Big Battles Forecast for CCC XC Championships
PORTLAND, Ore. – Eight nationally ranked teams – four on the men’s side, four on the women’s – will be among 20 teams competing in the Cascade Collegiate Conference Cross Country Championships Presented by Activate this Saturday.
The championships are slated to be held at Oak Knoll Golf Course in Ashland, Ore. The women’s 5K is slated for 9:30 a.m.; the men’s 8K follows at 10:30 a.m.
Admission is free. Other sponsors of the CCC event include PowerBar, Verizon, Les Schwab Tires, Bank of the Cascades, and Red Lion Hotels.
The women’s race is highlighted by three top 10 teams – No. 4 College of Idaho, No. 7 Northwest Christian, No. 9 Concordia and No. 22 Southern Oregon. At the CCC Preview meet at Oak Knoll in mid-September, Northwest Christian won the team title over Concordia and Southern Oregon. College of Idaho did not participate.
Concordia freshman Gina Paletta won the individual crown in a time of 18:22. She was followed by Northwest Christian’s Brittany Petersen (18:52.70), Ally Manley (19:05.40) and Stephanie Hescock (19:13.80). Concordia runners also finished 5-6, with Lauren Moran clocking a time of 19:17.80 and Junia Limage finishing in a time of 19:28.30.
On the men’s side, Concordia won the event after placing four runners in the top eight, including champion Matthew Clowes, who had just joined the team after participating in the World Mountain Running Championships in Albania. Clowes clocked a time of 25:35.80 over the 8,000-meter course. Teammate Ben Foubert finished third (26:01.80) and the Cavs’ Marcus Nelson finished fourth (26:22.50).
Southern Oregon was led by Ryan Sorenson, who placed second in a time of 25:58.40. Oregon Tech’s Scott Minor was fifth (26:29.40).
Northwest University’s Seth Bridges, who won the prestigious Sundodger Invitational in Seattle in September, has the CCC’s best time in the 8,000 meters. He clocked a time of 24:16.60 in winning the Sundodger meet. SOU’s James Johnstone has the second-fastest time in the conference, registering a time of 24:33.75 at the Charles Bowles Invitational at Willamette University in early October.
Nationally ranked men’s teams from the CCC include No. 4 Southern Oregon, No. 11 College of Idaho, No. 13 Concordia, and No. 20 Eastern Oregon.
The team champions earn automatic berths in the 2011 NAIA Cross Country National Championships, which will be held Saturday, Nov. 19 at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Wash. At-large teams and individual qualifiers will be announced Monday afternoon on naia.org and cascadeconference.org.
Click here for 2011 CCC top times.