By Jill Pearson
The feeling of deja vu was strong at Pendleton last Wednesday, Oct. 19.
While they no longer share a league with The Dalles, the familiarity of the Birch Creek course they ran for Districts last year was too good to pass up, and it doesn’t hurt that the course is just as flat and fast as ever.
While the times were nothing to write home about, the chance to get in one last good tempo run in both sparked memories and helped the runners set some goals and intentions for next week. And here I am, writing home about it anyways!
With only one race for each, Pendleton was the perfect place to visualize just how close the lower varsity and upper JV boys are, with Aiden Erickson and Tyson Long just around 19 minutes (18:53 and 19:01, respectively), and Kayden McCavic, Trey Hodges, and Josef Lutz all less than half a minute behind. Sophomores Egan Ziegenhagen, Vincent Ziegenhagen, and Caleb Caldwell ran consistent times in the 18’s, thanks in part to teammate Leo Lemann’s steady pacing for the first two miles. Only three runners saw PRs: sophomore Andrew Wring just above 22, and freshmen Hudson Case and Leo Ibarra in the 20:40s.
Both races were led “from the front” by Juan Diego Contreras and Alaina Casady, a common trend for both which is still much harder than it looks: it requires a deeply internalized sense of pace and mental toughness to run well when there is no one nearby. Behind Alaina, the girls team raced consistent splits, with Ruby Jaimes Mora and Fiona Dunlop finishing 4th and 5th at 22:58, and Rokiah Notbohm and Nayeli Vergara in the 24:40s. Both duos raced well; pushing each other and keeping their finishes tight will help them at districts, where placing matters more than flat times.* While none of the girls were excited about their races, framing the meet as a tempo run (practice) to prepare for next week helped their mindset considerably.
As always, off to the sides of the finish and all along the course were the coaches and families. I don’t often mention them, because the point of these articles is to highlight the student athletes, but part of what makes cross country such an encouraging environment is the enthusiasm, generosity, and camaraderie that they generate. If you have been among them this season- thank you!
This Wednesday, Oct. 26, the Riverhawks head back to Estacada for their Tri-Valley District Meet, which will determine which teams qualify for State. Wish them luck, and you can follow the rest of their times on athletic.net.
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*Side note for team scores. Cross Country is calculated by place scoring. The top five runners each add their place score (1st = 1 point), the 6th and 7th runners can add points to another team if they finish ahead of their top five runners. Like golf, the lowest score wins; the top two lowest scoring teams will continue to State.
