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PRINT-- Sports
Wednesday, November 13,2013
Just ï
keep
running
I IPORTI FOR
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BrittanyHome
Co-Editor-in-Chief
Hie cross country season is com
ing to a close, but why not take advan
tage o f an opportunity to learn about
the sport for next year? The concept
and practice of competitive open-air
running is prehistoric, and the cardio
exercise during practice or a race is
greatly beneficial to your body. Now",
would be the perfect time to start
training for next season, or start with
track and field which is a spring sport
The objective o f cross country is
to run long distances across rugged
or natural terrain, competing against
other runners to cross the finish line
first Participants in the “meet” run ,ay
total o f four to 12 kilometers across
flat land, gravel, hills, woodlands,
open fields of grass and more. It is
usually a fall or winter sport, taking
place in a wide range of temperatures
as well as during any weather condi
tions. including: rain, hail, wind, sun
or snow. Cross country coach Keoni
McCone makes the goal very clear.
“It’s basically a sport where peo
ple try to outrun each other, and then
there are team tactics that are used as
well,” said McCone,
One common team tactic is to
group the athletes who run a similar
pace together. The technique encour-
ages runners to motivate and pull each
other through a race.
But how do you become a cross
country' athlete in the first place?
CCC’s top male runner, Jorge Gil-
Juarez, is passionate about the sport
and encourages others to give it a try,
“Give something a chance,
because if you don’t, you wont find
out if you’ll wind up loving it,” said
Gil-Juarez. “ This is perfect. Just go
out on a trail and come back more
relaxed.” *
After deciding to get involved
with cross country, training begins.
This means base training, or going
out and running a lot o f miles. An ath
lete must commit to running multiple
miles every day, utilizing a variety o f
mutes and terrain. Simply running,
and running and running some more
should be at least 25 percent o f your
top-end effort The mission is not only
to run long distances, but to run faster
than the competition.
“A lot o f the research shows that
the more mileage you run, the faster
you run,” said McCone.
Cross country is both an individu
al and a team sport Awards are given
to the team with the fewest points
(calculated by adding the teams’ fin
ishing scores together) as well as to
the individual athletes who cross the
finish line first Success depends on
dedication to be the best as well as aa‘
ability to work as a team and encour
age each other. Working closely with
your team can be beneficial when
training gets tough.
“Just take it one day at a time,”
said Gil-Juarez. “Find a friend that
likes doing what you do so you don’t
have to do it alone.”
I think the individual challenge,
teamwork and physical benefit ofi
running are the key to cross coun
try’s long history and growth as a
sport Although its likeness existed
before, the rules and traditions o f ;
cross country emerged from Britain.
The English championship began in
1876, the first national competition,
followed by the International Cross
Country Championships in 1903,
The sport progressed until it
became part o f the Olympics, but only
took place in 1912,1920 and 1924. A
heat wave in Paris resulted in only 15
o f 38 runners reaching the finish line
during the 1924 Summer Olympics.
The other 23 competitors suffered
from heat stroke, fainted, blacked out
or suffered from some other form of
unconsciousness. The spectators were
shocked and tire Olympic officials
decided to ban cross country from
future Olympic Games, although U
similar run is part o f the pentathlon.
Despite obstacles that had to
be overcome, cross country is still
a growing sport The USA Cross
Country Championships have been
held since 1890 and include six races. :
More recently, The USA Masters 5
km Cross Country Championships
had its start in 2002. The USATF
National Junior Olympic Cross
Country Championships, first held
in 2001, have races for boys and girls
in five two-year age divisions. Could
it be possible that cross country will
soon be an Olympic sport again?
Thank you for learning about
Cross Country with me tins week.
Feel free to let us know what you
think about the sport or if you have
been inspired to start a new hobby at
w'W'w'.theelackamasprinLnet.
Seasoned
Cougars vs.
N ew com ers
B eing a C ougar is som ething
to take pride in. F riday n ight
the m en ’s basketball team scrim
m aged form er m em bers o f C CC
basketball, and the alum ni proved
once a C ougar alw ays a C ougar
in an exciting and com petitive
exhibition at R andall Hall.
The alum ni team com prised
form er S outhern reg io n cham
p io n s, N W A A C C cham p io n s
and players w ho continued col
lege ball after CCC. Som e w ere
recently on the team and som e
graduated over a decade ago. The
m ix w as interesting and enter
taining.
It w as a good gam e all around,
but C C C ’s current squad dom i
n ated th e friendly m atch. The
first h a lf w as C C C ’s best, w ith
quite a few useful defensive and
offensive rebounds. T he younger
team show ed th eir h ard training
and team w ork. Pow erful plays
by Tim L ot w ere som e o f the
highlights during the first half,
a slam -dunk being one o f them .
A nthony R ussel o f C C C scored
the final shot o f the first h a lf w ith
a three p ointer at the buzzer. CCC
w as ahead 46 - 32.
In the second h a lf the action
w as even m ore com petitive as
the alum ni gained leverage w ith
som e spot-on plays. Som e o f the
alum ni tea m ’s m om entum w as
due to consistent three-pointers.
T hey w ere able to accum ulate
30 points out o f 18 attem pts in
the second half. C C C seem ed to
still battle and p u t together great
plays, b u t the alum ni had a slight
edge in the second.
The alum ni garnered 55 points
in the second h a lf to C C C ’s 50,
a n im pressive com eb ack after
the first half, b u t n o t enough
to redeem it. C CC w on 96-87
against the very gam e alum ni.
L eading in points Friday night
w as alum nus Justin Steinke, earn
ing 33 points w ith eight successful
three-pointers out o f 13 attem pts.
F o r the current C ougars, M itchell
B eckw ith earned 18 p oints w ith
tw o nice three-pointers out o f
th ree attem pts. B eck w ith w as
follow ed closely by L ott, w ho
accrued 17 p oints including a
couple o f solid slam -dunks.
T he last preseason scrim m age
w as a fun ice-breaker to fore
shadow the 2013-14 season. The
C ougars retu rn to R andall for
th eir first gam e o f the season as
they face C oncordia U niversity
JV at 7 p.in. this com ing Friday.
—Compiled by David Beasley
W re s t I i ng re c a p
The C lackam as C ougars w res
tling team im proved to 2-0 on the
season beating N C A A D ivision
2 Sim on F ra se r U n iv ersity o f
V ancouver, B .C ., 33-12 last
Saturday. The C ougars dom inat
ed the visiting C anadians by w in
ning seven o f 10 m atches.
SFU started strong at 125
pounds as Skylor D avis pinned
C lackam as’ K am ron D ay in 1:43,
but C C C cam e back and w on
the next four bouts. C ary Palm er
led the m om entum by defeating
S F U ’s Sukhan C hahal 17-0 at
135 lbs. in a technical fall.
C lackam as w ould streak three
m ore con secu tiv e w in s w h e n
L aw rence O tero at 141 lbs.
and E leazar D eluca at 151 lbs.
beat their opponents 12-2 and
24-9 respectively. The 149 lbs.
K enny M artin did not w restle for
C lackam as this evening but still
picked up a w in as SFU forfeited
at the w eight class.
A t 165 pounds, S F U ’s B rock
L am b w as able to edge out C C C ’s
K yle B atem an in a 7-5 overtim e
decision but C lackam as w ould
still keep their m om entum going
despite the close loss.
D ustin H arris pinned S F U ’s
C ody C oom bes in 1:53 at the 174
lbs. class w hile C C C ’s 184 lbs.
A drian Salas beat Joshua K im
5-0. C lackam as’ fin ai dom inat
ing victory cam e by a 13-0 m ajor
decision as the 197 lbs. Ihogham a
O dighizuw a m anhandled S F U ’s
R yan Yewchin.
Sim on Fraser capped the event
o ff w ith a w in at 285 as A rjun
G ill defeated B randon Johnson,
but the 8-3 w in did not earn
enough points to com e close to
C lackam as’ perform ance on the
day.
T his w as the first hom e m eet
o f th e season for C lackam as
and the second m onster perfor
m ance in a row com ing o f f last
w e ek ’s 34-6 w in over Sim pson
U niversity in the SF State O pen
in R edding, Calif. C lackam as is
currently six th in the N JC A A
m en ’s w restling poll w ith 65.5
points.
O n Sunday the C ougars trav
eled to F o re st G rove, O R. to
Pacific U niversity’s M ike C lock
O pen w restling tournam ent. The
m en p u t on a strong show ing
w ith w restlers appearing in four
tournam ent finals and w inning
tw o class titles.
A drian Salas battled his w ay
to w in the 184 lbs. w eight class
in Forest grove in w ith a string o f
m atches that included a close 9-8
victory over S tanford’s G arrett
K rohn. Salas capped o ff the day
beating Stanford’s M ike Sojka by
a 6-2 decision.
C lac k a m a s’ K en n y M a rtin
also had his share o f success w in
n ing the 149 lbs. w eight class.
M artin started o ff strong picking
up a p in fall and a 13-5 m ajority
decision on his w ay in the finals.
M artin w o n the bracket in a fall
after 56 seconds o f w restling w ith
O regon State.’s R eed VanAnrooy.
In th e 197 lbs. to urnam ent
Ihoghw am a O dighizuw a w ould
dom inate his w ay to the finals by
picking up a pin fall and a m ajor
decision. T he effort w ould w as
n o t be enough to beat O regon
S tate’s Taylor M eeks in the finals
as M eeks defeated O dighizuw a
14-0.
C ary P alm er did not have a
bye in the 133 lbs. bracket but
w as able to reach the tournam ent
finals. P a lm e r w as d o m inant
early on in his effort picking up
four big w ins, one by pinfallpin
fall and three by decision. In the
finals the P alm er w ould w as not
be able to keep up w ith O regon
S ta te ’s D rew V anA nrooy w ho
had a first round bye in the brack
et. V anA nrooy d efeated Palm er in
the finals in a close 5-3 bout.
—Compiled by Chris Browarski
Men ’s Basketball head coach C lif Wegner motivates his team members (left
to right) Anthony Russell, Chartes Smith III and Austin Harris prepare.
Blazermania
Zak Laster
Ad Manager
There’s no better feeling for a
sports fen than the home opener
for his favorite team. The excite
ment o f waking up, donning the
jersey o f a favorite player and get
ting ready for the big game can’t
be matched for any sports fen.
W ith the Portland Trail Blazers
being Oregon’s longest-operating
major-league sports team, the
level o f fen enthusiasm for the
Blazers is always off the charts.
W herever you go in Portland,
you’re bound to find someone
sporting a Blazers T-shirt, jersey
or h a t
Blazers fans have had to
endure m any rough eras o f bas
ketball through the years. Ever
since their last trip to the Western
Conference Finals in 2000,
against the Los Angeles Lakers,
the Blazers have yet to make it
past the first round. The closest
they have come since winning the
championship in 1977 was their
championship losses in 1990 to
Detroit and 1992 to Chicago.
This 2013 team has fens excit
ed that this may finally be the
year they see their team not only
make the playoffs, but possibly
even get out o f the first roundL
Team officials have added sev
eral young, talented players such
as Damian Lillard and Thomas
Robinson, whom they hope will
lead the team to a championship
in the near future.
This is a franchise that loves
its team win or loss. Blazers fans,
or Rip City, as they’re called,
have a reputation for being one
o f the loudest, wildest fan bases
in the entire National Basketball
Association. Prices for games are
very reasonable, and despite the
city’s love for the team, tickets can
be veiy easy to come by.
One o f the best methods for
going to a Blazers game is to wait
until the day o f the game. Unless
it’s one o f the more popular oppo
nents, like the Miami Heat, winch
.are likely to sell out, some o f the
best ticket deals can be found at
5:30 p.m. for a 7:00 p m . game. I f
you’re willing to gamble, it can be
one o f the best ways to save a few
dollars at the game.
Always be constantly check
ing StubHub or Craigslist While
it’s always easier to purchase
tickets from fee Blazers’ website,
the better deals are found through
these ticket resale websites for
less desirable games. But i f your
goal is to watch the home team,
regardless o f opponent, you’re
guaranteed to get a better deal for
prime seating. A lot o f season
ticket holders post their less desir
able game tickets on these web
sites for prices that are lower than
fece value. The gamble referred
to earlier is that the longer you
wait before tip-off, the lower the
prices wi 11 go because at that point
sellers are just trying to get what
they can for them.
Once you arrive at the Moda
Center, the first line you will want
to hit is the concession stand. A
hot dog and a beer is a must for
any Blazers fen over 21. The best
bear stand is the Pyramid Bar,
just be ready to overpay. A t $10
a beer, things can add up fast If
the line for Pyramid beer is too
long, it’s recommended you try
walking into the actual restaurant
and standing at that side o f the bar.
M ost people don’t realize they
have servers on that side too that
will assist you and you’ll be able
to get to your seat much faster.
In the ofi-season, the team
announced new features and
options to improve the fen expe
rience at games this year. The
Blazers added popular new
food options such as Fire On
The Mountain Buffalo wings
and Sizzle Pie. The arena is also
equipped with free Wi-Fi for fens
to enjoy, although the quality o f
Wi-Fi signal is not that impres
sive.
As far as fan experience goes,
the Blazers arena ranks high as
one o f the best places to watch
a game. It’s definitely recom
mended for any basketball fan
young and old. The Blazers do
a great job o f incorporating the
fans into the game such as a
remote-controlled blimp drop
ping envelopes containing cou
pons for free prizes, or on-court
fan contests. "When the Blazers
are winning, they’re usually danc
ing in foe aisles during timeouts,
or jum ping out o f their seats after
an explosive dunk
You just w on’t find the passion
and excitement to be as intense
anywhere else. These Portland
Trail Blazers fens have experi
enced succcsslul teams in the past
but have had a string o f bad luck
roster decisions, whether it be the
Jail Blazer era or choosing to pass
on drafting Michael Jordan and
Kevin Durant for injury prone
Sam Bowie and Greg Oden. But
after all that, it appears that this
team is ready for many successful
years ahead.
These Blazers are a team that
the city and fens can be proud of.
Hopefully, they will give this city
what they’ve been waiting for,
another N B A championship. The
city is ready to party like it’s 1977.