross Country Nationals in Portland, Ore., Dec. 6. The BHS team, competing as the Demon Cross Country Club, finished 14th out of 22 teams in the nation. This is after the team won its fourth straight North Dakota Class A Boys cross country championship.

What an incredible individual and team achievement.

Running with Osoro for the Demon team were: Devin Huzenga, John Nuss, Dion Schulz, Christian Brown Otter, Brandon Barnes, Josh Hintz. Running in the open division were Cory Hintz and Alex Huizenga. Team coaches are Darrell Anderson and Dave Zittleman.

This is the first team from North Dakota to qualify for nationals.

Cross country requires a blend of speed and endurance. As a team sport it requires individual and cooperative effort. The 199 runners at Portland were all very competitive and succeeding in that level required hard work over a long period of time.

Congratulations, Demons.