A day of personal-best performances carried The Dalles High boys cross country team to the Class 4A Tri-Valley Conference district cross country championship Oct. 25 at McIver State Park, near Estacada.
The Riverhawks, led by the 1-2 finish of senior Juan Diego Contreras and junior Leo Lemann, scored 22 team points – 12 better than runner-up and familiar foe, Crook County. The Dalles and Crook County both dropped down from the Class 5A ranks this season after competing for years in the Intermountain Conference.
Thirteen teams, two each from the six Class 4A districts and an additional at-large team, qualified for the Nov. 5 state meet in Eugene. The top seven finishers at district also qualified for state as individuals. The Dalles has had either a boys or girls team (or both) compete at the state meet every year since 2013.
The Dalles girls finished third in the district meet, but also qualified for state as the 4A wild card team. The Riverhawks, Molalla and Crook County figured to be locked in a tight battle for the girls district crown and the race didn’t disappoint. Molalla and Crook County tied with 46 points and The Dalles had 49. The Riverhawks, sixth in 4A hypothetical rankings on Athletic.net, were selected by a statewide committee as the 13th team at state.
Behind Contreras and Lemann, The Dalles boys had their third through seventh runners register personal bests over 5,000 meters at district pushing them past Crook County. Egan Ziegenhagen was fifth in 17 minutes, 23 seconds, a personal best by a second. Freshman Tyson Long was sixth in 17:28, a PR by 59 seconds. Sophomore Vincent Ziegenhagen was ninth in 17:50, a ten-second PR. Sophomore Caleb Caldwell and senior Kaden McCavic were 14th and 16th and ran personal bests of 18:16 (20-second PR) and 18:19 (two-second PR).
Philomath and The Dalles are the frontrunners for the 4A boys state crown, based on season-best times. They have not competed directly against each other this fall, though both ran in varying races at the early-season Ultimook race near the Oregon coast. Eugene’s Marist Catholic and Crook County are ranked 3-4, and each of those schools features a tight pack of runners. Individually, Contreras, third at the 5A state meet a year ago, and Lemann, who was 18th, are ranked 2-3 in 4A this fall behind the defending champion, Alexander Garcia-Silver of Marshfield.
The Dalles girls were led at district by Alaina Casady, who was third in a PR 20:21. The Dalles sophomore edged Madras senior Hannah MacDuffee, as both were given the same time. Sophomore Ruby Jaimes Mora and Fiona Dunlop were ninth and 10th for the Riverhawks, also in personal bests of 21:39 and 21:40.
Senior Lucy Booth was 15th and sophomore Nayelie Vergara was 20th (a PR 23:28) to complete The Dalles’ scoring. Frosh Rokiah Notbohm and Abigail Pope finished 23rd and 32nd, respectively, also running personal bests and they will get their first taste of state meet competition at Lane Community College this weekend. The Class 4A girls race is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. followed by the 4A boys at 12:20 p.m.
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