Beavers head north for Seattle race
September 17, 2015 | Women's Cross Country
The Oregon State cross country team will take a giant step in the level on competition this Saturday when it competes in the University of Washington's annual Sundodger Invitational.
The race starts at 11 a.m. at Lincoln Park, overlooking Puget Sound in West Seattle. The 14th-ranked Huskies are the defending champion, as they defeated Washington State, Fresno State and Seattle for the 2014 team title. The Beavers did not compete.
The women's record for the 6,000-meter layout is 19:49.1, set by Washington's Kendra Schaaf in 2009. The course is a mixture of grass, dirt, light gravel, and bark chips.
“The Sundodger is traditionally one of the stronger meets in the Northwest,” OSU coach Kelly Sullivan said. “Washington is ranked 14th, and that might be a little low, to be honest.
“It's a great 6K course that we have run in the past,” most recently in 2013. “It will give us a chance to compare this group” with how previous squads fared over the same layout and distance.
OSU's lineup will feature juniors Holly Cavalluzzo, Morgan Anderson, Monica Anderson, Sam Lewis, Maureen Tremblay and Macaulay Wilson; sophomore Kristiane Width, and freshmen Rachel Johnson and Kaely Gordon.
The Beavers (2-0) hope to build on a stellar performance at the season-opening Westmoreland Quintet race back on Sept. 1. Led by Cavalluzzo, they placed six runners in the top 10 and defeated in-state rivals Portland (20-38) and Portland State (15-40).
A junior, Cavalluzzo earned her first individual title by completing the 5,000-meter Westmoreland Park course in 17:45. Width was second in 18:01; junior Kira Kelly (4), Morgan Anderson (7) and Tremblay (9) completed OSU's team scoring.
Gordon and Johnson ran unattached and placed eighth and 17th, respectively, so Saturday marks their debut as uniformed college runners. Wilson is also running her first race; she ran indoor and outdoor track in 2015 after transferring from Lane Community College but was not on the 2014 cross country team.
“We're looking for our top ladies to show improvement,” Sullivan said. “It will give them a better test, because there will be more quality up front. I want to see how we have gotten better over the past couple weeks.
“We are working very hard to find a fourth, fifth and sixth runner. We're still competing without [sophomore] Sam McKinnon this weekend; [senior] Adrienne Demaree and [freshman] Nicole Goecke are not going to race either and Kira Kelly has been a little sick so we're holding her out too.
“We're still not going to be at full strength. But no matter who we put out there, we have to race hard and compete. We want to see improvement with the group we have, and no better place to go this time of the year than to go against Washington” and the rest of a quality field.
Last time out: OSU defeated Portland 20-38 and Portland State 15-40 at the Westmoreland Quintet on Sept. 1. Junior Holly Cavalluzzo was medalist for the first time in her career as she finished the 5,000-meter course at Westmoreland Park in Portland in 17:45.
In the record books: Junior Holly Cavalluzzo ranks second all-time in races of 5,000 meters (16:55) and eighth on 6,000-meter courses (21:11).
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. 2 (20:52); junior Kira Kelly rank 14th (21:27), and Width ranks 16th (21:34).
Regional rankings: The Beavers are ranked 14th in the West Region by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Other Pac-12 schools in the regional rankings are Stanford (1); Oregon (2); Washington (3); California (5); UCLA (6); Arizona State (7) and Arizona (15).
National rankings: No. 3 Colorado leads five Pac-12 teams ranked in this week's the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) top-30 poll. Stanford (6), Oregon (7), Washington (14) and California (30) are ranked and Arizona State is receiving votes.
Coming up: The Beavers return to action on Oct. 2 at the Washington Invitational at the Jefferson Park Golf Course in Seattle. The 6,000-meter race starts at 3:15 p.m.
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.
