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Cougars slip in wet race
BY DOUG FRY
W ith wind and rain creating severe
weather warnings across the state, the
Clackamas Comm unity College cross
country team looked to use the Wes
Cook George Fox Invitational as a final
tune-up prior to the Southern Region
Cham pionship later this month.
Clackamas was originally scheduled
to host a meet at the college, but they
instead elected to find a meet with more
competition. Sophomore Evan Sutherland
believes they made the right choice to go
to the Wes Cook Invitational.
“ This meet was going to be a better
race and better com petition. We want to
run good races and be. around the best
races. W e’re going to be running at home
anyways [for the cham pionships],” said
Sutherland.
Clackam as distance runners traveled
to W illam ette M ission State Park early
on the morning o f Saturday, Oct. 15. The
men ran 8 kilometers and the women ran
6 kilometers. In the fourth and final meet
o f the regular season, the Cougars hoped
to improve on their times and hit their
peak as they head into the postseason.
“ The team has been pretty h ealth y ,”
said head coach Jonathan Marcus. He had
expected the m en to fin ish in the top
third and the women to finish in the top
m e n ’ s team w ith a tim e o f 26:43.2,
half of teams competing at the meet. The and placed 19th in d iv id u ally . M oats
men placed eighth out o f 13 team s, and
m entioned that the course conditions
the women did not receive a team place weren’ t great.
because scoring depends on the tim es of
"It was pretty muddy. A lot o f slipping
the top five runners, and only four
and fa llin g out th e re ,” M oats
Clackam as w om en finished
said. “ The guy in fro n t o f
the race.
me fell and then I alm ost
“ I started throwing
Sutherland likes to go
fell, but was able to keep
in to every race w ith a
m yself u p .”
up. I threw up like six or
gam e p la n , and being
Runners started the
able to stick to it is key
race in an open field
seven times.”
for h im . “ M y strategy
an d w ere fu n n e le d
is to set a good pace for
onto a paved road before
- E v a n Sutherland
the first 5K, and for the
en te rin g the w oods o f
last 3K I try to give it all I
W illam ette M ission State
have, just trying to get faster
Park. From there, the course
and fa ste r,” said Sutherland. “ I got
was comprised o f muddy turns and
o ff on a good start, and on the last 1,000
slippery slopes. E ntering the last 200
meters I started throwing up. I threw up
m eters o f the course, runners faced a
like six or seven tim es.”
large puddle, leaving only a sm all sliver
When asked if it affected his race at all,
of trail where many of the runners ended
Sutherland said it slowed him down, but
up slipping as they tried to avoid the ankle
overall he still ran a good race. Despite
deep puddle.
the sick n ess, he cam e in 24th out o f
During the race, rainfall was steady.
116 runners with a time o f 26:51.7, just
Everyone knew the w eather would be
seconds behind team m ate Josh Moats.
challenging before the race started. When
Sophomore Moats was able to keep up
the team was asked if it affected any o f
with the weather conditions while other
the ath letes, they said that they were
runners were not. He led the Clackamas
used to the conditions.
According to sophomore Dan Carrier,
it was difficult to sprint going into the
muddy corners o f the last 200 meters.
“ I felt like I was running in place,” said
Carrier.
Freshm an Sonia Lem us felt that her
race w ent w ell, in spite o f the muddy
conditions.
“ As we were running around the curves,
it was really slippery. I kept sliding a lot,
so it might have taken some of my tim e,”
Lemus said.
W ith the Cougars hosting the NWAC
So u th ern R egion C h am p io n sh ip s on
Oct. 29, the m en’s and wom en’s teams
are both looking forward to the next few
weeks leading up to the cham pionships.
The runners know there is still work to be
done in practice to prepare for the end of
the season and are eager for what awaits
them as a team.
photos by Austin Boltz
Below: Clackamas woman’s cross-country team waits for the race to start on Saturday, Oct. 15, at Willamette Mission State Park.
Right: C CC men’s distance runner Weyekin Bill runs through the forest at the Wes Cook Invitational.
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