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Custance sets sights at NAIA championships KLAMATH FALLS � Oregon Tech�s Perry Custance has his eyes set on the top-30 when he takes part in his first NAIA cross country championship Saturday at Kenosha, Wis. Senior Sarah Kleppin will represent Southern Oregon in the women�s competition. Custance, a freshman who attended South Medford High, placed second in the Cascade Conference meet at the Klamath Falls Sports Complex on Nov. 4 to earn his trip to the national meet. "For me, it�s different style of running," says Custance, who covered the 8,000-meter course in 26 minutes, 59.47 seconds. "I have to think more critically about my style and form and it�s more tactical." Custance says he isn�t bothered that the forecast calls for temperatures in the high 20s to low 30s in the state�s extreme southeast corner . "I�ve run a few races in Portland when it�s been cold and rainy," he says. "I�ve watched a video of the race from two years ago there, trying to analyze what I should do." The course has no pavement, plenty of grass and a few hills. "It should be slower because it�s on grass," Custance says. "The good thing about running an 8K is that you don�t have to do everything at once." Kleppin, a Weiser, Idaho, native earned an at-large berth to the race by finishing sixth at the Cascade Conference championships with a 20:23 clocking. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.