THE GORGE — The Dalles and Hood River Valley cross country teams each won individual and team district titles Oct. 28, and the two schools will be well represented at 2026 OSAA state cross country meet.
The Dalles girls, led by individual champion Flamingo Duyck, won the Class 4A Tri-Valley Conference district meet at McIver State Park near Estacada. The Hood River Valley boys, led by individual champion Gus VandenHeuvel, won the 5A Northwest Oregon Conference district meet at Blue Lake Regional Park, near Gresham. Hood River’s Savina Davis won the NWOC girls individual championship, leading the Eagles to second place behind Sandy; both teams qualified for the state meet. As did The Dalles boys, who finished second to Molalla in the TVC final.
The Dalles High girls won their fourth straight TVC championship scoring 23 team points. The Riverhawk girls have now qualified for state the past eight seasons that the meet has been held. The Dalles boys have a seven straight state meet streak going.
The Hood River boys, led by the 1-2 district finish of VandenHeuvel and runner-up Josh Carley, increased their state meet qualifying streak to six seasons by winning the NWOC crown on a drizzly day over runner-up Centennial, 38-68. VandenHeuvel said the race was: “Very tactical. I went out with the lead guy, William (Strasser of Milwaukie), the guy I’ve been battling all season. I passed him in the second mile, and really took it from there.”
The Hood River freshman won in 16 minutes, four seconds. Carley overtook Strasser with less than 1,000 meters remaining and finished in 16:20 to Strasser’s 16:25.
Davis finished second at district a year ago behind graduated teammate Syl Perrin. “I’ve really missed Syl,” said Davis. “It’s really hard to do all these workouts – and easy runs- without her … but I’m pushing through.”
Davis won the race by more than a minute in 18:38, a quick time for the rain softened course, and less than 20 seconds off her personal best. “I was trying not to go out too hard; I went out slower than I’ve been,” she said. “But I didn’t really hit a wall at all.”
Duyck won the TVC title in 19:37, just five seconds off her personal best.
(Read more about the district meets in the print edition of the Columbia Gorge News.)
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