COMING UP: Idle until NAIA Championships (Rim Rock Farm, Lawrence, Kan.), Nov. 22.
LAST WEEK: at Cascade Conference Championships (Fernhill Park, Portland, Ore.) – Men (4th of 9 Teams), Women (4th of 9 Teams).
MEN FINISH CLOSE FOURTH: A very deep and talented field traversed the 8,000-meter course at Fernhill Park in Portland on Saturday, with the C of I men placing fourth at the CCC Championships. Using a tight pack, the Yotes placed all five scoring runners inside the Top-30 with a 77 second gap between their first and fifth finisher.
Max Hampton (Eagle, Idaho / Eagle HS) led the way with an 11th-place finish in 25:09, with
Dan Williams (Boise, Idaho / Bishop Kelly HS) finishing 20th (25:53) and
Miles Ranck (Boise, Idaho / Boise HS) in 25th (26:07). Southern Oregon claimed the team title with a dominating performance, placing five runners in the Top-9, while Eastern Oregon's D.J. Flores earned the individual crown.
LADY YOTES SEE TITLE STREAK SNAPPED: For the first time in four years, the Lady Yotes did not hoist the CCC trophy after the league meet, as Northwest Christian cruised to the team title, doubling up second-place Southern Oregon. C of I grinded out a fourth-place finish, as the Yotes had a sizable 99 second gap between their No. 1 and 5 runners (including a 73 second gap between No. 2 and 3).
Lila Klopfenstein (Meridian, Idaho / Meridian HS) continued her stellar sophomore season, placing second overall with a time of 17:55, while freshman
Amy Pfaff (Pasco, Wash. / Hanford HS) capped an amazing rookie regular season with a fourth-place finish (18:03). Alyssa Harmon of Northwest Christian claimed the individual championship.
THREE EARN ALL-CCC HONORS: Three C of I runners were honored as All-CCC performers – finishing in the Top-12 positions in their respective races. Max Hampton earned honors for the Coyote men, while Lila Klopfenstein and Amy Pfaff earned the award for the Lady Yotes – Klopfenstein earning the distinction for the second-straight season.
C OF I TEAMS HEAD TO NATIONALS FOR SEVENTH STRAIGHT SEASON: By virtue of their positioning in the final NAIA Top-25 polls, both the C of I men's and women's cross country teams earned at-large berths to the NAIA National Championships, set for a week from Saturday at Rim Rock Farm in Kansas. It marks the seventh-consecutive season that both teams have advanced to nationals and the ninth overall time that the Coyote men have earned a spot in the NAIA meet.
MORE ON NATIONALS NEXT WEEK: A complete preview of the NAIA Championships will dominate next week's edition of Cross Country Yote Notes.
FINAL TOP-25 POLLS: The Coyote men dropped five places to No. 21 in the final regular-season Top-25 poll, released on Sunday. C of I received 215 voter points from the 22 conference raters. Oklahoma City was the top team, followed by Southern Oregon, St. Francis (Ill.), Tennessee Wesleyan, and Indiana Wesleyan, with two other CCC teams in the Top-25 – No. 9 Eastern Oregon and No. 17 Concordia. On the women's side, the Lady Yotes dropped eight positions to No. 22 in the final poll, receiving 186 voter points from the 21 conference raters. Two-time defending NAIA champ, British Columbia, holds the No. 1 spot, followed by Dordt (Iowa), Northwest Christian, Lewis-Clark State, and Cal State San Marcos.
ABOUT THE COACH: Pat McCurry enters his 11th year at the helm of the cross country and track & field programs at the C of I. In 10 seasons (after the Coyote running programs were dormant for nearly 30 years), McCurry has built the Coyote men and women into perennial NAIA Top-25 programs - with the men's cross country team earning eight berths to the NAIA Championships, with the Lady Yotes advancing to six-straight NAIA meets, winning the 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2013 CCC titles, with the Lady Yotes coming off back-to-back national runner-up finishes. For his efforts, McCurry was named 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2013 CCC women's cross country Coach of the Year. Student-athletes have won 13 NAIA individual titles in cross country and track; claimed 49 individual CCC titles on the track; earned 66 NAIA All-America awards in cross country and track & field; earned seven All-NAIA Region I awards in cross country; 53 All-CCC awards in cross country - along with 101 NAIA All-America Scholar-Athlete awards. His 2013 and 2014 Lady Yote track team won the CCC title, earning him Coach of the Year honors, with the squad placing third at the 2014 and fifth at the 2014 NAIA Indoor Championships, and sixth at the 2014 and seventh at the 2013 NAIA Outdoor Championships.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: For more on C of I cross country, head to the official homepage of the Coyote men's program (
http://yoteathletics.com/index.aspx?path=mcross) and the official homepage of the Lady Yotes
http://yoteathletics.com/index.aspx?path=wcross).
