2012 CCC Cross Country Crowns Awarded On Saturday
LA GRANDE, Ore. – It’s conference championship time for Cascade Conference harriers as the CCC travels to Lents Park in Portland, Ore. on Saturday morning to race for the trophies. The women’s five-kilometer race is set for 10:30 a.m., followed by the men’s eight-kilometer race at 11:15 a.m.
The women’s race looks to come down to a showdown between Eastern Oregon senior Karlee Coffey and College of Idaho junior Hillary Holt. Coffey holds the top 5k time in the CCC this season after posting a 17:21.56 at the Willamette Charles Bowles Invitational on Sep. 29 but Holt is less than two-seconds back, having won the Red Lion Cascade Frontier Challenge on Nov. 22 with a time of 17:23.37.
In 2011, Coffey won the conference title with a time of 18:10.71, nearly 10 seconds quicker than second-place Holt. College of Idaho, who won the 2011 team title with 51 points, looks to repeat as the third-ranked Yotes hold four of the top ten times in the CCC this season.
On the men’s side, College of Idaho senior Greg Montgomery will try to repeat as conference champion and looks to be the favorite with the top 8k time in the CCC this year, having run a 24:17.61 at the Red Lion Cascade Frontier Challenge on Nov. 22. Montgomery’s biggest competition looks to be Southern Oregon sophomore Eric Avila, who has been named Red Lion CCC Runner of the Week three times this fall.
Southern Oregon has been the top-ranked team in the NAIA since August and will be the favorite to take the team title with four of the top ten times in the CCC this season but Concordia will be looking to play spoiler with four of the top ten times as well.
Many of the participants in Saturday’s championship races are also expected to be running just across the Columbia River on Nov. 17 when Concordia and the CCC host the 2012 NAIA National Championships at Fort Vancouver State Park in Vancouver, Wash.