OREGON STATE MEET

OREGON STATE MEET
LANE COMMUNITY COLLEGE, EUGENE
4 NOVEMBER, 2006

When this season began the Rams were clear favorites to defend their 2005 State Title, but illness, injury, and the steady improvement of rival squads led many to believe that this year’s State Meet would be more competitive than last. As the race unfolded it was clear that those people were wrong. It wasn’t just competitive; it turned out to be one of the most exciting and hard fought battles in recent Oregon cross country history.

Given our narrow defeats of Jesuit at the Jim Danner and Adidas-Concordia meets, most felt that the Crusaders would offer the sternest test to the Ram’s defense. Jesuit’s top four of Brian Manning, Sam Larson, Peter Maag, and Tim Kessler had been very strong all season, with Kessler’s recent improvement giving them even greater hope for the title. In previous meets our fifth man had been the difference, clearly superior to Jesuit’s.

Those who had seen Lincoln dominate the PIL District Meet knew that the Cardinals also posed a threat with Matt Parker, Joe Carpenter, and Nathan Mathabane a very strong top three. Senior Aaron Anderson had made consistent progress since an injury last fall; with his return to form, Lincoln’s top four certainly rivaled both Central’s and Jesuit’s. Like Jesuit, Lincoln’s fifth man had not been equal to ours, but at the PIL meet the Cardinals’ Adrian Unkeles showed that he, too, was improving and might be a major factor in Eugene.

As for our Rams, we looked to be in our best shape of the season. Taylor Morgan and Samot Turina, our #1 and #2 all season, were rested and healthy. Luke Wiltshire finally appeared recovered from a bronchial infection in September. Kevin O’Malley’s foot had given him trouble since the Danner Meet, but his training was virtually uninterrupted; there was little doubt that he was ready to perform here. Zach Marx had run very well at the District Meet and appeared to be on form. Sam Wotipka and Nick Turner had performed strongly at District, and both had state meet experience from which to draw.

Last year’s meet was run in miserably cold, wet, and windy conditions; by the time our boys raced, the course was very soft and muddy. In contrast, this year’s edition was run under a few clouds, very little rain, and very comfortable temperatures; our boys were a bit disappointed in this as they had hoped for a repeat of last year’s conditions.

At the gun our boys had an excellent start – only to be called back as there was a fall in the first 50m. Upon the restart we looked to be in great position with Morgan on the front – surprisingly, no one went out “crazy fast” – and Turina and Wiltshire placed well within reach of the front group. O’Malley and Marx were in the top 30 with Turner and Wotipka also in competitive spots. Both Jesuit and Lincoln also were well placed.

The lead group passed the mile in a leisurely 5:07 (Crater’s Jake Keyser had gone thru in 4:47 in the 5A race earlier) as the runners exited Poison Oak Alley and emerged parallel to 30th Avenue. At this point, about 1 ¼ miles, it was impossible to tell which team had the advantage. Entering the famous Lane CC ponds (1 ½ miles), Lincoln’s Parker went to the front with a large group in tow. Our top three, along with both Lincoln’s and Jesuit’s quartets, were all in that group, as were Canby’s Sean Coleman, Franklin’s Bryce Burgess, Beaverton’s Paul Fowler (a former CYO teammate of many of our boys), and Hood River’s Leo Castillo. Kevin O’Malley looked strong followed by Sam Wotipka and Nick Turner while Zach Marx was showing signs of the struggle.

As Parker surged away from the group with a mile to go (cresting the small hill leaving the track – where Kenny Klotz had moved two years ago on his way to victory) Morgan was the first to respond. Soon after Turina moved into third as the group ascended the soccer bowl with 1200m left. Wiltshire had been at the back of the large lead group (12th place) when Parker’s effort broke up the pack but now had inched to seventh. O’Malley was running about 25th with Wotipka and Turner in about 40th and 50th respectively heading into the last mile.

As there were many schools wearing green and white it was virtually impossible to know where Jesuit stood, although they definitely had four ahead of O’Malley – as did Lincoln. It was clear at this point that the race would be won in the last mile.

With the leaders disappearing from view between 4000m and 4400m, there were some suspenseful moments; all eyes were trained along 30th Avenue in anticipation of Matt Parker emerging in the lead. Parker’s transition from solid distance runner to an individual threat on this day has been one of the “feel good” stories of the season, and his bold move here was one that earned him great respect from both competitors and spectators alike. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be for Parker as Morgan and Turina took over the lead, followed by Coleman, Burgess, and Manning. With 500m to go the course makes a hard left turn around Lane’s hammer cage. At this point Coleman, with his 1:56 leg speed, stormed by Turina. Samot yelled to Taylor, “Go Taylor! Go now!” Morgan did not immediately respond as Coleman assumed the lead and opened a slight gap with 300m to go. Morgan, with the ghosts of junior year champs Rupp and Klotz dancing in his head, did not simply fall in behind Coleman but, as instructed during the course jog a day earlier, moved to his rival’s shoulder. In the final furlong our junior moved smoothly away to a convincing eight second victory in 15:53.

Turina hit the track in third – having moved brilliantly over the previous 1200m – only to be run down by Franklin’s Burgess, who many had tabbed as the pre-race favorite. Still Samot’s fourth place finish was the best by a sophomore since South Eugene’s Erik Heinonen finished third in 1998; in addition he did achieve one of his major goals of defeating Jesuit’s #1 man, Brian Manning, who finished fifth. Manning had beaten Samot at both Danner and Adidas-Concordia earlier in the season.

Wiltshire, too, was running a very fine last mile, virtually all alone in seventh place. Although Luke had hopes of a higher finish, this result was a huge improvement over his earlier races and showed that he was clearly over the illness that had plagued him in September and October. In doing so he split Lincoln’s first two runners and finished ahead of Jesuit’s #2 and #3, giving the Rams a definite shot at winning the team race.

O’Malley, running smoothly in 25th with a mile to go, knew his effort could be the difference, and he made the most of his opportunity. Last year’s team motto “Always Be Closing” must have been ringing in his ears as he passed seven runners in that last mile to finish 18th, earning Honorable Mention All-State honors. Jesuit’s fourth man was 13th while Lincoln’s was 15th, giving these three schools 12 of the top 18 in the meet. With our power up front, O’Malley’s race kept CC in the hunt.

Wotipka and Turner knew in the final mile that their finish might go a long ways towards determining this year’s champion, and both responded appropriately. Wotipka dug down repeatedly and held off numerous competitors to finish 42nd. This was, by far, his best effort in three State Meet opportunities. Meanwhile, his senior teammate Turner was moving up from 50th to finish 37th, despite having breathing problems. As the race ended, no one knew whether it would be enough for the Rams to keep the title, with both Lincoln’s and Jesuit’s fifth runners performing admirably.

In the moments immediately following the race, there was reason for great joy with some great individual efforts. There was also great suspense as no one appeared to have a very good handle on who had won the race. Many felt that Jesuit was the clear winner, while at least a few felt that Lincoln had stolen the race.

Coach Bergmann picked up the unofficial individual results (in recent years the powers that be in Oregon have made unofficial results available quickly after the race so that coaches might find any glaring mistakes and rectify them before they become official), and we began to tally the scores; we were surprised to see that our #5, Turner, was behind both Jesuit’s and Lincoln’s. Lincoln’s athlete, soph Adrian Unkeles, had improved tremendously over the course of the season to give the Cardinals a legitimate chance at winning with his 31st place finish. Jesuit’s #5, Andy Kiwokawa, was a stroke of genius by Coach Tom Rothenberger as this athlete had run on their junior varsity at Danner, Adidas, and at the Metro League District Meet; his 26th place effort was 44 places ahead of Jesuit’s 6th man on this day.

Raw scores yielded these results: Jesuit 63, CC 67, Lincoln 72. We immediately began to cross out the individual runners; unlike 2005, almost all of the top individuals were members of teams. With the individuals removed we got these scores: CC 56, Jesuit 58, Lincoln 64. One of our boys asked if he ought to get a calculator; I replied that I felt confident in my ability to add two digit numbers, but I did let some others check my work. They reached the same conclusion, and, while we weren’t absolutely sure, we began to feel pretty good.

As the trophy presentation began, Coach Rothenberger approached and congratulated us; he, too, had come up with the 56 – 58 score. On this day none could be disappointed as three very fine teams had all run very well; had we lost the meet, there would have been no shame, only great pride in our fantastic effort. I would hope that both Jesuit and Lincoln felt this way as well.

It is quite an understatement to say that this was a great race in which to participate or spectate.

Full results can be found at: http://osaa.org/crosscountry/2006/6abresults.asp

Next up for the Rams? Three athletes (Morgan, Turina, Wiltshire) qualified for the Border Clash on November 19th (Sunday), while many others will be running State (Sandy HS, Nov 11th) and Regional (Seattle, Nov 18th) Junior Olympics – and possibly the Nationals (Spokane, Dec 9th). Saturday, December 2nd is the Nike Team Nationals here in Portland; we’ve entered the Open Race on that day and are still hoping to be invited to the Invitational Race there. A few athletes may opt for the Footlocker Western Regional at Mt. SAC (Los Angeles) that day. Regardless, there’s much more ahead for this year’s Ram Cross Country squad. Hope to see you somewhere along the way.

Pre-State TIME TRIAL

TRADITIONAL 1600m TIME TRIAL
28 OCTOBER, 2006
NIKE CAMPUS

In what has become a tradition now for our Rams, we gathered at the NIKE track for a one mile – well, in this case we ran exactly four laps for 1600m – time trial a week before the state meet. In previous years this run has confirmed for the boys that, despite an obvious lack of true “speedwork”, we are as fit was we can be in preparation for next week’s Oregon State Meet. While I am sad to say that not every member of the team ran the best “mile” of their life, there were plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the results.

The future varsity athletes, of course, all set new personal records. Junior TIM BAUMAN continued his season-long improvement as he ran 6:07; recall that he ran 7:08 two short months ago on this same track. Soph LUCAS WEISENSEE, who came out late this season, ran 5:49 while frosh GABE LATHROP zipped a fine 5:29. Sophs MATT HOLMES and CONOR CAMPBELL and freshman CURRAN CARLILE each ran exceptionally well, with Carlile’s 5:07.3 leading the charge.

For the varsity level runners there were some small setbacks – TAYLOR BERGMANN and NICK TURNER both DNF’ed due to injury precaution – and KEVIN O’MALLEY did an alternate workout in deference to his improving foot, but virtually everyone else looked very strong. Frosh PETER SLAUSON ran a fine 4:49.9 (converts to 4:30.1 for 1500m), a PR by about nine seconds from his best time as a middle schooler. Further up the track junior AUSTIN JONES was chopping just, oh, 16 seconds, from his best last year at 4:42.4 (4:23.1). Jones was just behind junior JOEL TURKHEIMER and senior DAVID LANEY, who turned in marks of 4:41.4 (4:22.1) and 4:40.7 (4:21.5). Laney’s effort was a two second PR.

Junior ZACH MARX ran 4:33.6, a few steps behind senior DAVID BELTRAMO’s 4:31.9 (4:13.3). Beltramo had run 4:14 as a sophomore before suffering a stress fracture; this effort clearly shows that he is primed for a great spring on the oval. Sophomore SAMOT TURINA was 4th in the race at 4:31.5 (4:12.9); his PR from last spring was 4:17.

The top three on this day were junior TAYLOR MORGAN and senior stalwarts LUKE WILTSHIRE and SAM WOTIPKA. Wotipka’s converted 4:09 was far better than any race he ran as a junior; his effort here and at Sandy on Wednesday show that he is clearly capable of being a huge factor for the Rams over the Lane CC layout in Eugene. Wiltshire’s 4:25.9 was a ten second improvement over a similar run just one month ago. Clearly Luke is rounding into the form expected of him earlier this season, and he could be a big difference maker next Saturday in Eugene. Morgan, after going through 800m in 2:16 with the pack, finished in a strong 4:24.3. His goal all season has been to continue Central’s four year hold on the State Individual XC Championship, and he appears to be peaking at just the right time to do so.

After a very easy mile jog – about 10 minutes, during which time there was an almost unanimous cheer as the reports of OSU’s upset over USC was announced (only Southern California transplant Marx appeared unhappy) – a few also ran a fast 800m. Turina looked strong in 2:06.3. That’s 4:12/2:06 with ten minutes recovery… Of course, Morgan was not to be outdone and rolled to a 1:59.9. Not a bad effort.

Stay tuned for a State Meet Preview; the short version is that the Rams are primed to defend last year’s championship, and the boys are excited and ready for the challenge. Racing begins at 10am with our group toeing the line at 3:30 for the last race of the day. Hope to see you there.

RESULTS of the 1600m TIME TRIAL
(1500m conversion in parentheses)

4:24.3 (4:06.2) – taylor morgan
4:25.9 (4:07.7) – luke wiltshire
4:28.2 (4:09.3) – sam wotipka
4:31.5 (4:12.9) – samot turina
4:31.9 (4:13.3) – david beltramo
4:33.6 (4:14.9) – zach marx
4:40.7 (4:21.5) – david laney
4:41.4 (4:22.1) – joel turkheimer
4:42.4 (4:23.1) – austin jones
4:49.9 (4:30.1) – peter slauson
5:07.3 (4:46.3) – curran carlile
5:08.1 (4:47.0) – conor campbell
5:19.3 (4:57.4) – matt holmes
5:29.4 (5:06.8) – gabe lathrop
5:49.2 (5:25.3) – lucas weisensee
6:07.0 (5:41.9) – tim bauman

MHC DISTRICT MEET

MHC DISTRICT MEET
SANDY HIGH SCHOOL
25 OCTOBER, 2006

On another simply perfect day for running – not unlike most of the fall we’ve had here in Portland – the Ram men traveled to Sandy HS’s challenging cross country course for the Mount Hood Conference District Meet with a few goals in mind. First and foremost was qualifying for the State Meet by virtue of a top two finish; second was defending the meet championship we’d won in each of the last five years; and third was clearly defining our top seven for the State Meet.

Given that there were seven with legitimate claims for varsity spots #6 & #7 the only seemingly objective way to decide was for those seven to run head to head in the junior varsity race; our top five would run the varsity race, along with two solid backups.

The varsity race was first up, and the Rams wasted no time in getting to the front, with five in the lead pack through a leisurely first mile. Freshman PETER SLAUSON was well positioned in the top 15 while junior HEW COMMEREE was running just behind David Douglas HS’s #5 runner – as planned. In the second mile, TAYLOR MORGAN, SAMOT TURINA, LUKE WILTSHIRE, and ZACH MARX – along with Hood River’s junior star Leo Castillo – distanced themselves from the pack, while KEVIN O’MALLEY looked solid in the top 10; O’Malley has been nursing a sore foot and was clearly running under control on this day. Just before two miles Castillo made a strong bid to take the lead, and only Morgan moved with him, Turina not far behind. Wiltshire and Marx were clear in 4th and 5th, and these places would not change through the finish line.

With about 1000m to go Morgan drew a bead on Castillo and went by him decisively with about 600m left in the race. His winning mark of 16:24 was 12 seconds up on Castillo as Morgan showed off his ferocious finish. Turina, Wiltshire, and Marx were timed in 16:40, 16:47, and 16:59 on the slowish Sandy layout, known to be 40-50 seconds slower than courses like Jim Danner or Adidas-Concordia. All three garnered 1st Team All-MHC honors; for Wiltshire, it was his fourth such honor, quite an accomplishment. O’Malley closed well to finish in 10th place in 17:19; he will certainly be ready to go in ten days in Eugene. Not far behind in 14th place (17:39) Slauson was running, by far, his best race of the season; his effort earned him 2nd Team All-MHC, along with O’Malley. Clearly the Rams had accomplished the first two goals on the list.

The JV race was much anticipated with five seniors (Bergmann, Beltramo, Wotipka, Laney, and Turner) joined by juniors Turkheimer and Jones – and the remainder of our squad – in the quest for those two coveted varsity spots. At the gun SAM WOTIPKA and JOEL TURKHEIMER got after it immediately, with our next five not far behind. After 800m Wotipka was clear of the field and appeared to be running with a purpose not seen in some time; he was making a case early to earn his spot. The other six hopefuls were all within range and running well. As they entered the woods at a mile and two-thirds, Wotipka still held a solid lead, but Turkheimer had closed the gap with NICK TURNER and a somewhat surprising AUSTIN JONES the nearest pursuers.

DAVID LANEY, DAVID BELTRAMO, and TAYLOR BERGMANN were running in the 5, 6, and 7 spots, well ahead of any MHC rivals. As the group emerged from the woods with 1200m left Wotipka’s lead had shrunk to about 15m over Turkheimer and Turner – now running together – and it appeared that the two “qualifiers” would emerge from these three. Wotipka sensed his teammates closing in and hammered away to get the win in 17:06; this win ought to be just what Sam needs going into the State Meet. Turner ran a very fine last mile for 2nd in 17:14 despite the fact that Turkheimer (17:19) fought and fought and fought and simply refused to give in. Fourth for the Rams (and fourth overall) was Jones (17:32); his improvement has been fantastic this fall, and he looks to be a major part of Ram plans in the future.

Bergmann (17:37) got Laney (17:40) in the final 250m and, although disappointed not to have made the top two, both have had exceptional senior seasons – showing major improvements over their junior campaigns. Beltramo was 7th in 17:55 and has put down a great base in preparation for the track season.

This group expected to sweep the top seven spots in the race, but it didn’t seem likely that we could go any deeper than that. Apparently CURRAN CARLILE didn’t get the memo as he ran an absolutely great race to finish 8th. As has become his custom he moved steadily up after the first mile, passing a Reynolds runner in the last 50m to secure his finishing place; his time of 18:18 was not a PR, but, given the difficulty of the course, it was certainly his finest effort of the season.

The dominance of this group was not surprising, but a comparison with the varsity race yielded some very interesting information. Had the top seven in the JV race replaced our varsity group, the Rams still would have won the meet – and it wouldn’t have been terribly close (39 points to Reynolds’ 68 to David Douglas’ 88). Inserting this group into the varsity race (rather than replacing our varsity group) yields the following places: Wotipka – 6th, Turner – 10th, Turkheimer – 13th, Jones – 15th, Bergmann – 18th, Laney – 20th, Beltramo – 24th. Placing Wotipka and Turner as the varsity group’s #5 and #6 runners (with O’Malley as #7), our next five runners still would have finished second in the team scoring, ahead of Reynolds (CC ‘A’ 19, CC ‘B’ 85, Reynolds 94). It was a pretty great day for the Rams.

MATT HOLMES, AARON PECORA, GABE LATHROP, and CONOR CAMPBELL ran most of the race in close proximity before Holmes and Pecora opened a small gap to finish 14th and 15th (both in 19:08) to Campbell’s 19th (19:22) and Lathrop’s 22nd (19:39). In all, twelve Rams finished in the top 22 of the 89 man field.

More excellent efforts were turned in by JIM McCOLLUM (38th in 20:53), LUCAS WEISENSEE (52nd in 21:37), TIM BAUMAN (66th in 22:35), BOB KNODELL (79th in 23:46) and CASEY MINNICK (85th in 25:25 – a minute faster than his only other 5km in Wilsonville). All have improved tremendously over the course of the season.

With the State Meet looming on November 4th, our group seems to be running on all cylinders for the first time all season. A quick glance at the PIL and Metro results show both Lincoln and Jesuit also running very well, certainly intent on wresting the State Title from our grasp. Rest assured that the Rams will put up a might fight to keep what is rightly ours.
Hope to see you in Eugene on Saturday the 4th!