Valiant Invitational: The Dalles Races to Top Finishes at Valley Catholic 3K
The Dalles girls team warms up.
by Jill Pearson
It started to drizzle as the varsity girls were at the starting line of the Valiant Invitational. Striding out, jogging back: palms upheld to test their suspicion. “Rain makes you faster,” I told them as they peeled off sweats and checked the knots on their shoelaces. Some laughed, others shrugged- emotions at the start of a race are an interesting manifestation of nerves, excitement, focus, and awkwardness. Soon the gun was up, though- and as anyone who’s run a race before knows, no matter how long ago- your heart pounds in your ears until it fires. Pow! Then they’re off!
Besides the rain, the Valiant Invitational was an unusual one for the Riverhawk team. Unlike most of their races, it was over a mile shorter than usual- a 3k instead of a 5k, the distance usually raced by middle school. However, with six days until districts, it was a chance for The Dalles to get in a good workout, while playing with a faster pace along with 20 smaller schools- including the highly ranked host Valley Catholic, who won both the boys and girls’ team contest.
The Dalles more than held its own, though, with a second-place finish for the boys’ expanded varsity team, including first place for Juan Diego Contreras and eighth for Leo Lemann. Freshmen Egan and Vincent Ziegenhagen each chipped off over a minute from their previous 3k times, while Kayden McCavic finished at exactly 11 minutes. For the JV boys, Josef Lutz finished slightly over 12 minutes (the race was meant to be 12 minutes and above), while teammate Gabriel Stein ran at what would have been nearly a two-minute PR.
Juan Diego of TD races Colin Friend of St. Stephens to a first place finish.
For the girls' race, Alaina Casady and Caitie Wring finished within a second of each other at 12:24, earning 10th and 11th place, respectively. Along with strong PR’s from Madison Goldbacher- running a full minute faster than in Oregon City- and a 10-second gap between Gabrielle Kahler and Lucy Booth, the possibility of both teams placing at districts is nerve-wrackingly close.
After the finish line, the rain was falling harder, the music blasting, and everyone was generally more talkative. Trey Hodges sported a small cut from a blackberry bush along the course- but otherwise, they looked comparatively unscathed from their abridged race. “I definitely could have run faster,” a few mentioned- a useful thing to remember for Wednesday’s district meet. Rain may make us faster, but rain or shine, we’ll be there at our fastest.
The Riverhawks compete at Pendleton again this Wednesday at 3 p.m. for the Intermountain Conference District Meet. The state meet will be held at Lane Community College on November 2nd.
For the rest of the Valiant Invitational times, click here: https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/192368/results
