A fit team of The Dalles girls cross country runners raced to a third-place finish over a fast course at the Sept. 14 Oregon City XC Invitational.
The Class 4A Riverhawks registered four personal record times among their top five runners to beat all but Class 6A schools Westview and Franklin in the 13-team race. The lone The Dalles runner not to PR, junior Abigail Pope, improved her best by a minute from the time she ran last season over the Oregon City course.
Coach Jill Bell’s team scored 103 points, behind the 50 from Beaverton’s Westview and 57 by Portland’s Franklin.
Leading The Dalles was senior Alaina Casady, who finished second behind Westview senior Olivia Gaugel, 18:47 to 18:56. Casady’s time was a 24-second personal best over 5,000 meters. Kestley Hodges was 18th for The Dalles in a near one minute PR of 21:04; Pope was 23rd in 21:32; junior Laura Black was 27th in 21:41 (a 40-second PR); and sophomore Marley Perry was 42nd in 22:43 (a 53-second PR).
Gabrielle Kahler (62nd, PR 23:52), Ember Kahler (68th, 24:18), and Alessandra Meza (69th, 24:23) also competed in the varsity race for The Dalles.
The Dalles is ranked second behind defending state champion Philomath among 4A schools in girls cross country, based on best times this season (athletic.net).
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