Riverhawk runners sweep TVC meet

Thirteen teams, two each from the six Class 4A districts and an additional at-large team, qualify for the Nov. 5 state meet in Eugene. The top seven finishers at district also qualify 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 (see box).

At the Birch Creek meet, nine of the first 13 runners in the boys race were from The Dalles. Six schools had complete boys teams, led by Coach Jill Pearson’s Riverhawks and their 22 points. Senior Juan Diego Contreras and junior Leo Lemann were first and second, and teammate Egan Ziegenhagen was fourth. Sophomores Vincent Ziegenhagen and Caleb Caldwell, and frosh Aiden Erickson and Tyson Long were 7th through 10th for the Riverhawks.

The Dalles boys will need that depth in the Tri-Valley district race, where the Riverhawks and former Intermountain Conference foe, Crook County, are expected to battle for the title. The Cowboys have the edge going into the meet, based on season-best times.

However, all of Crook County’s varsity season bests for boys came last week at the Gold Rush meet in John Day, where the overall times were unusually quick for 5,000 meters — at least when comparing each runners’ second-fastest efforts this fall. On average, Crook County runners’ times in John Day were more than a minute faster than previous season-best times.

No matter, there’s nothing hypothetical about the district race, which will be contested on a traditionally fast McIver course — albeit one that has recently had its first measurable rain in months.

The Riverhawks, Molalla and Crook County figure to be the top challengers for the girls title. The Dalles’ girls team won at Birch Creek with 21 points, as there were just two complete teams.

The Riverhawk girls had six of the top 11 finishers in the race, led by winner Alaina Casady, who covered the Birch Creek course in 21 minutes, 19 seconds — almost a minute faster than the second-place finisher. Teammates Ruby Jaimes Mora and Fiona Dunlap were fourth and fifth, and Rokiah Notbohm, Nayelie Vergara and Lucy Booth were ninth through 11th for the Riverhawks.

More important than the times and places was the spacing between the Riverhawk runners. Mora and Dunlap essentially finished together, and 18 seconds separated Notbohm, Vergara, and Booth. Pack running is most often what gives teams the edge in cross country meets.