Preview: CCC Cross Country Championships presented by U.S. Bank
11 a.m. Saturday – CCC Men's Championship 8K – La Grande, Ore. (Lane Farms)
12 p.m. Saturday – CCC Women's Championship 5K – La Grande, Ore. (Lane Farms)
LA GRANDE – For the first time since 2006, the Cascade Collegiate Conference Cross Country Championships presented by U.S. Bank return to La Grande on Saturday as two of the most vaunted fields in the nation take to the Lanes Farms course.
The men’s 8,000-meter race is set for an 11 a.m. start and the women’s 5K will begin at noon amid temperatures that are forecasted to hover around 38 degrees. Both races will feature more NAIA Top 25 teams than in any race nationwide – five on the men’s side, and four on the women’s side with another receiving votes.
Second-ranked Southern Oregon, the defending national champion, is shooting for its 10th consecutive men’s championship but is likely to face a steeper challenge than at any other time during its reign. Northwest Christian is the three-time defending CCC women’s champ and will have to pull off an upset to win a fourth with No. 5 College of Idaho and No. 7 Oregon Tech primed for title runs.
FORMAT: The top-12 placers in each race are considered All-Cascade Conference, and the top-five finishers on each team contribute to their respective team's score. The winners get to bring seven runners and an alternate to the NAIA Championships, which will be hosted by the CCC on Nov. 18 in Vancouver, Washington. Every other team will have to rely on an at-large bid, to be determined by next week’s final NAIA rankings. The top-four placers on squads that don't advance to the NAIA Championships will receive individual berths, as long as they finish in the top-15 overall.
MEN’S GLANCE:
ALL-TIME TITLES: Eastern Oregon 12 (last: 2007), Southern Oregon 11 (last: 2016), *Concordia 1 (2006)
*Former CCC Member
2016 TEAM SCORES: Southern Oregon 35, The College of Idaho 64, Oregon Tech 84, Eastern Oregon 96, Northwest Christian 102, Corban 148, Northwest 181, Multnomah 262, Warner Pacific 268
IN THE RANKINGS: No. 2 Southern Oregon, No. 4 College of Idaho, No. 8 Eastern Oregon, No. 17 Northwest Christian, No. 24 Oregon Tech
RETURNING 2016 ALL-CCC: Nic Maszk, Eastern Oregon (1st); Connor Cushman, Southern Oregon (2nd); Mark French, Oregon Tech (3rd); Garrett Kraal, Northwest Christian (4th); Noah Oberriter, Southern Oregon (5th); TJ Wright, Northwest Christian (6th); Andrew Sutton, College of Idaho (10th); Ray Schireman, Southern Oregon (12th)
OUTLOOK: SOU has traditionally prevailed with superior depth and brings back eight runners who helped the Raiders run away with the 2016 banner, including runner-up Connor Cushman and 2015 champion Ray Schireman. No team has gotten within 19 points of the Raiders during the run of titles, but two weeks ago No. 4 College of Idaho got within a slim 49-43 margin of SOU at William Jessup’s Warrior Invite. The Yotes were also the conference’s top-scoring team at the CCC Preview Meet to start the season. Behind defending individual champ Nic Maszk, No. 8 Eastern Oregon should be in contention along with No. 17 Northwest Christian, which brings back last year’s fourth- and sixth-place finishers in Garrett Kraal and TJ Wright. Overall, eight of 12 All-CCC performers are back for more.
WOMEN’S GLANCE:
ALL-TIME TITLES: Eastern Oregon 7 (last: 2007), The College of Idaho 5 (last: 2013), Northwest 5 (last: 2004), Northwest Christian 3 (last: 2016), *George Fox 2 (last: 1994), *Concordia 1 (2010), Corban 1 (2006)
*Former CCC member
2016 TEAM SCORES: Northwest Christian 28, College of Idaho 78, Oregon Tech 80, Southern Oregon 96, Corban 148, Eastern Oregon 151, Northwest 168, Multnomah 246, Warner Pacific 265
IN THE RANKINGS: No. 5 College of Idaho, No. 7 Oregon Tech, No. 10 Southern Oregon, No. 19 Corban, Northwest (RV)
RETURNING 2016 ALL-CCC: Jessa Perkinson, SOU (2nd); Danielle de Castro, Oregon Tech (3rd); Rachel Roelle, Eastern Oregon (5th); Anna Brooks, Northwest Christian (6th); Molly Vitale-Sullivan, College of Idaho (8th); Cindy Reed, Oregon Tech (9th); Rosa Schmidt, Northwest Christian (10th); Sarah Estabrook, Northwest (11th)
OUTLOOK: Fifth-ranked College of Idaho is the favorite to end Northwest Christian’s run behind sophomore All-American Molly Vitale-Sullivan – the CCC Preview champion – and a top-five that finished within 19 seconds of each other in the Yotes’ most recent outing at William Jessup. Oregon Tech, which was a close second to C of I at said meet, boasts a lineup featuring All-CCC runners Danielle de Castro and Cindy Reed. Corban and Northwest have improved depth after finishing fifth and seventh, respectively, in last year’s standings, and the Beacons will rely on big finishes from all-conference runners Anna Brooks and Rosa Schmidt to keep them in contention. Individually, Southern Oregon’s nine-time overall NAIA All-American Jessa Perkinson will seek the first-ever title for a Raider. The senior was last year’s runner-up, and her last two outings have resulted in NAIA Runner of the Week awards.