Wilsonville Invitational

WILSONVILLE INVITATIONAL
9 SEPTEMBER, 2006
WILSONVILLE MEMORIAL PARK

Apparently the jinx is over. Through. Finished.

Over the last few years the Ram harriers have developed a rather unwanted tradition of starting the season with a resounding whimper. Sure, there was always a good reason – hard training cycle, illness, injury, up all night with a sick cat, etc. – but the bottom line was that we simply did not run well. Given that we’re heading to Boise for a fairly important effort on September 23rd, we thought it might be a good idea to get our “stinker” race out of the way at Wilsonville. Alas, the fellas weren’t paying attention to the plan as they ran an excellent team race, notching a relatively easy win over, among others, state-ranked #5 Lincoln HS.

The Wilsonville meet is unique in that there are not separate races at the varsity and junior varsity levels. As we are a very deep team with a mix of veteran and novice athletes, this format was a perfect fit for our group. The course at Wilsonville’s Memorial Park consists of two identical loops; the first half of the loop is on fairly rough grass but is open and allows for movement while the second half runs through a forested area where passing is very difficult.

Our top group had orders to run just outside the top 10 for the first loop while the remainder of the team was encouraged to run conservatively over the first half of the race before making a concerted effort to “race people” over the second half.

As the leaders entered the woods at ¾ of a mile, our top nine runners occupied positions 11-19 with most of our remaining runners running comfortably. Upon exiting the woods and returning to the open area, five Rams – and one Lakeridge Pacer – became the lead pack. JOEL TURKHEIMER led back into the woods at a mile to go, with ZACH MARX, KEVIN O’MALLEY, SAMOT TURINA, TAYLOR MORGAN, and Lakeridge’s Dave Marks bunched right behind him. A little further back NICK TURNER was laboring a bit in an effort to run down Lincoln’s top two runners, Matt Parker and Joe Carpenter.

In the woods Morgan asserted himself and ran away from the group for his first individual high school cross country victory. Morgan’s time of 16:47 was over 20 seconds better than the previous year’s course record by Stayton’s Terrance Swehosky – but only three seconds up on the winner of the morning’s Open division race*.

Also bettering Swehosky’s mark in 2nd place was super-soph Samot Turina in 16:58. After a somewhat slow start to his summer training, Samot has quickly returned to the form that made him Oregon’s best frosh and National Junior Olympic XC runner-up last fall. Lincoln’s Parker made a fine run to move into 3rd, just ahead of senior Kevin O’Malley. O’Malley’s 17:08 was only 25 seconds from his junior year best, set on a course considerably less difficult. Junior Joel Turkheimer (17:14) made a fine debut for the Rams in 6th – also edged over the last half mile by Lincoln’s Carpenter. Lakeridge’s Marks held on for 7th and was followed across the line by resurgent Nick Turner (17:22) and Zach Marx (17:24) in 8th and 9th.

With six runners in the top nine, the Rams had the victory well in hand, but there were many other fine performances on this day. There were 216 finishers overall and the boys from CC had eleven in the top 40 – without Wiltshire, Wotipka, and Ahmed. It was a very good opening to the season.

There were other notable performances as well. Senior TAYLOR BERGMANN (17:46) ran to13th, easily the finest varsity level effort of his Ram career. Only eight places behind came junior AUSTIN JONES (18:16) in his first ever cross country race. Austin ran track as a soph and has already shown tremendous ability and potential over hill and dale. Trailing closely were our two senior Davids: BELTRAMO (18:23) finished 29th, having just returned from a hip injury while LANEY (18:25) was 31st, after suffering a nasty fall entering the woods with the pack on the first go round. In 38th sophomore CONOR ROLAND-CHICVARA (18:34) showed that he, too, will be a force with which to be reckoned as he acquires more experience in the sport. Freshman PETER SLAUSON (18:42) also had a fine debut only five places behind Conor; Slauson has improved tremendously over the summer and will be a very good varsity runner in the not-too-distant future. His All Saints teammate CURRAN CARLILE (19:24) was the next to cross the line for the Stark Streeters, in 69th place, with junior AARON PECORA (19:25) only a place removed. Pecora’s improvement over two years has been phenomenal, and there is no reason to believe that he’s finished on that upward path.

Another four Ram men finished in the top 50% of the field with CONOR CAMPBELL (20:00), EVERETT STILLEY (20:01), GABE LATHROP (20:33), and MATT HOLMES (20:37) in 86th, 87th, 105th, and 106th. Campbell and Holmes are sophomores while Lathrop and Stilley are members of this exciting freshman class. All but Campbell were running their first 5000m cross country races.

Three others made their debut, and all performed admirably: junior JIM McCOLLUM (21:11) was 123rd and clearly enjoyed himself on the course; soph TIM BAUMAN (24:49) continues to improve everyday and finished 196th; freshman CASEY MINNICK (26:47) was 206th after out-kicking seven athletes in the last 400m. Casey has only been running with the team for a week and will no doubt improve with experience; even so, his competitive zeal was noticeable to many onlookers on this day.

Other accounts of the meet can be found at: http://www.dyestat.com/?pg=reg7or060909wilsonvilleinvite(Dyestat’s Dave Devine) and http://www.youthrunner.com/npps/story.cfm?id=556 (Youth Runner’s Leo Collins).

We’ll head to Boise for the Bob Firman Invite this weekend (Sept 23) and will bookend that trip with Wednesday efforts at Barlow (Sept 20) and Lents Park (Sept 27). Hope to see you somewhere along the way!

MHC Relays

MHC RELAYS @SANDY HS
6 SEPTEMBER, 2006
4 x (almost) one mile (1550m) relay

For the first time in recollection, the MHC Relays were not held at Centennial HS, instead moving to the site of October’s MHC District Meet, Sandy HS. The course at Sandy, despite not venturing into their famous forest, was quite a bit more challenging than the Centennial layout and was likely worth a full mile on a track. The warm weather did not seem to have an effect on our troops’ efforts, but it was, in fact, a pretty hot day.


The Rams put together 5 ¾ teams this year, by far our largest group ever. In the JV race there were numerous fine performances. Freshman BOB KNODELL improved over a minute from his time trial effort only six days earlier while TIM BAUMAN also made a big jump. Freshman CASEY MINNICK ran a solid leg in only his second day on the team. Soph MATT HOLMES showed great promise with a sub-6:00 leg.


JAMES McCOLLUM (5:52) ran a strong lead off leg for the JV ‘B’ team, and CURRAN CARLILE looked fantastic at 5:35; Curran also proclaimed his knee to be pain free on this day. Frosh GABE LATHROP competed well despite running his entire leg solo.


The JV ‘A’ team was intent on winning their race, and each member contributed to an exciting victory. Soph CONOR CAMPBELL led off in 5:40 – even though he took a tumble in the first 200m – and exchanged in 2nd place; the David Douglas runner leading apparently did not have a full team so frosh EVERETT STILLEY found himself locked in a duel with a Reynolds runner for the lead. Once, twice, three times Everett fell behind the Raider, and each time he fought back. In the last 50m Everett inched ahead to give HEW COMMEREE a slight lead, having run a stellar 5:32. Hew knew what to do with the lead Everett had worked so hard to forge, and he simply ran away, clocking 5:18. AARON PECORA wasn’t about to give back what his teammates had earned, and the ever-improving junior timed 5:28 in a solo run. It was a nice win for this group, particularly in light of the fact that we ran three varsity teams – and three other varsity-level athletes were held out due to injury precaution.


In the varsity race David Douglas’ Tim Roady took the early lead, and only junior ZACH MARX was able to go with him past halfway. SAM WOTIPKA was solidly in third, with JOEL TURKHEIMER gradually moving up. At the exchange Marx was a close 2nd (4:45) with Wotipka closing quickly in 3rd (4:47), well up on Turkheimer (4:55).


Our #2 runners were the three promoted from the JV race, PETER SLAUSON, AUSTIN JONES, and CONOR ROLAND. All three ran with great pride, Jones (5:04) ultimately overtaking Slauson (5:11) to move the team into 2nd. Roland was flying around the course in 5:01 to keep his team in the chase; last year he ran 5:46 as a frosh. NICK TURNER and TAYLOR BERGMANN both ran solid legs (4:59 & 4:58) but DD’s Grant Lewis clocked 4:52 to move them into an almost insurmountable lead. It didn’t matter to KEVIN O’MALLEY who looked very strong indeed with a smoking 4:43 effort to give SAMOT TURINA an outside shot at the win. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be as the Scot’s Jared Correll gave up only a second to our soph’s 4:42. Not far behind, LUKE WILTSHIRE, still, getting over illness, ran 4:44 while TAYLOR MORGAN was running the fastest leg of the day, 4:36.


All in all, it was a fine effort by our young harriers. With a tough few workouts over the last ten days and the beginning of school this week, it would not be surprising if some of them appeared sluggish; on the contrary, virtually everyone ran with great competitive spirit. The confidence with which this group carries itself – knowing that their biggest races are far off – and the attention to the details of their training and racing bode well for those most important competitions in the future.


Next up for the Rams is the Wilsonville Invitational at Wilsonville’s Memorial Park. Our boys – all of them (including David Beltramo, David Laney, and, hopefully, Musa Ahmed) – race at 12:30. With one of our rivals, Lincoln HS, competing, it promises to be a very entertaining event. Hope to see you there.

TWO MILE TIME TRIAL

In our 2nd annual Two Mile Time Trial, the Ram men traveled to one of our favorite venues, the track on the NIKE campus. Despite resting a number of athletes – David Beltramo, Taylor Bergmann, Nick Turner, Musa Ahmed, and David Laney – for a variety of reasons, the Ram harriers began their State Championship defense in fine fashion as five boys broke 10 minutes for a full two miles.

Some of our newer athletes did not run a full two miles, but nevertheless performed well. TIM BAUMAN (10) and BOB KNODELL (9) went one mile and each established a great baseline for future racing and training. MATT HOLMES (10:40) and GABE LATHROP (9:13) each went 1 ½ miles; freshman Gabe showed much greater fitness than he had just weeks earlier. EVERETT STILLEY, feeling a little under the weather, held on for seven laps in 10:50, going through the mile in just over six minutes.

For the two milers there were some fantastic efforts. Newcomer JIM McCOLLUM ran the first “race” of his career, and looked strong in 12:41. AARON PECORA and CONOR CAMPBELL both turned in fine efforts of 11:57 with freshman CURRAN CARLILE just behind at 12:04. Carlile has been nursing a sore knee for the better part of three weeks so this effort was particularly encouraging.

Further up the track the foursome of AUSTIN JONES, CONOR ROLAND, PETER SLAUSON, and HEW COMMEREE ran together through the mile at 5:33, and all finished with fine marks. Slauson didn’t look quite as strong as he had at camp, but PRed nonetheless at 11:11 (10:21 converted to 3km). Commeree, in his first day with the group this summer, ran a solid 11:24, but will no doubt improve as the season wears on. Most impressive of this group was the tandem of Jones and Roland, both turning in excellent runs at 11:02 and 10:56. Both would be PRs – if either had ever run a 3km in the spring. Roland, in one of his first efforts ever last year, had run 13:45…

Our top group of seven had instructions to tour the first mile in 5:00 before given the green light to let it rip. Junior transfer JOEL TURKHEIMER had some shoe trouble and faded to 10:27, but his workouts over the last five weeks show that he’s certainly capable of running with our top five. LUKE WILTSHIRE, unbeknownst to the coaching staff, had been ill – and looked it, struggling in at 10:07; given his training efforts in Pacific City, it is likely that he’s fitter than that. As Luke and Joel were having their difficulties, the other five were improving tremendously on last year’s great time trial effort.

A year ago SAMOT TURINA and KEVIN O’MALLEY ran 10:19 and 10:27 – and both were very pleased at the time. Today they were 9:57 and 9:56 respectively; while neither is a PR (when converted to 3000m), the improvement over 2005’s effort is a great sign for the team. Our other junior transfer, ZACH MARX, showed that his SoCal marks were no fluke with a strong 9:54, about 10 seconds from his 3200m PR last spring. Just ahead of Zach, finishing with a mad rush, was SAM WOTIPKA. A year ago he had lost his spike plate in a 10:00 effort; today he ran 9:52 – knocking five seconds from his 3km PR. More importantly, Sam ran with a confidence not seen for some time; today’s effort is a clear indication that he has his sights set on one of the seven coveted varsity spots.

TAYLOR MORGAN arrived a bit late to the festivities, having over slept his afternoon nap. Apparently he, too, hadn’t been feeling well. If today’s run is any sign, the nap certainly had its intended effect. Morgan cruised thru the mile with the group at 5:00 and 1 ½ miles right at 7:30 before opening a gap on his teammates with a 68 second penultimate lap. The fun was only beginning though as he closed in 61 seconds for a fine 9:39 full two miles. While his overall time doesn’t immediately vault him into the category of Footlocker favorite, the method in which he arrived at that final time indicates that he will certainly be a young man of reckoning in November and December.


What does it all mean? Well, five runners under 10:00 – not including Ahmed, Beltramo, Bergmann, Laney, Turkheimer, Turner, and Wiltshire – is a pretty good sign; last year there were only three, and we had a pretty good season a year ago. Of course, one of the beauties of cross country is that it’s NOT run around an oval, so it could be that this all means nothing.

We’ll start finding out soon enough with two meets next week. On Wednesday we travel to Sandy HS for the Mount Hood Conference Relays, a 4 x 1 mile affair, and on Saturday we’ll make our first-ever appearance at the Wilsonville Invitational. Lincoln HS is also scheduled for the Wilsonville meet so it should be a very good early season test – and great preparation for the September 23rd Bob Firman Invite in Boise.

Hope to see you all somewhere along the way!

TWO FULL MILES (3000m conversion in parentheses)
1 – Taylor Morgan (11) – 9:39 (**8:56)
2 – Sam Wotipka (12) – 9:52 (**9:08)
3 – Zach Marx (11) – 9:54 (9:10)
4 – Kevin O’Malley (12) – 9:56 (9:12)
5 – Samot Turina (10) – 9:57 (9:13)
6 – Luke Wiltshire (12) – 10:07 (9:22)
7 – Joel Turkheimer (11) – 10:27 (9:41)
8 – Kyle Holmes (grad) – 10:56 (10:07)
9 – Conor Roland (10) – 10:56 (10:07)
10 – Austin Jones (11) – 11:02 (10:13)
11 – Peter Slauson (9) – 11:11 (**10:21)
12 – Hew Commeree (11) – 11:24 (10:33)
13 – Aaron Pecora (11) – 11:57 (11:04)
14 – Conor Campbell (10) – 11:57 (11:04)
15 – Curran Carlile (9) – 12:04 (11:10)
16 – Jim McCollum (11) – 12:41 (11:44)

7 LAPS
Everett Stilley (9) – 10:50

6 LAPS
Gabe Lathrop (9) – 9:13
Matt Holmes (10) – 10:40

ONE FULL MILE
Tim Bauman (10) – 7:08
Bob Knodell (9) – 8:10