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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us November 8, 2004 Wright, Morgan push pace By Tim Trower For the Tidings EUGENE - Andy Wright and David Morgan took their shots at glory at the Class 4A state cross country championships Saturday. Each came up short of victory, but also short of regret. Following their respective strategies closely, Wright and Morgan, two seniors in their final high school race, each cracked the top 10 and earned medals at the meet staged at Lane Community College. Wright, who finished third in the Southern Oregon Conference and has run in the shadow of Morgan and Crater's Isaac Stoutenburgh much of the season, made a valiant late charge before falling back to fifth overall. His time was 15 minutes, 51 seconds. He finished two seconds and one place ahead of Stoutenburgh. Morgan, meanwhile, led two-thirds of the way through the 5,000-meter race before giving ground and placing 10th. His time was 15:58. The only Ashland competitor in the girls championship was junior Natalie Hemphill, who finished a solid 15th with a time of 19:34. Hemphill, fourth at district and 41st here a year ago, was the SOC's No. 2 finisher behind Kendel Nelson of Crater (seventh). Behind Wright and Morgan, Ashland placed seventh in the team race - the same position as its state ranking entering the meet. It scored 198 points. Crater placed third with 126. Other Grizzlies who factored in the scoring were junior Cameron Barleen, 80th in 17:15; junior Spencer Bonney, 83rd in 17:19; and senior Justin Faudree, 99th in 17:32. Tanner Arndt and Kevin Cook also ran for Ashland. Kenny Klotz of Central Catholic won the individual boys title in 15:35, and Jesuit breezed to the team crown with 62 points. In the girls competition, Kimber Mattox won with a time of 18:19, and Jesuit was the team winner with 68 points. The boys race was unique because of the large grouping at the front that didn't disperse until the final 1,000 meters or so. No fewer than 10 runners were in the front pack through two miles, and another sizable group was only 10 meters behind it. With so many front-runners, there were moves to be made. Morgan stuck to his game plan and crafted a surge just shy of the two-mile mark. It put him in first place around the course's landmark ponds, and he held steady until his last climb up a hill in the stadium track. "I felt good for the first two miles," said Morgan, who was ninth at state last year. "Then at that last hill, I kind of hit the wall." When he was in front, he didn't worry about those on his shoulder jockeying for position. "I was thinking about what I had to do," he said. "My goal was to keep speeding up, and I did that until the hill." Morgan faded to 11th place coming around the portion of the race that circles the stadium track and signals the end. "With about 50 meters to go, I just said to myself, 'I've got to make that podium,'" he said, referring to a top-10 placing that would land him in the medals ceremony. "I made one last surge." It paid off. Wright, seventh a year ago, was not without his own surge. He negotiated the hill that got Morgan and was still on his game plan - to be in the lead bunch - with about 1,000 meters remaining. That's where his attempt to take control came. "I thought that was probably my best chance of winning," said Wright of the section leading into the school's soccer bowl. "The reason I picked that spot is it's a downhill section. Sometimes people lose a little mental focus going downhill, and if you can drive like I can with my legs, you can really move up." That he did. By the time Wright got to the stadium and the final 250 meters, only Klotz was in front of him. But Wright had expended himself, and three runners overtook him. "I was giving it everything I could, physically," he said. "I got everything I could out of my body. I was like, 'OK, keep mentally strong. Every second you lose mental focus, you can lose places and places." "I had a great race. If I had the absolute best race of my life, I could have won it. But I had a great race." DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Slippers Isotoner Slippers Dsw Shoes Ceramic Piggy Banks Fanny Mae Eloans Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Accelerate Weight Loss Programs Citibank Student Loans Acs Loan Matchmaking & Dating Scripts Adventure Travel Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems student loan consolidation helzberg diamonds Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams