THE DALLES — The team aspect of cross country is evident in many ways, from tight bunching in races to competitive summer and fall workouts — sometimes twice a day. But rationing Halloween candy? Or going all-out, suit-and-tie-formal for a simple pre-meet team dinner?
Such was the formula for The Dalles High’s 2024 boys season when, over a 10-day period, the Riverhawks erased the bitter taste of a runner-up finish at district by winning the second-place trophy at the state meet.
There were plenty of stories within the story, but the CliffsNotes version is this: The Dalles finished a fairly close second behind heavy pre-meet favorite Newport at the Class 4A state meet Nov. 9 at Lane Community College in Eugene. Seniors Trey Hodges and Caleb Caldwell, and junior Tyson Long finished in a nifty pack — ninth, 11th and 12th — as The Dalles scored 93 team points. Also figuring in the team score for Coach Jill Bell’s Riverhawks were Noah Preston (25th) and Aiden Erickson (49th). Teammates Luke Sorenson and Zeb Stelzer were 57th and 63rd.
Full disclosure: Newport (also the 2023 team winner) was competing without its top runner — injured senior Finn Collson, who was second at the state meet a season ago.
On the other hand, The Dalles beat league rival Crook County, the team which beat the Riverhawks by 10 points at the Oct. 30 Tri-Valley championships. The Cowboys and Riverhawks have played their version of can-you-top-this in recent years, stemming perhaps from their days in the 5A Intermountain Conference. Crook County, which also edged The Dalles for second in 2023, was third at state behind the Riverhawks this past weekend. Newport won the meet with 85 points and Crook County, which edged The Dalles for second at state in 2023, was third with 104 points.
“[Beating Crook County] it’s such a great feeling,” Hodges admitted, in his best not-gonna-lie-to-you voice.
Depending on one’s perspective, Hodges burst out of the shadows — or benefited from the tutelage — of Caldwell and Long this fall. He has participated in four state meets, twice as an alternate, and his time this season of 16 minutes, 30 seconds was a 35-second personal best on the Lane course. Either Caldwell or Long had been the No. 1 runner for The Dalles all season, but Hodges stepped up admirably at state.
“I’ve just been hanging with these guys — Caleb and Tyson — all year. And then I finally pushed through today,” Hodges said. “It felt amazing. I had a lot of fun.”
Caldwell, who lives in The Dalles but attends Horizon Christian School in Hood River, was competing in his third state meet (as was Long) and ran 16:48 — a state PR by more than a minute. “We’ve trophied the past three years and we’re the first group to do that,” Caldwell said. “Not my greatest race; didn’t feel the best. [But] I saw Trey pass me by and Tyson was still on us, so I knew we had to stick together — couldn’t let the team down.
“That was why we were able to do what we did today; we were able to pack up really well and not drop from each other.”
The Dalles has qualified for state six successive seasons. The Riverhawks were third in 2023, first in 2022, and sixth (Class 5A) in 2021. Four runners on Coach Jill Bell’s team — Long, Caldwell, Preston and Erickson — also competed at the state meet in 2023. Caldwell and Long were on the 2022 state title squad. Long, who ran 16:49 at state, was the Tri-Valley district runner-up after winning the race in 2023.
Bell said team cohesiveness was key to the Riverhawk success. “This is probably the most cohesive team-minded set of boys I think I’ve had the chance to coach,” she said. “We’ve had really strong individuals in the past.”
The team thing was evident the day after district at a post-workout, cool-down run around the team’s main training haunt, Sorosis Park. “We play a little game around the park as we’re cooling down, we collect candy,” Bell explained. “It used to be like every man for himself. Whatever candy you find is yours. But then last year it started changing for like, ‘Oh, no, this is the boys team stash of candy, vs. this is the girls team stash of candy. And then afterward they’d divide it out perfectly evenly so that everybody gets the Reeses or Starburst they want.”
And then there was the dress-up day at the team’s pre-race meal Nov. 8 in Eugene. “For their team dinner … which is traditional, you dress up [to see] whose team can be fanciest. The boys took each other shopping for teammates that didn’t have suits to wear. Caleb was straightening ties.
“It was kind of that mentality of like, ‘I want to have a good race for myself, but more importantly I want to have a good race for my teammates.’ That’s been really cool to watch.”
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