The Dalles girls fourth at 4A state cross country meet

The Dalles boys also won a trophy at state, finishing third (see related story this issue). It was the first time both teams won OSAA, state meet hardware in the same season since 1997 — that year, The Dalles’ boys were first and the girls fourth.

It was the first state meet girls' trophy for The Dalles since 2014. The Riverhawks were led by junior Alaina Casady’s fourth-place finish in 19 minutes, 30.4 seconds over the wet Lane 5,000-meter course. Casady, who won the 2023 Tri-Valley Conference district meet two weeks ago, ran with La Grande senior Emily Tubbs for the second third of the race; Tubbs finished third in 19:29.5.

Crook County led The Dalles after two miles, but the Riverhawks improved their position — in part because of Abigail Pope’s surge at the end, which moved her from 35th to 31st. Teammate Laura Black, the only The Dalles runner to PR on the rainy (slow course) day, improved from 51st to 49th over the final third. The Dalles also had team scoring efforts from Ruby Jaimes Mora, who was 33rd, and Kestley Hodges, who was 52nd. Riley Elliott was 61st and teammate Nayeli Vergara 66th for the Riverhawks.

Coach Jill Bell said the muddy course may have favored her team. “Actually, it played pretty nicely to the team. I told them before the race … [the sloppy course] is in some ways going to favor runners who are strong and gritty … all of those Saturday miles and having done tons of hills on courses that weren’t the easiest racing conditions, definitely favored a team like our girls.”

That toughness was apparent in runners like Hodges, who was injured prior to district and was a coaches’ choice to run at state. “Kestley fell a couple of times on the course, but got herself up, kept running,” Bell said. “She had a good race; in a lot of ways, her finish edged us just in front of Crook County to get fourth.”

La Grande’s Cecilia Villagomez won the race in 18:57 and teammate Brooke Perry was second 17 seconds back. Philomath won behind its tight pack of finishers: 9-10-14-15-27. The Dalles entered the meet ranked fifth based on results this season. Klamath Union was ranked third, but the Pelicans slipped back to seventh in the race. Crook County improved on its eighth-place ranking to finish fifth.

The Dalles girls qualified for state with their first-place finish at the Oct. 25 Tri-Valley Conference district meet at McIver Park near Estacada. This marked the sixth successive season the Riverhawks girls, coached by Jill Bell, and assistants Aaron Long, Mandi Williams and Bob Thouvenel, have qualified for state.

Casady was 33rd at state as a freshman and was seventh a year ago when The Dalles finished eighth overall. The Dalles last won a girls state meet trophy in 2014 when they were fourth in the 5A meet.

“Alaina, just like she did at district, executed her race plan to a T, beautifully, hung in there,” Bell said. “She raced really well, within nine seconds of her all-time PR — under pretty trashy conditions.

“All the girls, none of their times reflect it, were not crazy far off where they should have been. They just hung in it, stayed tough.”