TDHS runs to first and second place finishes in Estacada
It's been a long dark night
And I've been a waitin' for the morning
It's been a long hard fight
But I see a brand new day a-dawning…
-Light of a Clear Blue Morning
By Jill Pearson
The middle of any season can be a time of doldrums and doubts for some. Lots of hard work, days of racked-up miles and sacked-out legs, and without much progress to immediately show for it.
That frustration was palpable on Monday, Oct. 10, as they gutted through 800m intervals, leaving tired and a little defeated, after slowly chipping away, mere seconds at a time, at each repeat. There’s no shortcut to mental toughness- sometimes you just have to keep your chin down and work until it gets better.
At Estacada two days later, at last, the Riverhawks finally caught a glimpse of the reward for their efforts. With nearly 20 personal records, the varsity and JV boys placed first, while the girls’ teams came in second behind 6A Oregon City.
Even more significantly, they resolutely raced the same course they will run at Districts in two weeks. Excited with their times and course, the enthusiasm was infectious: “well next time that second mile…”, “I know I can be 21:30…”, “I’ll just stay ahead of them again…”, “I’ll start my kick back there…”
No team saw bigger PRs than the girls’ JV. After a pep talk from teammate and senior Madison Goldbacher, four of them saw PRs in the minutes, with freshman Sofia Rogers dropping her time like it was hot down to 28:54, and sophomore Dalila trailing Goldbacher and taking two minutes off her time to finish in 28:17. For the varsity girls, lead runner Alaina Casady saw wicked fierce competition from Mollala’s Anika Jenson, but held on to the lead trio, coming in 5th at 20:41. Senior Fiona Dunlop led the next trio of runners, finishing a little over 22 minutes, with Ruby Jaimes Mora and Lucy Booth close behind her. No one more clearly connected the dots between weeks of tough practices and the outcome at Estacada than freshman and 6th runner Rokiah Notbohm: “I learned this week that even when I feel like I’m dead, I can still keep going. I think that helped me push harder this race than I ever have before.”
The gains were just as obvious for the boys’ teams. Sophomore Caleb Caldwell, racing varsity after weeks of working towards a spot, saw a 20-second PR at 18:36, with senior Kayden McCavic a little less than 15 seconds ahead of them. As some of the most consistently hard-working runners on the team, the taste of success was extra sweet- even as they remain hungry for Districts on the 26th. Seniors Juan Diego Contreras and Leo Lemann again went one and two for the varsity race, a little less than a minute apart from each other, and ahead of Oregon City’s Adam White. Nearly all of the boys’ JV team saw PRs as well, with senior Jarrett Smith blowing past the 30-minute barrier, underclassmen Taven Velador and Andrew Wring in the 22:20s, and two just barely above the 20-minute mark: Angel Garza at 20:03 and Burdock Gerlick at 20:06. “Sub 20 next time,” they promised themselves.
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With a little more than a week left in the season, the team is definitely into their home stretch. And even if there’s no light at the end of the tunnel yet, in the words of Dolly Parton, they can certainly see “the light of a clear blue morning”, or afternoon, at Estacada on October 26th.
Before Districts, the Riverhawks will race a tune-up on last year’s district course at Birch Creek Golf Course in Pendleton on the 19th. You can see the rest of their schedule and times on Athletic.net.
