Junior Ashley Younce to Represent Oregon State at NCAA West Regional
LOOKING AHEAD - Junior is the lone Beaver that qualified for the NCAA West Regional hosted by BYU in Provo, Utah, on Friday and Saturday.
Younce will be competing against 16 other runners in the 5,000 meters. Freshman Jenna Kingma from Arizona State holds the best qualifying time (15:59.15). Younce qualified at the Stanford Invitational on March 31, with a time of 16:50.52. The race will start at 6:20 p.m. on Friday.
Younce is the first Oregon State runner to qualify for the regional competition since the program was reinstated last season.
LAST MEET - Thirteen runners competed for Oregon State on May 18, at the Willamette Last Chance Meet in Salem, Ore.
Sophomore won the 1,500 meters beating out nine other runners.
also took the 5,000 meters title running just a couple seconds off of her personal best.
PAC-10s - Junior became the first Oregon State athlete to score at the Pac-10 Championships since 1988, when she finished fifth in the 10,000 meters, scoring four points. Her time of 35:31.81, also now stands as the school record in that race.
Five other Oregon State athletes set new personal bests including junior and sophomore moving up on the 10,000 best list.
Sophomore also improved on her school record time in the 3,000 meter steeplechase.
Sophomore and freshman both set new personal records in the 1,500 meters trials.
HEAD COACH KELLY SULLIVAN - In his second year at Oregon State, head coach came to Oregon State to restart the school’s program after being head cross country and track and field coach at Willamette University, a Division III school in Salem, Ore., since 1997. Sullivan was also an assistant coach at Auburn from 1984-96, and head coach at Clackamas Community College (Ore.) from 1980-84.
Sullivan, 48, guided Willamette’s teams to three top-10 national finishes in cross country and track and coached 23 All-Americans, including five individuals who won national championships. At Auburn, he coached 36 All-Americans and at Clackamas, he coached 24 NCAA All-Americans.
Sullivan was an All-American in the steeplechase and cross country at Willamette before graduating in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in History and Education. A native of Nehalem, Ore., he graduate from Neah-Kah-Nie High School.
ASHLEY YOUNCE - Junior is the only Oregon State runner that has qualified for the regional competition in outdoor track. Her time of 16:50.52 in the 5,000 meters at the Stanford Invitational also ranks her second all-time in the event.
Younce is also the first competitor to qualify for regionals since the program was reinstated in 2005.
ALL-TIME TOP TEN - Six Oregon State athletes have made their marks on school history in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. Before the 2005 season, no woman had competed in the event before for the Beavers.
Sophomore holds the top spot in the record books with a time of 11:11.37 set this season.
2005 SEASON - The Oregon State women’s track team finished its inaugural track season with current runners making their mark on the record books.
Junior broke into the All-Time Top 10 twice in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters. In the 5,000 meters, her highest finish was at the Willamette Invitational where she fell sixth on the list with a time of 17:19.8. In the 10,000 meters, she broke into the top 10 in the fourth place spot.
Sophomore placed sixth on the All-Time Top 10 list for the 10,000 meters with a time of 38:17.04. This was the first time Crawford had competed in the race.
Sophomores and became the first Oregon State women to compete in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. Peterson holds the record.
Peterson also broke into another top 10 list along with sophomore in the 1,500 meters. Peterson is seventh, and Poggi is eighth all-time.
Junior is tenth all-time in the 5,000 meters with a time of 17:37.07.
Although the team finished tenth overall at the Pac-10 Championships, Younce finished ninth in the 10,000 meters, just one spot out of scoring.
THE NUMBERS - The team returns 15 runners from last season, while adding 12 freshmen and four transfers.
