Cobras, Warriors capture District 4.

Byline: STEVE MIMS The Register-Guard

OAKRIDGE - When Central Linn started a cross country program in 2000, it had five boys, one girl and a coach who admittedly didn't know much about teaching the sport.

On Tuesday, the Cobras girls captured their first district title, the boys qualified for a second straight trip to state and Mike Day showed how much he has learned on the job as he guided both teams to a spectacular finish at the District 4 meet at Circle Bar Golf Course.

It was fitting that senior Darlene Knuths was the first Central Linn girl to cross the finish line, placing second in 20 minutes, 35 seconds. Knuths was the lone girl on the team during her sophomore year, when she was one of the driving forces behind starting the program.

Four other Cobras cracked the top 15, as Central Linn finished with 41 points to edge runner-up East Linn Christian, which had 43.

"The girls ran their hearts out," Day said. "We came in here with the goal of finishing second. We didn't think we could beat East Linn Christian because they are probably the best 2A team in the state. Our girls sucked it up, and each time they saw a East Linn Christian runner in their sight, they passed them."

Central Linn had only three girls on the team last year before two volleyball players joined the roster to give the Cobras a full squad for the district meet. Central Linn added a couple more girls this year and opened the season by winning the Cobra Invitational, which earned the school its first girls cross country trophy.

Now a district championship trophy has been added to the collection, and on Nov. 2, the Cobras will head to state in search of more hardware.

"I think we can get in the top five at state, and hopefully we can finish in the top four so we get a trophy," Day said.

Shalene Fine of Oakridge dominated the girls race, finishing more than a minute ahead of any other runner. She finished the 5,000-meter race in 18:58, which broke the course record of 19:05 set by Marci Madsen of Bonanza in 1994.

"At the beginning of the race I was nervous, but after a while I told myself to go run and not think too much," said Fine, the defending state champion. "I was pushing myself, and when I was way ahead I wanted to try for the record."

Fine earned a trip to state as an individual, along with Monroe's Kelsey Greydanus and Molly Schaefers of McKenzie, who finished third and fourth, respectively.

Oakridge ran away with the boys title, as the Warriors had the top four finishers to score 23 points.

Austin Bowles won the individual title in 15:41, followed by teammates Andrew Perri, Brad Taylor and Jed Moffitt. Bowles and Perri (16:02) each broke the course record of 16:05 set by Pleasant Hill's Jerry Hammitt in 1976.

"Our plan all year was to have the top four boys finishers," Oakridge coach Ron Hebert said. "Those four have combined to run 2,500 miles since the beginning of the summer. Austin ran a lot of road races and some nasty mountain runs."

It was the eighth straight district title for the Oakridge boys, who will chase after their first state title next weekend.

Mohawk's Dustin DeHaan was the first finisher not from Oakridge, fifth in 16:45. He qualified for state as an individual along with Joe Peterson of McKenzie and Evan McNichols of Lowell, who were sixth and seventh, respectively.

Central Linn was led by Micah Erickson, who finished ninth in 17:27. The Cobras totaled 77 points to finish comfortably ahead of third-place Lowell, which had 104 points.

"We knew Oakridge would be first, they are probably No. 1 in state, so it was going to be a fight for second," Day said. "All of our guys had a PR, some with phenomenal times."