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Preview - George Fox XC OR - DyeStat 2013

Published by
DyeStat.com   Oct 10th 2013, 7:48pm
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Top Alaskans add spice to George Fox Classic

 

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

There are significant changes this year to the meet that was called the "adidas Classic" and became fixture on the Oregon cross country schedule at Fernhill Park in Portland.

 What remains is Randy Dalzell, the meet director. He has moved from Concordia University to George Fox University in Newberg.

George Fox isn't an adidas school, so the sponsorship agreement has ended.Willamette Mission course

And conflicts with youth football and soccer schedules for the use of Fernhill Park on Oct. 12 also forced Dalzell to move the meet to Willamette Mission State Park, north of Salem.

So now it's the George Fox Cross Country Classic, and it will be held on a new 5,000-meter course that Dalzell designed in the past month and a half.

"The (park) ranger out (at Willamette Mission) is great," Dalzell said. "He said you can have the whole park, design the course any way you want. I ran a small meet out there last year when I went to Fox. That gave me a good feel (for the space)."

Dalzell designed a course that is somewhat familiar to the one he used at Fernhill Park, although it is flatter. It's a three-loop course and spectators can stand in the middle and watch most of the races unfold.

Dalzell said he spent six hours mowing at Mission State Park earlier this week, creating a long funnel at the start. The course then goes to the road for about 300 meters and runners will have the option of pavement or grass for that stretch.

That means spikes may not be optimal.

"I would say you're best bet is to wear a cross country shoe without spikes or flats," Dalzell said.

The move out of Portland hasn't hurt the registration numbers.

"I think we may be five-to-seven schools smaller overall compared to last year, but we picked up some (teams) from down south," he said. "Roseburg, Ashland, North Medford, Klamath Falls, they're coming. We're a little more centrally located (now)."

The entries include a team from Idaho, a couple from California and a few from Washington.
But the newsworthy out-of-state entries come from Alaska.

In particular, Allie Ostrander of Kenai and Levi Thomet of Kodiak, both ranked in the DyeStat Top 30, are entered a week after cruising to state titles in Anchorage.

For Ostrander, it is her first time competing outside Alaska and it's a chance to see how she stacks up against a quality field that includes Grant's Ella Donaghu, Union WA's Alexis Fuller and Summit's Hannah Gindlesberger. Another possible entrant is South Eugene's Sara Tsai, if she's recovered from an early-season injury.

The compelling matchup on the boys side has Thomet going against Summit's Matthew Maton. Both are ranked in the Top 20.

One more difference is parking. There is plenty of it, but it's $5 per vehicle in the state park.



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