Beavers zero in on Pac-12 meet
October 20, 2015 | Women's Cross Country
Corvallis, Ore. - The Oregon State cross country team will take this weekend off in preparation for the 2015 Pacific-12 Conference Championships, set for Oct. 30 in Colfax, Wash.
Several projected starters for the upcoming Pac-12 and NCAA West Regional meets are recovering from minor injuries so the team will skip the Beaver Classic on Friday. The annual meet starts at 4 p.m. at Avery Park; it is hosted by the OSU Running Club, an independent organization not affiliated with the athletic department.
The Beavers placed 11th in their 30-team division at the Bradley Pink Classic on Oct. 16 in their most recent outing. Two runners cracked OSU's all-time Top 20 for 6,000 meters.
Freshman Juliana Mount placed 40th in her first varsity race in 21:36 and moved into 18th place all-time. Junior Samantha Lewis PRed in 21:43 and moved into 20th all-time.
The Beavers competed at Bradley without redshirt sophomore Kristiane Width and redshirt junior Kira Kelly.
Width was OSU's No. 2 runner in the previous three meets. She made the trip, but was scratched as a precautionary measure the day of the race. Kelly has not competed since placing fourth overall at the season-opening Lewis & Clark Westmoreland Quintet on Sept. 1.
Both should be ready for Pac-12s and regionals, scheduled for Nov. 13 at Jefferson Park in Seattle. The Beavers ran at Jefferson Park on Oct. 2 at the Washington Invitational and placed 11th in a 12-team field. Mount and Kelly did not run that day.
Last time out: OSU finished 11th in the 30-team Red Division at the Bradley Pink Invitational on Oct. 16. Junior Holly Cavalluzzo was OSU's top placer, as she took seventh overall with a time of 20:50 over 6,000 meters.
In the record books: Junior Holly Cavalluzzo ranks second all-time in races of 5,000 meters (16:55) and first on 6,000-meter courses (20:30).
Other 2015 team members with top-20 career times over 5,000 meters are sophomore Sam McKinnon (5, 17:06); junior Emily Weber (11, 17:26); junior Morgan Anderson (12, 17:27) and sophomore Kristiane Width (18, 17:43).
Over 6,000 meters, Weber and McKinnon rank No. 3 (20:52); Width ranks 10th (21:12); junior Kira Kelly ranks 15th (21:27); freshman Juliana Mount ranks 18th (21:36), and junior Samantha Lewis ranks 20th (21:43).
Regional rankings: The Beavers are not ranked in the West Region by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Pac-12 schools in the Oct. 19 regional rankings are Oregon (1); Washington (3); Stanford (4); California (5); Arizona (10); Washington State (13) and Arizona (14). UCLA dropped out. Colorado (2) and Utah (4) are ranked in the Mountain Region.
National rankings: No. 3 Colorado leads five Pac-12 teams ranked in the most recent U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) top-30 poll, released on Oct. 20. Oregon (5), Stanford (10), Washington (12) and Utah (19) are also ranked. California also received votes.
Up next: The Beavers will compete at the Oct. 30 Pac-12 championships in Colfax, Wash.
Pac-12 Championships: The annual Pacific-12 Conference Championships are scheduled for Oct. 30 at the Colfax Golf Club in Colfax, Wash., hosted by Washington State. The women's race starts at 10:30 a.m. and will be televised by Pac-12 Networks.
For more information: Follow the team by Facebook at Facebook.com/OSUTrackCrossCountry or on Twitter at twitter.com/@beavers_track.
