Cohen Butler of Camas places 55th at nationals

After chasing down a Class 4A state championship in record time and winning the Nike Cross Regional Northwest Championships, Camas senior Cohen Butler capped a busy monthlong stretch with a memorable experience competing in the Nike Cross Nationals on Saturday.

“It’s a crazy race. There’s definitely nothing that compares to it,” Butler told Ken Martinez of West Coast XC after Saturday’s race at Portland’s Glendoveer Golf Course. “I had a blast the whole weekend. Even if it wasn’t the race I wanted, I still had so much fun out here.”

Butler, competing as an individual from the Northwest region, finished the 5,000-meter men’s championship race in 15 minutes, 59.2 seconds to place 55th, well below his initial goal of an All-American finish, perhaps even a top-10 finish.

But injuries leading up the Saturday’s race affected Butler’s ability to train over the last two weeks. So instead, Butler set a simple goal for himself.

“I was just kind of out here to just have fun today and do the best I could,” Butler said, “and I feel like I accomplished that.”

Jackson Spencer of Herriman, Utah, won the race in 15:01.1.

Butler matched his personal best two weeks ago when he won the NXR Northwest Regional Championship at Spokane in 14:36.8, replicating his record-breaking time in the Nike Hole in the Wall XC Invitational in October.

He also set a Washington 4A state-meet record in November when he led wire-to-wire in the state championship race to finish in 14:47.9.

Butler, who was recently named The Columbian’s All-Region boys cross country runner of the year, said he plans to commit to a NCAA Division I college in mid-December.