The Dalles and Crook County resume their Class 4A cross country rivalry this week at the Tri-Valley Conference cross country championships at McIver Park.
The Dalles defeated Crook County for last season’s boys district title. It was a day of personal-best performances which carried the Riverhawks to the 2022 championship, also at McIver State Park, near Estacada. The Dalles’ third through seventh runners all registered personal bests.
It likely will take a similar performance for the Riverhawk boys to overcome favorite Crook County. The Cowboys and Riverhawks have competed in just one race this fall, with Crook County placing ahead of their TVC foe at the Oct. 11 Estacada Invitational — by 33 points.
The Dalles and Crook County both dropped down from the Class 5A ranks last season after competing for years in the Intermountain Conference. The Riverhawk boys were led a year ago by the 1-2 finish of graduated runners Juan Diego Contreras and Leo Lemann, scoring 22 points. The top returning district placers for The Dalles boys are junior Egan Ziegenhagen (fifth) and sophomore Tyson Long (sixth). Crook County returns its top two runners from a year ago, senior Gavin Humphreys (third) and junior Adam Radabaugh (fourth).
The Dalles, Molalla and Crook County are the three frontrunners for the girls district title. Molalla and Crook County tied for first a year ago and The Dalles was third. The Riverhawks bested both those teams at the recent Estacada meet.
Coach Jill Bell’s team has steadily progressed this season — boys and girls — with the latter now arguably considered the favorite (on paper) to win the conference crown. The Dalles has the individual girls favorite, as well, in steady junior Alaina Casady. She was third at the district meet in 2022 (seventh in state) and her most recent time of 19 minutes, 20 seconds ranks fifth on the school’s all-time list for 5,000 meters.
The Oct. 25 TVC district meet schedule is: 3 p.m. girls varsity; 3:30 p.m. boys varsity; 4 p.m. girls and boys junior varsity. The top two TVC teams automatically qualify for the 2023 state meet. 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.
The Dalles had a final tune-up for district at the Oct. 17 Wildcat 3K, hosted by Southwest Christian of Beaverton. Both of Coach Bell’s teams finished second in the meet — each behind Class 3A Valley Catholic. Casady led The Dalles, placing third overall in 11:50 for 3,000 meters. Valley Catholic edged the Riverhawks, 32-33, among the six scoring teams. The margin was greater in the boys race, 22-61, in favor of Valley Catholic. The Dalles’ top five runners were within 34 seconds of each other, which will bode well for the Riverhawks if they can keep that same bunching over the 5,000-meter course at district.
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