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Just five days removed
from the Woodbridge event,
the NW#2/US#8 Central Catholic (boys) Rams took to hill and dale in
the first of four MHC “dual” meets
today at David Douglas HS. The host Scots ran quite well last week
at the Skip Sparks Invite and certainly looked to play the inhospitable
hosts on this day. The PIL’s
Lincoln HS squad – fresh off a fourth place effort at the prestigious
New Balance Invitational (NB) with a 16:27 average – was also
in the race and had given the Rams a tough go in numerous meetings
a year ago. Despite running without junior SAM
WOTIPKA, nursing a minor
injury, the Ram harriers hoped to regain their form over the mostly
flat layout.
Despite a scheduling snafu that adversely affected the team’s warmup,
the varsity group got a good start in the relatively small field of 60,
with ten runners in the top 20 early on. (In these meets teams are allowed
12 varsity entries.) After a relaxed first mile which saw nine Rams pass
between 5:20 and 5:33, LUKE WILTSHIRE and KENNY
KLOTZ went to the front
with TAYLOR MORGAN in tow through two miles; a large group of Lincoln
and David Douglas runners were still in contact, with KEVIN
O’MALLEY slightly off the front group but poised to move up. NICK
TURNER and DAVID
BELTRAMO were together a bit further back, leading SAMOT
TURINA, TAYLOR
BERGMANN and AUSTIN ARGUELLO.
In the last mile Wiltshire took over as the trio of Rams put some distance
on the group, which included Lincoln’s Aaron
Anderson, a 15:46
performer last week at NB. Klotz and Wiltshire cruised in together at
16:22, four seconds up on Morgan who appeared completely recovered from
his Woodbridge effort and a slight cold in the last few days. Not far
behind, Kevin O’Malley was finding in himself the race his training
had indicated over the last month, finishing 7th just two ticks behind
David Douglas’ top runner, Tim Roady. This was a breakout performance
for O’Malley as he has trained diligently all summer and looks
to be a major factor on the Rams’ march this fall.
Embodying the team’s seasonal motto, “Always Be Closing”,
Nick Turner passed five runners in the last mile to finish a strong 9th
with another excellent effort of 16:47. He, too, has put in a great summer
of work, and it is clearly paying off.
Turina, in his first ever varsity race, looked every bit the veteran
as he ran well paced and patient, ultimately finishing 14th in 17:08.
Age group rival Nathan Mathabane, now a
freshman at Lincoln and a 16:22 man last weekend at NB, was just eight
seconds up on Samot; this looks to be a rivalry that will yield great
races for years to come. Also running well for the Rams on this day were
Bergmann (17:39), Arguello (17:52), and HEW COMMEREE (17:59). With
the top three sweep the team outcome was sealed; no team can lose a dual
meet when finishing 1-2-3. While the group didn’t necessarily
need a great race here, their confidence certainly grew today – particularly
with the fine performances of O’Malley, Morgan, and Turner.
With 12 runners in the varsity race only three JV harriers competed on
this day, along with four freshman in the 3000m race. Frosh CONOR
ROLAND and CONNOR CAMPBELL were
5th and 8th in their first race longer than a mile, less than 30 seconds
behind the winner; both show great promise at this time. JOHN
BREWER and JOSEPH
WORKMAN, despite having significantly
less training than their frosh teammates, also turned in fine efforts
on this day. The junior varsity, thin as it was, was led by sophomore AARON
PECORA in 5th place. His PR last year, 23:04, was demolished
today at 19:52; this was truly impressive and a testament to the value
of plain, old fashioned, hard work. Senior GERARD
FINNEGAN and soph ANDREW
WILKES,
rounded out the JV squad with solid efforts.
Next week the team faces another MHC squad with visions of a state meet
berth, Centennial HS, on Wednesday at Lents Park in SE Portland, but
it is the Saturday meet (October 1st) – the Jim
Danner Invitational at Blue Lake Park – that has the squad fired up. The Danner meet
brings together a large group of state, regional, and nationally ranked
teams and will be a great test for this fine group.
Please check out our new team website, Ram
XC
for more news about the Rams.
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