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Chieftains girls claim another state title By Don Hunt EUGENE � The Rogue River High girls knew their four-year reign as Class 3A state cross country champions was in serious jeopardy Saturday. With two of their varsity runners sidelined all season due to knee injuries and with their fifth-best runner joining the team just six weeks ago, the Chieftains entered the meet simply hoping for a top-four finish and the trophy that goes with it. But as the rest of the field learned, you can never count out a defending champion. Led by senior Bobbi Wright, the gritty Chieftains beat back the challenges of favorites Philomath and The Dalles to claim yet another state title on a cool, crisp, autumn day at Lane Community College. The Chiefs finished with 89 points, followed by Philomath with 97, Baker with 107 and The Dalles with 120. "Everyone had to perform to their maximum ability and that�s exactly what happened today," said first-year head coach Nicki Wright, her eyes filling with tears of joy. "For us, there wasn�t much room for error. "I�m surprised we pulled it off but maybe I shouldn�t be. These girls were ready." Bobbi Wright, the coach�s daughter, charged past two runners over the final 400 meters of the 5,000-meter course to finish second individually in 19 minutes, 24 seconds. Cascade�s Jeane Goff won the race in 19:12. Junior Lauren Fety of the Chieftains was ninth in 19:54, freshman Lacy Spark 26th in 20:56 and junior Erin Gilkison 32nd in 21:13. But the runner who put Rogue River over the top was senior Allison Bailey, a soccer and softball player that the other runners recruited in early October. Competing in just her third meet of the fall, Bailey wound up a respectable 56th out of 129 runners. Bailey squeezed in workouts at 6 a.m. each morning for the past month to get ready for the district and state meets. She practiced soccer in the afternoons. "Getting up that early to run wasn�t the funnest thing to do, but it was worth it," said Bailey, who hadn�t run competitively since the seventh grade. "I was nervous coming in here today because I knew the team was counting on me and I didn�t want to let them down. "I just told myself to run as hard as I can for as long as I can and if I throw up, that�s OK." Standing in the background Saturday was longtime Chieftain running guru Stan Goodell. Although he hasn�t officially coached the team since guiding them to state titles in 1996 and �97 � when the streak began � Goodell has continued to train the girls in the summer and has regularly offered advice to Nicki Wright. "I�ve worn out the phone lines talking to him," Nicki Wright said. "I hope I haven�t sucked his brain dry." Under Goodell, the Chieftains came to Eugene a day early to relax, have dinner together and visit a memorial rock where former University of Oregon running great Steve Prefontaine died in a car wreck. The team continued that tradition this year and also stood on the Lane Community College awards platform a day early � just to get a taste of that winning feeling. "The thing that I liked today was that every one of these girls found a new gear once they hit the track (400 meters from the finish)," Goodell said. "They passed a lot of runners over that stretch and that was probably the difference in them winning." Goodell noted that just one week earlier Rogue River finished third at the Creswell Invitational, losing to Philomath by 50 points and to Wilsonville by one. "I�m sure they (Philomath) thought they were going to take it to the Chieftains again today," Goodell said. "But the state meet is a different animal." � � � Ashland coach Bob Julian knew something was wrong with Paris Edwards in the early going of the Class 4A girls race. The defending state champion was in the lead pack after 1,000 meters of the 5,000-meter event, but then began to fade. She wobbled across the finish line in 73rd place and dropped to the ground, where paramedics spent the next 10 minutes evaluating and comforting the senior runner. Edwards was then placed in an emergency vehicle and given intravenous fluids. "I don�t have any answers," Julian said. "She looked perfectly fresh all week." Edwards, who cruised to the Southern Oregon Conference district championship last week, also collapsed at a meet at Stanford University on Sept. 30. But her problem then was heat exhaustion. The temperature Saturday was barely over 50 degrees. "I�ve been told there can be a trigger mechanism that can make that problem recur," Julian said, "but that�s why we held her out of any running for two weeks. "This might be something entirely different. This whole thing just blows me away." Klamath Union�s Liz Lindgren, who lost to Edwards at the district meet by a wide margin, passed McKay�s Dawn Morgan with 400 meters to go and triumphed Saturday in 18:47. Morgan was second in 18:56 and Hood River�s Christy Paul was third in 19:06. Mountain View handily won the Class 4A girls team title with 66 points. Bend was second with 125, Jesuit third with 128 and Grant fourth with 166. Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.