Central Oregon Athlete is shooting a documentary on Oregon high school cross country running.

Click the above link for more info, shooting begins on September 9th in Hillsboro at the Chapman Invite.

Summit senior Cameron Clark has gotten faster every year during his prep cross country career. The son of head coach Dave Clark is one of the top returners in Class 5A and is coming off of a 3rd place finish (behind two of his teammates) at last year’s district XC meet. Cameron took some time to answer a few questions for Central Oregon Athlete.

Central Oregon Athlete – How long have you been running competitively?
Cameron Clark – I have been running competitvely since I was around 11, I think my first real cross country race was in 6th grade.

COA – What is the best part about running XC?
CC – I love everything about running, the racing, traveling, friends, its hard to explain the joy that it brings me.

COA – How do you like running on your dad’s team?
CC – I really like running for my dad’s team I am always aware of what is happening with the team and he has been coaching for 15+ years so he definitely knows what he doing. Also he basically been my coach for day one so i haven’t had many other coaches.

COA – What is your favorite race?
CC – My favorite race by far is the Concordia/Puma Classic. One of the biggest races and in Oregon and it’s always really fast and competitive.

COA – What are some of your goals for this year that you can share with us?
CC – My biggest goal for the next season is to try and win the team 5A State Championships, I’ve wanted to win since freshman year so I would be super happy with that. At an individual level I would really like to make top 10 at state.

COA – What do you enjoy doing when you aren’t running?
CC – I’m super in to skiing, that is probably the only other thing that I really enjoy as much as running. But I also enjoy climbing, fishing, skating, and anything else that involves getting outside and having fun.

COA – Any plans yet for next year?
CC – College is probably where I’m headed to next year, I am not sure where yet though. Other than that I have considered trying some triathlons next year.

COA – What is your favorite workout in Central Oregon?
CC – My favorite workout would have to be the 13 mile loop up at Green Lakes or Highlands Loop.

Cameron Clark’s Career at Summit through 3 years:
(District placing, State placing, Best time)
2009 – 3rd, 27th, 16:19
2008 – 9th, 56th, 17:21
2007 – 14th, 68th, 17:08

Mountain View and Crook County were the lone Central Oregon winners on the opening night of Oregon high school football.

• Mountain View 30, Eagle Point 28
• Century 32, Redmond 30
• Lebanon 35, Bend 27
• Woodburn 28, Summit 0
• Crook County 20, Henley 7
• Central 56, Sisters 14
• Burns 46, La Pine 6
• Lost River 24, Culver 2

Redmond senior Mitch Dahlen is one of the top high school quarterbacks in the state of Oregon and Rivals.com had Dahlen listed as the top pre-season prospect in Central Oregon. Dahlen was kind enough to pass some answers to Central Oregon Athlete as the prep football season is just about to kick off.

Central Oregon Athlete – How long have you lived in Redmond?
Mitch Dahlen – I’ve lived in Redmond since I was 9 years old.

COA – What sports to you play other than football?
MD – I also play basketball, and I played baseball my freshman and sophomore year.

COA – What do you like to do when you aren’t playing football?
MD – I really like to watch movies and play ping pong.

COA – What was the highlight of last year’s football season for you?
MD – I would say playing West Salem, we struggled in the beginning of the game but came together to almost pull off the upset.

COA – What are your goals for this years football season?
MD – My goals for this season are to return to the playoffs and surprise many people with how talented we really are.

COA – What are your long term football goals?
MD – My long term goals are to play in college and become a starter as an underclassman.

COA – How long have you been playing Quarterback?
MD – I have been playing QB since I was about 8, whether it was flag football or youth tackle football in Bend.

COA – What do you like to do for off-season working out?
MD – This off-season I have been all over the country for football camps and have really taken in all the great coaching that the Universities have to offer. Also playing 7on7 does a lot for our team as I can get used to the tendencies of our recievers.

COA – Anything else to add?
MD – These are the camps I have been to: Steve Clarkson’s Dreammaker in Pasadena, Elite 11 in Berkeley, Nike Training Camp in Corvallis, Badger 7on7 in Vegas, Oregon State camp, Arizona State, Nevada, Utah, and Yale camp. I am hoping to get an offer from these schools as well as some ACC schools.

Oregonlive.com 5A top 10 preseason football poll:
1 Sherwood
2 West Albany
3 Marist
4 Jefferson
5 Crescent Valley
6 Mountain View
7 Bend
8 Churchill
9 Hermiston
10 Corvallis

Central Oregon Athlete is going to be doing some big things with Oregon high school cross country running this year! I can’t give all the details just yet, but let’s just say it’s going to be amazing! Here are some of the little things I’ve written so far:

• Jessica Wolfe profile
• Travis Neuman profile
• Can C.O. add another individual state XC title to its streak?
• State preview
• 5A Girls Preview
• 5A Boys Preview
• Jesuit Girls Story

Also, be looking for lots more XC athlete profiles to come!

Really interesting article on what the realignment means for Southern Oregon high schools.
Leftovers: Ashland, Eagle Point try to swallow raw deal
Being only 5A teams in Southern Oregon makes for winner-take-all ‘league’ – Medford Mailtribune

Crater moved up to Class 6A… that’s good news for the rest of 5A. Franklin moved down from 6A… that’s bad news for the rest of 5A.

Both Summit and Hermiston return a solid core of runners, while Franklin brings in two of the state’s fastest.

Franklin (6th in 6A)
Ian Burgess, 12, Franklin, 16:17
Jackson Baker, 11, Franklin, 16:33

Ashland (2nd in 5A)
Colin Haug, 12, Ashland, 17:03

Summit (3rd in 5A)
Travis Neuman, 10, Summit, 16:34
Cameron Clark, 12, Summit, 17:09

Hermiston (4th in 5A)
Javier Velasco, 11, Hermiston, 16:58
Andrew Valdez, 12, Hermiston, 17:06
Aduardo Juarez, 10, Hermiston, 17:06

Top Returners (based on time @ State)
1 Ian Burgess, 12, Franklin, 16:17
2 Jackson Baker, 11, Franklin, 16:33
3 Travis Neuman, 10, Summit, 16:34
4 Javier Velasco, 11, Hermiston, 16:58
5 Mark Sheridan, 12, Churchill, 17:01
6 Jordon Monroe, 12, West Albany, 17:02
7 Colin Haug, 12, Ashland, 17:03
8 Matt Auer, 12, Crescent Valley, 17:05
9 Andrew Valdez, 12, Hermiston, 17:06
11 Aduardo Juarez, 10, Hermiston, 17:06

2010 OregonLive.com high school football preview – Oregonlive.com

Several Interesting story lines for the 2010 Oregon prep XC season:

Jesuit girls are the overwhelming favorites to win the 6A state title, which would be their 9th in a row.

The Summit girls should be favored to win another state title in 5A.

Crater joins Jesuit and Central Catholic a top the 6A boys competition. Private schools Jesuit and CC have dominated the 6A boys ranks for years but 5A state champion Crater should be right in the mix after moving up a classification.

Franklin moves from 6A to 5A and should join the Summit boys atop the 5A ranks.

Reigning/returning State Champions
Girls
6A Jesuit
5A Summit
4A Marist (moved to 5A)
3A-2A-1A St. Mary’s

Annamarie Maag 12 Jesuit (2-time 6A champion)
Megan Fristoe 11 Summit (5A champion)
Kellie Foley 12 Crook County (2008 5A champion, now running in 4A)

Boys
6A Central Catholic
5A Crater (moved to 6A)
4A Henley
3A-2A-1A Nyssa

One thing is for sure, there will be four new individual state champions in Oregon high school boys cross country in 2010. All four champions were seniors last year.