TDHS Runners peak at District; Both varsity teams going to state
Silly String made for a wild celebration for TDHS harriers whose varsity teams both earned a bid to State this coming weekend.
“I’m not superstitious- I’m just a little stitious.” -Michael Scott, The Office
By Jill Pearson
If there’s anything harder than getting to qualify for State, it’s qualifying again.
After a strong 5A showing last year, the Riverhawk runners were decidedly jittery at their pre-meet practice for Districts. Old traditions helped- running drills on Amotan field, doing the same tapered interval workouts from years past, watching videos, and donning some new team swag: red hoodies, courtesy of a gorge running club.
On the back of the pullovers were quotes from the season, from the silly “are we running today?”, to the oft-repeated “chin down, eyes up!”, and encapsulated with one of the seniors’ reasons for improving: “I decided to be fast.”
Last Wednesday, Oct. 26, the entire team followed that advice at the Tri-Valley District meet, racing their best season times, and earning multiple spots to the State meet.
The district meet started with the closely contested varsity girls’ race. Sophomore Alaina Casady went out with Molalla’s Anika Jenson, and finished 3rd with an all-time personal record or PR of 20:21.9, a split second ahead of Madras’ Hannah McDuffee.
A little over a minute later, teammates Ruby Jaimes Mora and Fiona Dunlop finished in 21:39 and 21: 40, respectively, with more personal bests for the other team scorers Lucy Booth and Nayeli Vergara.
To put in perspective just how close the girls’ race was, the two, state-qualifying teams scored 46 points each. Crook County narrowly beat Molalla with their 6th runner. The Dalles was a mere three points behind at 49.
“Everyone ran their best- we can’t ask for more than that,” commented coach Mandi Williams on calculating the team score. “Crook and Molalla just ran better.”
But would they go to state? There was still a shot at the wild card.
Nerves were high on Saturday’s long run practice for the girls as they waited all weekend for the results of the single 4A wild card spot; ranked 6th in the state, the Riverhawks knew their odds were good but couldn’t be sure.
In a flurry of texts after Sunday’s OSAA rankings meeting it all became clear. The girls’ tight third-place score, combined with their season times and overall strength from State last year earned them a bid to state.
“Now go show them you deserve it,'' Greg Gustafson told them after learning of their advancement.
The boys’ contest was not nearly as nail-biting, with The Dalles scoring an impressively low 22 points to Crook County’s 34. TDHS was pushing for perfect just seven points shy of a 1st through 5th place sweep.
Six of the varsity team were in the top 14, earning 1st (1-7) and 2nd team (8-14) all-league honors. With clean one-two solo runs by Juan Diego Contreras and Leo Lemann, freshman Tyson Long finished hot on the heels of teammate Egan Ziegenhagen, for an over 45-second PR at 17:25. Vincent Ziegenhagen also went sub 18 for the first time at 17:50, and 6th and 6th runners Caleb Caldwell and Kayden McCavic both saw significant PR’s under 18:20.
The JV runners combined their race, and swept both boys and girls’ contests. On the girls’ side, the Riverhawks had a just complete team of five runners, with sophomore Dalila Villegas finishing second with a nearly two-minute PR at 26:31. Madison Goldbacher came in third, and freshman Sofia Rogers in third with a minute-and-a-half PR.
Despite some chaos and some nearly wrong turns, the boys’ JV ran their most ambitious races to date, vying for those coveted State alternate spots.
The top three spots were swept by Trey Hodges, Aiden Erickson, and Josef Lutz all in the 18:50s, with freshman Noah Preston slightly over 19. The rest of the JV made strong showings, including a sub-20 for Angel Garza, a nearly 30-second PR for Hudson Case, and a minute-and-20-second PR for Kaedyn Linker, bested only by an over 2-minute PR for senior Jarrett Smith.
Support Local News
Available to everyone; Funded by readers.
After senior recognition and multiple awards for first and second All-League team placers, the Riverhawks celebrated their trophy and medals with Silly String. Their joy was made complete when they learned on Sunday that both varsity teams would be going to state after all.
“This season just keeps getting better,” said sophomore Rokiah Notbohm. “And now we don’t have to blame our absent-mindedness on wondering about the wild card!”
The Riverhawks will complete their season at the State Cross Country Meet at Lane Community College this Saturday, Nov. 5. Come send them off from the high school at 10 a.m. on Friday and follow their times to cheer them on from afar on athletic.net.
