Oregon teams win Junior Olympic titles 

Monday, December 13, 2004
DOUG BINDER

Two teams of Oregon athletes won national championships on Saturday at the Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships in Schaumburg, Ill.

Five teams from Oregon Cross Country, coached by Dave Clingan, competed in the national meet. The bantam girls (ages 8-10) and youth boys (13-14) won team championships, and six runners from the group earned All-America recognition for a top 25 finish.

Ali Brauer of Corvallis led the bantam girls with her 15th place finish in the 3,000-meter race. Vivian Hawkinson of Salem (34th), Tianni Lytle of Newberg (38th), Paige Rice of Portland (52nd) and Sarah Werhane of Beaverton (65th) were the team's other scorers.

Jacob Goertz of Oregon City led the winning team in the youth boys division, which ran 4,000 meters. He was sixth. Adrian Unkeles of Portland (23rd), Joe Bittner of Portland (30th), Thomas Turina of Portland (32nd) and Elijah Greer of Lake Oswego (55th) completed the team's scoring.

Other all-Americans from Oregon Cross Country were Marcus Henry of Portland, who was 12th, and John Paden of Clackamas, who was 19th in the midget boys (11-12) race. Courtney Hochstetler of Salem was 24th in midget girls.