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Preview Nike Pre-Nationals 2014 - DyeStat

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DyeStat.com   Sep 24th 2014, 9:19pm
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Great Oak on a roll heading to Nike Pre-Nats

 

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor


In setting this fall's invitational schedule, Great Oak coach Doug Soles let his athletes decide where to go.


"This year, they decided to start out at Seaside (Ventura, Calif.), which I thought was good, and they wanted to go to Nike Pre-Nationals," Soles said. "They said 'We think we're going to make it to Nike Cross Nationals and we want some experience on that course.'"


So Great Oak, one of the hottest programs in the country after becoming the first school to sweep team titles at the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic last Saturday, is on its way to Portland Meadows this week for the pre-national meet hosted by Aloha High of Beaverton, Ore.


In addition to competing against some of the top teams in the Northwest, Great Oak will lay some groundwork in its bid to win its first national championship. The Great Oak girls were eighth last year and finished 16th (2012) and 13th (2010) in two previous appearances at NXN.


"The biggest knock on the program is that we haven't run well at Nike Cross," Soles said. "A trip like this is to help (the athletes) feel more comfortable (at Portland Meadows)."


The rise of Great Oak, a 3,700-student school in Temecula, Calif., has been a work in progress ever since its doors opened in 2004. Soles, who grew up in Oregon and has family in the Portland area. He anticipated staying in his home state after college.


"Absolutely," he said. "I never wanted to leave. When I started looking for a teaching job in Oregon there was nothing. So it was (the availability of) jobs that took me to California and it's been an awesome opportunity."


Soles describes himself as "hyper-competitive" and that trait that has fit well with the support he has gotten from the community around Great Oak with a tireless pursuit of excellence. The Wolfpack's girls qualified for the CIF finals for the first time in 2008 and won team titles in 2010, 2012 and 2013. The boys have gone to state three times, peaking at fourth place in 2011.

 
Great Oak's Destiny Collins, on the heels of a great performance at Woodbridge, comes into Pre-Nationals as the individual favorite in the Jim Danner Championship race. She'll lead the Wolfpack against a field that includes Woodbridge runner-up Desert Vista AZ; Oakton VA (preseason #2 in the Southeast); Oregon powers Sunset, Jesuit, Summit and South Eugene; Camas of Washington;and top-20 California teams Arroyo Grande, Redondo Union and Palos Verdes.


Collins covered the three miles at Woodbridge in 16:03.5. Dani Jones of Desert Vista was 12 seconds back and is also in this week's race in Portland.


The boys side is also interesting, with Great Oak and Central Catholic of Portland going head to head. That's a rematch of the stirring 4x1600 relay at the Arcadia Invitational, where Great Oak edged Central Catholic 17:21.11 to 17:22.43. Both schools lost one leg on that relay to graduation.


Gig Harbor, re-tooling after last year's NXN title, are also in the mix and led by senior Tristan Peloquin.


Summit of Bend, which won the Northwest Classic last weekend in Eugene, is competing without US#2 Matthew Maton, last year's Nike Pre-Natsionals winner, who is waiting until later in the season to begin racing.


California powers Palos Verdes and Warren are also in the mix for the Jim Danner boys championship.


Great Oak juniors Isaac Cortes and Spencer Dodds, and senior Nick Doan, all placed in the top 20 of the sweepstakes race at Woodbridge last weekend.

 

Nike Pre-Nationals Press Release



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