THE DALLES — The Dalles High’s girls cross country team will try to defend its Tri-Valley Conference (TVC) district championship on Oct. 30 at McIver State Park outside of Estacada.
The 5,000-meter layout will be familiar to runners from the six conference schools, as each competed at the Estacada Invitational on Oct. 16 (won by The Dalles). Many of the runners also raced at the district meet a year ago, when the Riverhawks — led by individual champion Alaina Casady — edged Crook County, 43-47, for the girls title. Molalla was third with 63 points.
Those three teams figure to battle for the top places again this season and also qualify for the Class 4A state meet Nov. 9 at Lane Community College in Eugene. The top two teams at district automatically qualify for the state meet. Another Class 4A school will be selected as a wild card entrant to state based on its performance at district — and throughout the season.
The past two district races have been difficult to predict, and this week’s meet should be no different. Crook County edged Molalla for the 2022 girls title, as the two teams tied with 46 points. Crook County won based on the finish of its sixth runner, who was 24th versus Molalla’s sixth at 27th. The Dalles was third with 49 points.
Molalla’s Anika and Annalyse Jenson went 1-2 in the 2022 individual race, with The Dalles’ Casady finishing third. The Riverhawk senior won the district crown a season ago, pulling away from Emily Picard of Madras, and Crook County’s Natalia Crass and Ruby Snider. Picard won the most recent showdown between the top TVC runners, placing first at the Estacada invite two weeks ago.
The boys competition should be equally close. Crook County placed three runners in the top six and won the 2023 title 34-42 over The Dalles. The Riverhawks were led by Tyson Long, who won the individual title as a sophomore. Long, Crook County senior Adam Radabaugh, and The Dalles senior Caleb Caldwell figure to be in the lead pack contending for the 2024 individual title.
The Dalles, led by individual champion Juan Diego Contreras, won the boys crown in 2022 over Crook County, 22-34. Radabaugh was fourth in that race and Long was sixth. The Riverhawks parlayed their boys district title into the 2022 Class 4A state crown, as well.
The Dalles was third at state a season ago, and the Riverhawk boys have qualified for state five successive seasons. The Dalles girls are seeking to qualify for state for the seventh time in a row; the Riverhawks finished fourth at state in 2023.
Riverhawks compete at Valiant invite
The Dalles High’s boys cross country team finished second and the girls team was fourth at the Oct. 24 Valiant Invitational meet in Beaverton.
The Riverhawk boys scored 85 points to finish second to host Valley Catholic (53) in the 12-team meet. The runners competed over 3,000 meters — vs. 5,000 — as they are tapering for district meets this week.
Tyson Long and Caleb Caldwell finished seventh (9:39) and eighth (9:41) to lead The Dalles. The Riverhawks’ other three scoring runners were Trey Hodges (20th, 10:01); Noah Preston (24th, 10:03); and Aiden Erickson (31st, 10:12).
The Riverhawk girls scored 83 points, as Oregon Episcopal won with 47 among 13 scoring teams. Alaina Casady led The Dalles by placing sixth in 11 minutes. Kestley Hodges and Abigail Pope were 13th (11:53) and 14th (11:55), Laura Black was 18th (12:21), and Marley Perry 33rd (12:49) for the Riverhawks.
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