Oregon Ambushes Washington
on a great day for cross country

by Leo Collins

A day of cool & humid temperatures should have served as a warning to Washington runners, who represented their state in the 6 th Annual Border Clash. They came in as distinct favorites in a series, which they have dominated, but were ambushed by a team of over-achieving athletes from Oregon . This is stated given the predominant opinion beforehand that Washington yet again held the upper hand. It is a meet that Washington had won 4 of the first 5 years.

The 4.4K course, which is basically flat, on the Nike corporate headquarters saw the girls from opposing teams charge toward each other from opposite ends of the soccer plain after the cannon exploded. They merged together as they made a sharp turn toward the far perimeter of the campus. All went smoothly for all except for Oregon 's Ilsa Paulson's being cut off on the turn & being forced toward the back of the pack.

A large lead pack ran together until around the 3 minute mark, when Holli Dieu of Coquille, Oregon pushed the pace & moved into a clear lead, which swelled to as much as 20 meters. Holli held the lead as she reached the mile mark at approximately 5:48. She continued to hold her lead for about 2 more minutes, when Washington State champion Brie Felnagle made a strong move to go into contention.

Dieu to her credit responded to the challenge & held a tenuous lead, although the Washington star seemed to have the most fluidity of stride. The two runners had so removed themselves from the rest that it was difficult to follow the rest of the runners..

Onward, the two went to cover more yardage far removed from the others. When Felnagle made her move at about the time they had returned to the soccer field, it was a decisive one, which was not covered by her Oregon challenger. Still Dieu fought on to easily garner second place, while Oregon 's Natalie Todd-Zebell & Ilsa Paulson threaded their way through the pack & closed with a rush to take 3 rd & 4 th ahead of Jan Larson of Washington .

As the dust had cleared the Oregon girls had defeated their counterparts decisively 93 � 117. It was a moral victory of sorts for the small schools of Oregon as 3A runners took the 2 nd & 3 rd places overall for the team. It was the first time that the Oregon girls had won since the inaugural event in 1999. For Brie, who remains undefeated & a force to be reckoned with at Foot Locker nationals, it was another workman-like day, as she had not geared up for the race. Noting that she thought nothing, when Dieu stormed into the lead, her goal remains the Footlocker National Championships in San Diego .

If Washington 's Felnagle was focused on the day as well as the future, Kenny Klotz of Central Catholic of Portland Oregon was even more so. Prior to the race, he noted that the goal was to stay loose yet close to the leaders until the last 300 and then take it from there. It was a plan that more than faintly resembled the successful gambit at the State meet and he stuck to it. When Oregon's Jeff McDonald went out in a blaze that quickly distanced himself from the pack, Klotz & the others let him go. No one pursued him for the next 3 minutes, when the group closed en masse to be ready to swallow him. That pack included Laef Barnes of Washington & Kenny Klotz.

Rolling as if at one for a bit they strolled along until shortly before the mile mark, which Ben Poffenroth off Washington reached first in 5 minutes flat. The group continued on with the aforementioned McDonald being mentioned as having assumed the lead on 2 other occasions.

The race appeared to be assuming its eventual course around the 8-minute mark as Klotz, Barnes & David Morgan of Oregon shared the lead. From this point onward it was a grand display of running as one & then another moved into a slight lead, which in turn would be countered seconds later. For a bit it was Barnes in the lead with Morgan slightly behind, while Klotz shadowed, but in a flash the pecking order would change. At the 9-minute mark Barnes forged a slight lead while Klotz appeared to be just staying with him.

Still, it was a three man race & just when one thought that Morgan would falter, he'd move back into the lead. Not far behind were Robbie Barany & Kelly Spady (Washington champ) while Jesuit's (Or) Michael Maag was back in a no-man's land in 6 th � not quite close enough to be in contact with the leaders yet too far removed from those who trailed. The top three followed by the next two flowed onward, yet Maag persevered closely behind in his limbo. Eleven minutes into the race showed no great change as Morgan edged Barnes slightly, while Klotz appeared to be floating along.

It was shortly after this point that Klotz made his move, which was covered immediately by Barnes. It was slightly earlier than planned according to coach Alberto Salazar but �one of those things he needs to learn' (my paraphrase but close). For a bit they ran in tandem until Klotz moved again, which elicited an immediate response by Laef. Just when it appeared to be a two man race Morgan responded to snatch the lead once again. Yet again Central Catholic's runner surged & was in turn matched by Washington 's runner.

Finally it was a two-man race, but whose to win? Barnes is a fine miler with excellent closing speed & one had to think that he had an advantage, yet it was Klotz who charged again. Still Barnes had another gear & with less than 50 meters to go he pushed again to narrow the gap and seemed ready to pounce on his victim. Look: �It's Klotz!� was the refrain as the Oregon star found yet another surge. Barnes had yet more but could not quite answer and the Oregon star maintained his edge until the finish. The valiant Morgan held on for 3 rd while Robbie Barany of Washington claimed 4 th trailed by Maag of Oregon, Kelly Spady (Wash. Champ) 6 th & Kenyon Neuman of Oregon was 7 th .

Once again Nike hosted an excellent meet: one most pleasing to distance aficionados. On hand were young Nike stars Dathan Ritzenhein & Shalane Flanagan to exhort & even commiserate. Still even beyond this you have got to love Cross Country!

On hand were not just fans & coaches & a fine array of talent but former state champ Erin Gray, recovering from physical problems with her back, was there to cheer on her team mate & state-mates. Even University of Oregon great Melody Fairchild, to my mind the greatest female high school distance star the US has ever produced, was there unobtrusively to witness the event.

In all it is the spirit of competition displayed that is the underlying glory of the event. Kenyon Newman ran in spite of being unprepared believing that he had a stress fracture which finally was diagnosed as tendonitis. The memory of Holli Dieu pushing the pace against an opponent yet to be conquered, the ebb & flow of sparring between Klotz, Barnes & Morgan, the tenacity of of Todd-Zebell & Paulson to thread their way through the pack. All are wonderful aspects of our sport. And this despite the fact that, as Felnagle & Klotz observed: �this is but a stop along the journey's way.'