State champions Joe Hardy and Amy-Eloise Neale placed fourth and eighth, respectively, in the Nike Nationals boys and girls cross country championships Saturday in Portland.

Hardy, a senior from Seattle Prep who won the Class 3A state title last month, finished the muddy, 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) course at Portland Meadows in 17 minutes, 19 seconds. He was 13 seconds behind surprise winner Sam Wharton of Tippecanoe, Ohio.

Neale, a senior from Glacier Peak of Snohomish, finished in 19:45 in her fourth consecutive appearance at the Nike Nationals girls race. She placed 14th, third and fifth in her previous trips.

Sarah Baxter of Simi Valley, Calif., won in 19:17.

Neale's state rival, Katie Knight of North Central (Spokane), finished third in 19:32, followed by fourth-place Alexa Efraimson of Camas in 19:34.

Neale came in as one of the girls favorites, having won the Nike Northwest Regionals in Boise and the Nike Border clash in Beaverton, Ore.

Bianchini qualifies for Foot Locker nationals

Neale's Glacier Peak teammate, Kate Bianchini, qualified for the Foot Locker Nationals by placing eighth in the West Regional in Walnut, Calif. She finished the 5K course in 18:35. The winner, Marissa Williams of Palisades, Calif., won in 17:46.

Bianchini was third in the Class 3A state meet last month.

Two Spokane boys, Andrew Gardner of Mead High School and John Dressel of Mount Spokane, also qualified for nationals by placing fifth and sixth, respectively.