SPRINGFIELD, Ore.—Besting a field of 84 runners by 20 seconds at the Cascade Collegiate Conference Cross Country Championships, Concordia sophomore Alice Taylor became the first female athlete in the school’s history to win a conference title in the sport
Taylor toured the 5,000-meter course at the Dorris Ranch in 17 minutes, 40 seconds to easily win the conference title. Eastern Oregon freshman Karlee Coffey placed second with an 18:00 and College of Idaho’s Stephanie Helm, the defending CCC champion, finished third with an 18:03.
“Alice just took control of the race early and no one was able to challenge her,” Dalzell said. “She was very relaxed and smooth throughout. This really sets her up well for the national meet where she will be able to reach down deep and go to the well, which you only want to do a few times, giving your maximum effort both physically and mentally. She is fortunate that she did not have to use one of those types of efforts today and can really pop one at nationals. I think she surprised the field at how easily she was able to put a gap on them and extend it over the course of the race. This was one of the best performances I have seen in this conference.”
With Taylor in the lead, Concordia edged Southern Oregon by a single point in the team race. CI tallied a meet low 36 to cruise to the meet win and an automatic bid into the NAIA National Championships. Concordia scored 84 points, Southern Oregon 95 and Eastern Oregon 96 as three points separated second, third and fourth place.
“It’s amazing that after losing three of our top runners early in the year and missing Maggie (Pesanti) today that the ladies stepped up and got it done,” Dalzell said. “We came in rated fourth and finished second with a great performance from our top four ladies as well as the best race of the season from Savannah (Walruff) filling in that fifth spot. It will be exciting to see what we can do at nationals with Maggie back in the mix.”
CU’s Lauren Moran also cracked the top 10 with an 18:50 for eighth place. Samantha Robert placed 11th overall as CU’s No. 3 runner, crossing the line in 18:57. Junia Limage and Savannah Walruff rounded out the CU scoring with Limage finishing in 22nd place with a 19:18 and Walruff finishing in 59th place with a 21:25. With the top 12 earning all-conference honors, Taylor, Moran and Robert were recognized for their performances by the CCC.
Concordia’s final finishers came from Kelsie Lincoln, with a 23:30 for 75th place and Jenna Olson in 78th place with a 24:22.
On the men’s side, Martin Romero-Clark recorded a second-place finish after running the 8,000-meter route in 25:00. Romero–Clark was well off individual champion David Laney (SOU, 24:44) but outkicked a number of challenges, including Eastern Oregon's DJ Flores by a single second for the runner-up result. Steps back were College of Idaho’s Greg Montgomery (4th, 25:04) and Southern Oregon’s Dennis McCaffrey (5th, 25:05).
A trio of Cavalier men finished within strides of each other as Charles Cummings, Marcus Nelson and Cordero Cisneros finished as the team’s No. 2-4 runners. Cummings crossed in 25:17, Nelson in a 25:19 and Cisneros a 25:27. Brandon Kohler came in as the team’s fifth scorer with a 26:27 for 32nd place. Josh Burrus crossed in 36th place as the team’s sixth competitor and Dylan Zitzer was the final finisher for the Cavs at 26:56.
“Martin Romero-Clark had his best race of the year and Marcus Nelson really stepped up as well in the No. 3 spot," Dalzell said. "Jessy Brown sat out with a knee problem, but he should be ready to go at nationals and with the way we ran today, his addition could make us a top 15 or better team.”
Southern Oregon, currently ranked No. 1 in the NAIA poll, outdistanced themselves from all challengers with a 23-point win over College of Idaho. Eastern Oregon edged Concordia by a single point, 86-to-87.
The two individual champions, David Laney for the men, and Alice Taylor for the women, were named the CCC Cross Country Athletes of the Year.