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Harman breezes to title By GREG STILES VALLEY OF THE ROGUE STATE PARK -- As days in the park go, this was a lousy one. It rained, it poured. Then eight Skyline Conference cross country teams showed up and it rained and poured some more. They call it cross country because you run somewhere off the beaten track. If it rained much more here Saturday, they could've simply called it the Skyline Swamp Survival championship. It just so happens that nozzle-strength precipitation caters to Rogue River junior Selena Harman's fancy. Never mind the pelting drops, never mind the chill-bump temperature that made nearby campfires and yurt heaters popular gathering sites. "Running in the rain is my favorite thing," said Harman, after winning her first conference title and leading the Chieftains to their third straight girls title and fifth in eight years. Hidden Valley took second to earn its first trip to the state meet. If winning the Class 3A 3,000 meters at the state track meet last May at Hayward Field placed her among elite puddle jumpers, Saturday's win made her a certified mudder. "When I woke up this morning, I thought it was great. It was trail running in the rain and I was going to use it to my advantage," Harman said. Harman established the pace early, hitting the mile mark at 5:40 to lead by 30 seconds after covering the first two miles of the 5,000-meter race in 11 minutes, 52 seconds. "I slipped three or four times and there were huge puddles on the course," Harman said. Only the order of her pursuers changed as Harman sloshed home in 18:40. Rogue River sophomore Bobbi Wright was second in 19:12, while junior twins Emily and Alanna Steinert finished third and fifth to pace Hidden Valley to its best-ever conference finish. Two-time defending Skyline champion Jodi Minard was fifth, while Lindsay Clarida and Erin Gilkison locked up the championship, placing ninth and 10th. "I didn't have a lot of goals today," Harman said. "It was a small meet (with half the teams entered in next Saturday's state meet at Lane Community College in Eugene). There just wasn't a lot of pressure." At least on Rogue River. The pressure was on Henley, which had a string of 10 straight trips to the state meet snapped, and Hidden Valley. Henley won six of eight conference crowns, 1988-1995, and won three state titles. But it was readily apparent the Hornets were in trouble when nary a Henley runner was among the leaders with a mile to go. "I've been wanting to go to state since I was a freshman," Emily Steinert said. "After we finished second at predistrict we knew we had a chance." Hidden Valley coach Bob Julian Jr. said he thought the ingredients were there the first day of practice. "Emily, Alanna and Ginger Grenier ran all summer and they were pretty fit," Julian said. "Jennifer Jacobson was also coming back. But the big question was who was No. 5?" The answer was Russian foreign exchange student Genya Krivosheeva. "We knew Rogue River was going to be tough to beat, because they had a lot of depth," Julian said. "Henley had been to state the last 10 years and has a strong tradition. Our school doesn't have that, especially the girls. We were ready for a battle, but it turned out we beat them soundly." In fact, the Lakeview contingent managed to take third place and, in the process, pushed the Hornets all the way back to fourth. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford,