Concordia Puma XC Classic Preview

Concordia Puma XC Classic Preview, Mt. Hood/PIL Cross Over Fernhill Park, Portland,Oct. 14, 2009

Wednesday Fernhill Park was the sight of a Mt. Hood League & PIL Cross-Over meet, which was hosted by Central Catholic. The CC guys used the meet as a bit of a tempo work out yet still won handily, while the Franklin girls edged their competition. Julia Fonk of Franklin had an off day &, we assume, was under the weather. The flu has really been going around of late & it probably will have a major impact on the race. The West Linn runners for example had planned on running on Saturday but many team members are down with the flu, so they may have to pass on the event.

Just a cursory view of the numerous teams entered at Concordia lets one know that this will be the biggest meet in the area including the Danner. With many of the teams facing each other Fernhill will have a better field than runners will face at State. The results of yesterday’s meet are below for those of interest but first let’s take a look at what’s on tap for this Saturday.

Alaska will have only six teams heading to Portland but what a six they are! Just on the guys’ side alone fans will get to see State Champion Service (4A) plus fifth place Kodiak, sixth place Lathrop,7th place Palmer, 8th place Colony & 9th place West Valley. Those teams possess an impressive array of talent including individual State Champion Dylan Anthony. Dylan placed 9th in the race last year but he was overshadowed by the over-powering performance of his team mate Trevor Dunbar, who blew away the course record last year with a time of 14:47 on his way to a second place finish at the Footlocker National Championship in San Diego, which for thirty years has been “The” race no matter what press reports one hears from others. Look for Anthony to draw away from Dunbar’s shadow once again this Saturday. Service will be led by Silas Talbot, who placed 2nd at State & Robert Walgren, who was third. Palmer will have its 5th place finisher Wylie Mangelsdorf to lead the way.

The girls from Alaska are quite strong as well for they include State champion West Valley (Fairbanks) plus 3rd place Colony, 4th place Kodiak, 7th place Service & 10th place Lathrop. It was noted that the flu has been a part of the season & there is no greater example than at the Alaskan State meet, where three-time defending champion Leah Francis collapsed after suffering from the flu. That opened the door to West’s Courtney Kisner, who won the individual title in an impressive time of 18:58. Leah Francis won here at Concordia two years ago, when she defeated Sheldon’s Casey Masterson for the title, so that might be a good omen for Courtney. On hand also will be WV’s Marisa Rorabaugh, who was fifth at State, plus Lathrop’s Megan Edic who finished 7th. Local fans should recall Kodiak’s Chloe Ivanoff, who was tenth at Concordia last year & also was 8th at State this year. Also of note is Hannah Boyer of West Valley, who placed tenth at State.

The state of California will be represented by Palo Alto. The team leader is Philip Macquitty , who placed 6th at the Stanford Invitational & 8th at Clovis. His time at Clovis was 15:13. Idaho should be represented by two-time State champion Eric Fitzpatrick, who won in Oregon earlier in the season at the Hermiston Brooks meet.Fitzpatrick has a goal of Footlocker & is one of the top West returnees from last year’s meet at Mt. SAC. This is a good time to note that Cole Watson of Rogue River will be running & it is hoped that this fine runner will compete in the elite race like Brad Taylor of Oakridge did years ago, when his goal was Footlocker. Brad had the course record before Trevor took it last year. Another individual of note is Priscilla Timmons of Skyview. She has had a fine season already with victories in the Clark County Jamboree & at the Run-A-Ree, plus a big win at New Balance. She placed fifth here last year as a sophomore.

There will be six teams on hand from Washington with the Henry Jackson guys & the Eastlake gals leading the way. Jackson has Chris Knackal, who won the senior division at Sunfair in a time of 16:22, plus Nick Calacat, who won the South Whidbey Invitational & led the sophomores at Sunfair. Their whole team is of high quality & they are one of the premier teams in the northwest. The Eastlake girls are also highly regarded and they are led by Katelyn Steen, Morgan O’ Connor & Erin Blodnick, who run near the front as a trio.

Oregon will have 15 teams from the 1-4A level with the Siuslaw girls being one of the better teams in the state regardless of division. The 5A division will be represented by 15 teams with the Summit girls & the Crater guys leading the way. Both are ranked number one & deserve it. Crater has defending champion Josh Elliott, who has had an interesting season but their top five are all quite solid, while Summit has Megan Fristoe & Kellie Scheuler to lead the way. Megan & Kellie finished 2nd & 3rd at Bend Oxford last weekend.

There will be 26 schools from Oregon’s top division with the Jesuit girls being the most accomplished of all.Led by defending State champion Annamarie Maag, whose racing has moved to a higher level this year.The Crusaders have a potent squad that is backed by Payton Schutte, who is often found close behind Annamarie, as she did in the Chapman Invitational. Ben Demaree of Jesuit has also become a major force for the Crusader guys. The Central Catholic boys look to be recovered from their ailments and who can expect a number of the guys to be battling somewhere near the front.West Linn will have Taylor West, who placed second at Bend last week, plus Cullen Wannarka,if both can avoid the flu bug.

On an individual note Tate Murray of Lake Oswego, Kelly O’ Neill of Lakeridge & Erin McLaughlin of Milwaukie (hopefully Erin will run in the elite race), can be expected to be in the individual hunt.Beaverton has freshman sensations Kevin Kavanaugh & Dan Oekerman, who can be expected to be in the chase pack plus Hayley Gregoire for the girls. Drew Jordan of North Medford is the defending 6A champion and he placed 19th at the large Stanford Invitational.He won early in the season Yreka.

As an aside, our best wishes for a speedy & full recovery go out to defending 5A girls’ champion Kellie Foley, whose foot injury will have her out for the season. Ian Burgess is also struggling with a problem that has kept him on the sideline of late. Hopefully his Achilles will allow him to compete at state. Best of luck to all runners this weekend & for the remainder of the season.

Cross-over results

1 Caitlyn Lewis 20:31 Sandy 11 2 Haley McDonald 20:33 Gresham 9 3 Allison Young 20:34 Franklin 12 4 Marisa Benson 20:41 Gresham 12 5 Carolyn Green 20:43 Central Catholic 12 6 Katy Barlean 20:54 Central Catholic 12 7 Maggie Riley 21:19 Central Catholic 9 8 Jennifer Tina 21:22 Marshall 12 9 Cate Morfitt 21:38 Sandy 10 10 Shoni Schimmel 21:39 Franklin 12 11 Hannah Leslie 21:43 Sandy 11 12 Katie Skinner 21:59 Franklin 12 13 Julia Fonk 22:00 Franklin 12 14 Jude Schimmel 22:15 Franklin 11 15 Adeline Ndayishimiye 22:18 Gresham 10

Girls Team Results 25 CC 27 Franklin 30 Sandy 29 CC

27 CC 15 Franklin 30 Gresham INC Marshall

25 Sandy 27 Franklin 32 Gresham 30 Sandy

Boys Individual Results 1 Andy Bennison 16:59 Central Catholic 11 2 Curran Carlile 17:03 Central Catholic 12 3 Everett Stilley 17:07 Central Catholic 12 4 Jonathan Butcher 17:11 Gresham 12 5 Peter Slauson 17:14 Central Catholic 12 6 Musa Ahmed 17:28 Central Catholic 12 7 Jackson Baker 17:28 Franklin 10 8 Harry Bayley 17:44 Franklin 12 9 Zach Teeny 17:45 Central Catholic 11 10 Greg Cruz 18:10 Central Catholic 11 11 Eric Dugwyler 18:16 Gresham 12 12 Michael Wilson 18:18 Gresham 12 13 Morgan Benson 18:21 Gresham 10 14 Warren Degenhardt 18:28 Central Catholic 12 15 Ian Fouts 18:30 Central Catholic 11