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By BEN MCCARTY
News staff writer
October 25, 2007
With Wednesday's rain pelting their faces and mud splashing onto
their legs, cross country runners Erin Jones, and Leo and Yonny
Castillo ran out of the mist at Centennial High School and into
the Class 6A state meet.
Leo Castillo and Jones finished second in their respective races
at the district finals, while Yonny Castllio was 11th,
and qualified as the third individual runner from Mount Hood
Conference.
In
the girls race, Centennial’s Michelle Dettman burst to a quick
lead and finished nearly 30 seconds ahead of Jones. That left
Jones and Gresham’s Khalia Tidwell to battle for second. The
pair stayed on each others heels for much of the race, before
Jones was able to open up a gap in the final portion of the
course and hold off Tidwell down the homestretch.
Jones’ time of 18 minutes, 55 seconds in the pouring rain was
her second-best mark this season, and put her in high spirits
after the finish.
“I
feel really good,” she said. “I wish I could have stayed with
Michelle, but I’m glad I picked off Khalia.”
The boys race turned into a duel between Leo Castillo and
defending state champion Taylor Morgan of Central Catholic. With
a pack of Morgan’s Central Catholic teammates sealing them off
from the rest of the field, Castillo and Morgan traded the lead
several times. Castillo pulled in front one final time as the
pair entered the track for the closing leg of the race. As the
two made their way toward the finish line, Morgan found another
gear and sprinted by Castillo to take the win by six seconds.
Castillo finished in 16:13 and was the lone non-Central Catholic
runner in the top seven.
The Eagle boys had three runners in the top 15 and finished
third as a team, behind state qualifiers Central Catholic and
Reynolds.
“I’m really proud off all these guys,” HRV coach Rich Hedges
said. “We did as good as we could do.”
For more coverage on the district race, see the Oct. 27 edition
of the Hood River News.
Click for complete district meet results |
