Note: This is a Klamath Union cross country state championship preview. A second story will appear tomorrow highlighting both KU boys and girls cross country teams.
Klamath Union sophomores Allie Nelson and Olivia Mitchell were faced with a decision no athlete would want to be in.
Klamath Union’s girls cross country team is in the midst of likely its most historic season for the program. The program is coming off winning five Skyline Conference championships in a row after having earned a perfect score last week in the conference championship in Talent, a first in conference history, and is a record which cannot be broken.
Klamath Union’s girls cross country team is ranked No. 1 in the OSAA Class 4A polls and will be competing in the state championships this Saturday at Lane Community College in Eugene. Not having Nelson and Mitchell, two of the team’s top runners, would be detrimental to Klamath Union’s success this Saturday, a team which hoisted a second-place trophy last year.
Nelson and Mithcell, uncomfortably, made their decision and elected to run in the state cross country meet, having to miss their Klamath Union girls soccer quarterfinal, which was set to start at 2 p.m., and the state cross country girls’ run starting at 12:20 p.m.
Fate would have it, the two sophomores do not have to choose anymore or carry any guilt or regret.
“The Dalles has a natural grass field and with two playoff games yesterday, it just got torn up. They were looking for an alternative site, they don’t have lights, and they looked at a ton of different places and it sounds like the girls are going to play at Hood River Valley at 7:30 p.m. Saturday,” Klamath Union cross country head coach Rob Coffman said. “We were pushing, saying try for five or even four but 7:30 p.m. is even better. I have not had runners who had to do something like this on the same day.”
“It was tough for them to have to pick; it was ultimately their choice.”
Nelson and Mitchell, who hold vital roles on Sean Ferns’ KU girls soccer team, will not have a walk in the park in their quarterfinal game as they will face No. 2 The Dalles/Dufur, a team who has yet to lose a game this year.
Nelson and Mitchell, with their fellow girls and boys cross country runners, had their final practice of the year Thursday on Modoc Field. Klamath Union’s boys cross country team also has high hopes for the state championships and are currently ranked No. 4 in the state after having won the Skyline Conference as well.
Nelson and Mitchell found out they could compete in both events midway through their practice, with the uplifting news coming from none other than Coffman.
“I think it is a really good opportunity because this whole season we have been trying to balance out both sports the best as we can. It was a really stressful decision to have to pick between the two. The fact Coffman and Ferns are accommodating for the time, the stuff to work out is really cool,” Nelson said.
The two Pelicans will be in familiar territory, of sorts, this Saturday as they ran in the Crater Twilight race and then had a soccer game shortly after earlier this year.
“Both coaches are fighting for us which is really nice because they support us in whatever we do. It is nice because we have both sports that we love and we can do both,” Mitchell said.
Nelson and Mitchell said they will make sure to cool down with exercises after their state championship race, prepare mentally during the close to three hour drive to Hood River Valley and warm up properly to avoid injury.
“We’re also running on a lot of adrenaline,” Mitchell said. “So it just … doesn’t hurt too bad until it does but it is OK.”
#opreps Oregon School Activities Association Klamath Union High School
