The Dalles High’s recent success in boys cross country is showcased by its deep, talented pool of runners.
As evidence, last November, Coach Jill Bell brought four alternates — in addition to the starting lineup of seven runners — to the Class 4A state meet in Eugene. “[I] would have been happy racing any one of them,” the coach said at the time.
As it was, the seven who did run at Lane Community College earned the Riverhawks the third-place team trophy — a season after The Dalles won the 4A state title in 2022.
Another talented group returns this season to challenge Crook County for the Tri-Valley Conference district crown and secure another berth into the state finals. The Dalles boys finished second to Crook County at the district meet in 2023, qualifying for state for the fifth time in a row.
Not to be outdone, the Riverhawk girls won the 2023 Tri-Valley Conference district meet at McIver Park near Estacada, making it to state for the sixth successive season. In the 4A state final, The Dalles girls were fourth on a rainy day in Eugene. It was the first time both teams had won OSAA, state-meet hardware the same season since 1997. That year, The Dalles’ boys were first and the girls fourth.
The Dalles boys were led in 2023 by the district meet’s individual winner, Tyson Long, now a junior who came from behind to edge Crook Country’s Gavin Humphreys, 16:41.0 to 16:41.9 for the title. Behind Long at district, and also back for The Dalles this season, are senior Caleb Caldwell (8th district), junior Aiden Erickson (9th), junior Noah Preston (14th), senior Josef Lutz (15th), and senior Trey Hodges, who won the district JV title as a junior.
“A sizeable majority of almost all of that varsity team is back for this next year and quite a few new faces,” Coach Bell said. “I’m excited to see where they’ll end up sorting themselves out.
“I think it will end up again being the 7-8-9 spots that will be highly contested.”
Behind Hodges in the 2023 JV district race, The Dalles had four of the next seven finishers.
“A lot of them have been running with each other over the summer,” Bell said. “[Plus] having that experience of track [where] you get that quickness.”
On the girls side, senior Alaina Casady matched Long’s district championship a season ago for the Riverhawks. Casady, who went on to finish fourth at the 2023 4A state meet, is not fully recovered from an injury which means her teammates will be carrying more of the load this fall. Those include junior Abigail Pope who was sixth at district a season ago, Laura Black, who was 16th, and Riley Elliott and Rokiah Notbohm, who were 18th and 22nd. Sophomore Kestley Hodges didn’t run in the district race last season, but was inserted into The Dalles’ state meet lineup and was the Riverhawks’ fifth finisher and 52nd overall.
The Dalles also had the top six finishers at the Tri-Valley JV district meet in 2023, including the winner, Gabrielle Kahler, now a senior. What’s more, a strong middle school group of runners the past few seasons have bolstered the roster at the high school level.
“We got in a lot of them [middle school runners] the last couple of years and for the first time the entire team is an even split for boys and girls,” Bell said.
The Dalles cross country notes: The Riverhawks will host three meets/races this season, including one — the annual Riverhawk Run — where the public can run, jog or walk either a 10,000-meter, 5,000-meter, 3,000-meter or one-mile course along Riverfront Trail. The run begins at 9:30 a.m. Aug. 31 at the Discovery Center and is a fundraiser for the school cross country program. The annual Bridgette Nelson race at Sorosis Park will include 13 high school and nine middle school teams on Friday, Sept. 27. Racing begins at 3 p.m. And back this season is the Saturday, Oct. 5 Bob-A-Long race, also at Sorosis, which honors longtime Coach Bob Thouvenel. He will be celebrating his 80th birthday and 57th season as a coach in The Dalles.
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