Track Heads Back up to Salem for Willamette Invitational
LOOKING AHEAD - The Oregon State women’s track team heads up to Salem to compete in the Willamette Invitational hosted by Willamette University on Friday and Saturday. Friday’s competition starts at 4 p.m., and Saturday’s races start at 10:30 a.m.
A number of the ladies who did not compete at the Stanford Invite will be competing this weekend.
Last season, junior and (who is redshirting this season) both set top 10 records at Oregon State in the 5,000 meters.
Sophomores and also had strong finishes for the Beavers in the 1,500 meters, finishing second and fourth in their race, respectively.
LAST MEET - Six ladies improved on their personal records and four ladies made Oregon State top 10 lists last weekend at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif.
Junior , on top of placing second all-time in the 5,000 meters with a time of 16:50.52, qualified for the regional competition in May in Provo, Utah. Younce is the first runner since the program was reinstated to do so.
Sophomore also made her mark in the record books in the 5,000 meters. She took over the third place spot with a time of 17:03.16.
Sophomore moved into the seventh place spot in the 800 meters in the Oregon State record books.
Sophomore took the 10th place spot in the 5,000 meters all-time.
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.
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.
