Columbia High School’s cross country team put on a strong showing at the at the Champoeg Invitational, where girls took fifth and boys 11th. Contributed photos
Columbia High School’s cross country team put on a strong showing at the at the Champoeg Invitational, where girls took fifth and boys 11th. Contributed photos
THE GORGE – Columbia High School’s cross country team was among 39 schools who competed Oct. 9 at the Champoeg Invitational meet and took advantage of a fast course at Champoeg State Park.
The Bruin girls were fifth out of 19 teams and led by Lilah Zimmerman’s sixth-place individual finish in 19 minutes, 24 seconds. Her time was a school record for 5,000 meters. Three other Bruin girls — Emme Lloyd (21:59), Eda O’Connor (22:01), and Elise Pinchot (24:02) — also ran lifetime bests. Kathryn O’Connor was 17th in a season best 21:02 to complete the Bruins’ team scoring.
The Columbia boys were 11th out of 28 scoring teams. The Bruins were led by Jack Brooks, who was among a dozen CHS runners to run lifetime bests. Brooks finished 27th overall in 17:22. Also among the top five for the Bruins were Owen Becker-Nunley (51st, PR 17:49); Colby Clark (70th, 18:07); Oliver Brookenshire (92nd, PR 18:29); and Luther Thomas (94th, season best 18:32).
Eagle compete at Rose City
The sixth annual Rose City Championship on Oct. 9 gave Hood River Valley and 84 other teams a chance to compete on a fast 5,000-meter course (Rose City Golf Course) and against some of the top runners in the Northwest.
There were three varsity races — essentially set up by season best times. Hood River’s Savina Davis finished 31st in the championship girls varsity race in 18:46. Isabel Ulland was 38th in the Bronze varsity girls race for HRV; she set a personal best of 21:23. The Eagles were 15th out of 17 scoring teams in the Bronze division.
The Eagle boys competed in the premier division of the meet and finished 22nd out of 23 teams. The competition included 6A Lincoln of Portland, 5A Summit of Bend, and 5A Crater, each of which are ranked among the top dozen prep teams in the nation this season.
Freshman Gus VandenHeuvel led the way for the Eagles by finishing 82nd in 16:11. Fellow frosh Sam Schwager was 94th in 16:24.
The Dalles sweeps meet
The Dalles competed Oct. 8 at a small invitational in Heppner. The Dalles won the girls meet with 28 points, Trout Lake was second with 52, and Heppner third with 53. The Riverhawks boys won with 52 points; Glenwood/Trout Lake was next out of seven scoring teams with 63.
Individually, Trout Lake’s Melody Stock won the girls varsity race over The Dalles’ Flamingo Duyck, 20:22 to 20:51. Trout Lake’s Felicity Peck was fourth (21:11). The Riverhawks also had the fifth-through-eighth placers; Alessandra Meza, Josie Brace and Marley Perry were within 18 seconds of each other, while Gabriela Dominguez Bahena and Rozlyn Elliott were seventh and eighth.
Luke Sorenson of The Dalles won the boys varsity race in 17:02; teammate Zeb Stelzer was fourth (17:49). Glenwood/Trout Lake was led by Merrek Stock, who was fifth in 18:08.
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