The Clackamas print., October 18, 2017, Page 7, Image 7

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XC sees better weather, same results
MEN PLACE EIGHTH WHILE WOMEN FAIL TO QUALIFY IN CROSS COUNTRY MEET
BY JACOB THOMPSON
THE CLACKAMAS PRINT
On Saturday, Oct. 14, Clackamas Community C ollege’s
m e n ’s c ro ss-c o u n try team to o k e ig h th p la c e in the
Wes Cook In v ita tio n a l for the second stra ig h t year,
w hile the w om en’s team saw all its runners set new
p erson al reco rd s.
W ith the m ercury read in g below 40 degrees at the
sta rt o f the first race, the C ougars w ere b a ttlin g cold
tem peratures, thick fog and tough com petition as they
looked to close out the reg u lar season strong.
“I th in k the only thing th at a lot o f us w ere b attling
w ith w as th a t it w as re a lly c o ld ,” said sop h o m ore
A ngel C astellan o s. “It was a lot b etter than last year
w hen it was pou rin g dow n rain and ju s t a giant mud
bog. N obody was slip p in g . I t ’s ju s t th at some people
got psyched out w ith the c o ld .”
The cold d id n ’t seem to b o th e r C a ste lla n o s w ho
had the stro n g est finish for C lackam as w ith a tim e o f
2 7 :02.1 , tak in g 28th place in the m e n ’s 8k.
“I think the race went pretty good,” said Castellanos.
“I d id n ’t get to race the last race out, so th is is my
second actual 8k this season and I ’m five seconds o ff
my [personal re c o rd ].”
C lack am as’ m e n ’s team had a to tal o f five runners
p a r tic ip a te in th e 8k ra c e . F resh m an H ay d en E arl
fin ish e d in 35th w ith a tim e o f 2 7 :2 4 .5 . F resh m an
Seth M artin fin ish ed in 47th w ith a tim e o f 27:55.8.
Freshm an Santos R oquel fin ish ed in 56th w ith a tim e
o f 29:20.9. Freshm an Ben D avis finished in 59th with
a tim e o f 29:58.5.
“As a team w e ’re d oing p re tty g o o d ,” said E arl.
“ [We] need to keep im p ro v in g and d ro p p in g dow n
[our tim e s].”
On the w om en’s side o f th in g s, the C ougars w ere
unable to place due to a lack o f runners but still had a
lot o f success, w ith each runner setting a new personal
record in the 5k race.
“ [We did] re a lly g o o d ,” said head coach M ichelle
R ose. “It was the first tim e we had alm ost a full girls
team and th e y p e rfo rm e d re a lly w e ll, all o f them
actu ally [set perso n al re c o rd s].”
Sophom ore Suzy B o tsfo rd led the w o m en ’s team
w ith a tim e o f 22:14.8, follow ed by freshm an B rittany
Coleman (24:18.5), freshman Hanna Steigman (25:44,1)
and Jasm ine G loden (27:2 2 .5 ).
G eorge Fox U n iv ersity is the host o f the Wes Cook
In v ita tio n a l, and a fte r last y e a r’s race was im pacted
h eavily by the m ud, they d ecided to p u t dow n bark
chips on the course in hopes o f im proving the ru n n ers’
tra c tio n , and B otsford was happy about the change.
“I liked the bark ch ip s,” said B otsford. “It was hard
enough to get a grip, but it w asn ’t too so ft th at I slip
around, so I re a lly liked th a t.”
C lackam as w ill look to keep the m om entum ro llin g
as they head into the Southern Region C ham pionships.
“I think we want to go in there and mix it up with the
top teams and see how we come o u t,” said C astellanos.
Clackamas Print ------------------------------------
“W e’re looking to place top three. It should be p retty
fu n .”
The Southern R egion C ham pionships w ill be held
on O ct. 28 in R o se b u rg , O reg o n and w ill fe a tu re
C la c k a m a s, L a n e , C la rk , M t. H ood, SW O re g o n ,
T reasure Valley and U m pqua.
Photo by Doug Fry
theclackam asprint.net
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OCTOBER 18, 2017