TD Harriers exceed State expectations in Eugene
Time Flies
TD Cross Country takes a moment for photo on the Smurf track at Lane Community College.
“Kairos, on the other hand, is the “moment,” or the right opportunity. It’s the decision to lace up running shoes and come to practice day after day, eating breakfast after a Saturday run in the pouring rain, blasting music during core workout, dressing up fancy to pasta dinner, visiting Pre’s rock to reflect on legacies, and watching out the window as the band and local police escort our bus out of town.”
Juan Diego Contreras finished 3rd at 15:38, only two seconds from his PR and 3 from the school record.
Photos and Story by Jill Pearson
“It goes by so much faster when you run it,” Caitie Wring remarked offhand while helping time her teammates’ intervals at practice a few weeks ago.
Two minutes. Two-thirty. Three minutes. Conor Blair, the boys’ team captain, felt similarly as he paced a few of his teammates last week: “it’s different, and flies by.”
Their words echo in my head as I check my watch at the State meet: 15:38. 16:54. 21:14. 21:14.
Junior Fiona Dunlop
For a sport entirely dictated by times, there is an odd sense of time warp when it comes to Cross Country season. The season, while only 12 weeks, has been unofficially going since July, and simultaneously feels like it started a month ago. With breezy and muddy conditions, very few Riverhawk runners saw their best times at the State Meet in Eugene this weekend, and yet both teams placed significantly better than expected.
The Dalles women, ranked 13th, ended up placing 9th, with strong and identical times for Caitie Wring and Alaina Casady at 21:14.7, at 33rd and 34th place overall. Junior Fiona Dunlop finished at 22:30, while newcomer Gabrielle Kahler achieved her personal best at 23:35. The small but strong Riverhawk squad rounded out their times with Lucy Booth’s 24:17 finish and Caitlin Frakes’ 24:38. The girls’ determination, along with copious amounts of glitter, placed them seven points ahead of Dallas, and well ahead of Springfield, Thurston, and Silverton.
The Dalles women, ranked 13th, ended up placing 9th.
Gabrielle Kahler achieved her personal best at 23:35
Starting between the dominant Crater and Crescent Valley teams, the Riverhawk men’s team placed 6th, well ahead of their predicted 10th place. After top-ranked Tyrone Gorze and Josiah Tosteson from Crater, Juan Diego Contreras finished 3rd at 15:38, only two seconds from his PR and 3 from the school record. Teammate Leo Lemann finished 18th at 16:54, surrounded by a tight pack of runners under 17. Brothers Egan and Vincent Ziegenhagen finished at 18:06 and 18:58, respectively, while the final pack of Conor Blair, Trey Hodges, and Kayden McCavic finished within ten seconds of each other just above 19 minutes.
Egan Ziegenhagen
The sense of pride mingled with disappointment was palpable at the team tent afterward; you’d be hard pressed to find a group of athletes tougher on themselves than distance runners. “I wanted to run under 21, under 18, under 15…” “If only…” “I wish…” Once a race is run, however, there’s no way to run it over again- and at State, no meets next week to try again. A few already started talking about track season. For an intensely individual sport, the consolation this time came from the team scores- and from the team’s support. Arms around shoulders, high fives, and glitter shedding off faces from hugs. “You ran tough,” “nice race,” “I’m proud of you.”
In first-century Greek, there are two words that can describe time: chronos and kairos. Chronos is the time that can be measured on a stopwatch, the kinds of times that show up on readerboards at the finish line. It’s what determines varsity, race scores, and the length of the season. Kairos, on the other hand, is the “moment,” or the right opportunity. It’s the decision to lace up running shoes and come to practice day after day, eating breakfast after a Saturday run in the pouring rain, blasting music during core workout, dressing up fancy to pasta dinner, visiting Pre’s rock to reflect on legacies, and watching out the window as the band and local police escort our bus out of town. While it’s the chronos times that determine a team’s cross country stats, it’s the kairos moments that make it memorable, even as the races and season fly by.
So yes, Cross Country does go fast when you run it. It just may go even faster when you coach it, moment by moment.
P.S. Wow- what an amazing send-off our community gave us on Friday. We hope we made you all proud!
Lucy Booth
Caitie Wring and Alaina Casady
TD Cross Country received a police escort out of The Dalles on their way to State that was held in Euguene on Saturday, Nov. 6.
Caitlin Frakes
Trey Hodges and Conor Blair
Vince Ziegenhagen
