WCC MXC

The guys were picked to finish 2nd in the conference this year with 2 first place votes behind BYU.

http://www.wccsports.com/sports/c-xc/spec-rel/082212aac.html

I think the biggest piece of info from the article is the opportunity to acually see some X-C action in Portland on at least three separate occasions ths year.

The Pilots open the season on September 1 by hosting the Pier Park Invitational and will also be hosting the WCC Preview (September 15) and the WCC Championships (October 27) this year.

Pier Park is located on North Lombard at Bruce Ave, about 1 mile north of the St Johns Bridge. I invite everyone to stop in at blacksheep's crib just under the bridge before and after every meet.

Finally moving the WCC championship around. As for Pier Park, remember to bring your gat.

WCC championships will be at Fernhill Park.

Woodless! wrote:WCC championships will be at Fernhill Park.

I love Fernhill! We had a great 1K loop for workouts there. Kinda small for such a race though. Maybe they're just going to do a ton of loops.

pilotram wrote:

Woodless! wrote:WCC championships will be at Fernhill Park.

I love Fernhill! We had a great 1K loop for workouts there. Kinda small for such a race though. Maybe they're just going to do a ton of loops.

For those of us who WATCH other people run and sweat, Fernhill Park is a much better venue for spectators than some of the bigger venues...the runners go by more than just once!

In the national rankings the men come in at No. 7! BYU is ahead of us at No. 3 and received one first place vote and we find our water fowl friends at No. 22. The women's team received some votes to be in the top 25 as well!

http://www.ustfccca.org/2012/08/featured/wisconsin-oregon-open-2012-cross-country-season-as-no-1s

Time to get in shape!

pilotram wrote:Time to get in shape!

Pier Park Invitational Marks Beginning of Season for No. 7 Men, Women UP Cross Country Teams

Pier Park Invitational
Date: Saturday, September 1
Location: Portland, Ore. (Pier Park)
Time: 10:30 a.m. (Men) and 11:15 a.m. (Women)

I wasn't at Pier Park, so I have no idea who ran for UP, or how they did indivdually, but I can give you the results posted on the UO website:

The top-ranked Duck women easily won the four-way dual meet, defeating Oregon State 15-50, Portland 15-48 and Portland State 15-49.

The 22nd-ranked men also dominated their three-way dual, beating No. 7 Portland 17-46 and Portland State 15-50.

Apparently there is some sort of news blackout on the Bluff, as there has been no mention of the meet from any of the UP information sources

DoubleDipper wrote: Apparently there is some sort of news blackout on the Bluff, as there has been no mention of the meet from any of the UP information sources

The messenger pigeon apparently didn't make it the short distance back to campus? It is strange that the host & 7th ranked team in the country can't get results posted within 24 hours...?

From UP Athletics:

PORTLAND, Ore. --- The University of Portland’s men’s and women’s teams opened the 2012 season on Saturday by hosting the annual Pier Park Invitational. Tansey Lystad led the women’s team in her first race as a Pilot, clocking in at 17:24.8 while Aiden Irish led the No. 7 men’s team with a time of 18:03.91.

Anne Luijten (18:05. and Julia Fonk (18:08.4) finished second and third for the Pilots, who were running against Oregon State, Oregon, and Portland State. Oregon won the event with seven runners finishing in the top 10.

The men also ran their “B” squad, competing against Oregon and Portland State. Western Oregon, Clackamas Community College, and Northwest Christian participated as well. Oregon topped the men’s race with seven runners in the top 10. In addition to Irish, Cody Wells (18:20.0) and Stephen Kersh (18:26.84) rounded out the top 10.

Men’s Results (Pilots only)
4. Aiden Irish; 18:03.9
9. Cody Wells; 18:20.0
10. Stephen Kersh; 18:26.8
12. Trey Parry; 18:39.8
13. Chris Borg; 18:40.9
21. Connor Whan; 19:11.5
22. Cody Barton; 19:15.1

Women’s Results (Pilots only)
6. Tansey Lystad; 17:24.8
15. Anne Luijten; 18:05.8
16. Julia Fonk ;18:08.4
18. Melissa Hastings (unattached); 18:12.8
20. Maddie Hibshman; 18:25.7
21. Marci Witczak; 18:37.1
23. Slaine Kelly; 18:44.0
28. Tori Zellerhoff; 19:07.3
39. Annalise Miller; 19:33.9
43. Lily Shafer; 19:54.5
44. Erin Kelly; 19:58.5
46. Christine Dollard; 20:19.8
47. Calli Vanderwilde; 20:20.1
49. Rachel Van Nes; 20:21.3
55. Claire Yearian; 21:32.2

I find the article a little confusing when it reads," The men also ran their “B” squad," but I guess it means both the men and women ran their "B" squads.............something I surmised after seeing the overall results on the UO website on Saturday.

The Pilots' X-C teams will host their second event of the season with the WCC Preview at Fernhill Park on Saturday September 15.

Fernhill Park is not too far from Concordia University....located at NE 37th and Ainsworth

The women start things off at 10 AM followed (pursued?) by the men at 10:45.

Apparently the Portland women will run a "mixed" squad this weekend.....I hope someone on PN will tell me what that means so I might feel more comfortable before heading out to Fernhill Park on Saturday.

The women finished third in the 2011 WCC Championship and are picked to finish third again this year.

After BYU snapped the men's 32-year reign as WCC Championships, the Pilots are expected to finish second in the conference again this year.

The Pilots will be hosting the WCC Championships this season at Fernhill Park on October 27th....so this should be a good preview for all the schools.

Someone much more knowledgeable than me should be reporting on X-C.

There was a bunch of skinny people in short shorts running all over Fernhill Park this morning. As this was billed as the WCC Preview, I was disappointed only five WCC schools participated, but it appeared the UP men won handily.

The first guy across the finish line in the men's 8K race was Scott Fauble from UP who was sprinting to stay ahead of the second place runner. It appeared we had runners finish 1, 3, 6, 7, but then I lost count after that as I was being rushed to the car to head to the Timbers game.

Before the men took to the course, the women ran 6K. I don’t think the UP women faired so well with their “mixed” squad (as yet, no one has told me what a “mixed” squad is), but it seemed there were a bunch of Gonzaga runners coming across the finish line before I saw a couple of UP runners finish 6, 7. After that there was another purple glad runner around 30th before I lost interest.

Like I said, I think a runner should cover running.

DoubleDipper wrote:.

Like I said, I think a runner should cover running.

Um... You were a women's basketball player?

Seriously? You don't remember our 1972 National Championship team?



My hair may be silver now, but back in the day........

DoubleDipper wrote:Someone much more knowledgeable than me should be reporting on X-C.

I learned that you cannot SIT and watch a X-C meet; you have to get up and move around….which is fine, but, but I didn’t see any elbowing or banging like in NASCAR or Roller Derby to get me excited.

You can watch the race start, but that’s mainly a bunch of seemingly undernourished young people hacking their plastic watches and disappearing. An observer can then move to another spot to watch the entire field run by….but the “team” tactics at this point were not obvious to a novice such as me.

And finally, you can be at the finish line….and this IS where it got fun! There weren’t any UP runners fighting to win the women’s race, but the men’s race was a literal mad dash to the finish after 8k’s of running with UP winning the individual and team honors (I wouldn’t learn of the TEAM win until later).

A little let down by the event, it finally dawned on me…..this first X-C event I’d seen was the first competition I’d watched that didn’t have obvious TEAM involvement. Tennis is about individuals competing (it does have doubles too), but when the team score is tight, subsequent matches become very relevant and teammates are on hand to cheer for their school.

So, that’s why I said a runner should be writing about X-C running….they’d have a much finer appreciation for all that goes on, including the teamwork that a novice wouldn’t/didn’t recognize. I’m sure there’s plenty of pre-race strategy and discussion of tactics….I just don’t know what they are beyond WINNING!

I’d love to hear a runner’s unique perspective on this X-C meet, or any X-C meet.

DoubleDipper wrote:
I’d love to hear a runner’s unique perspective on this X-C meet, or any X-C meet.

I watch most Pilot soccer matches with a guy who ran at a small college. He said he was really excited to watch the strategies being used by the runners in the men's 10,000 in London this summer. I would have had no idea what was going on but because he'd been in competitive races he recognized and appreciated what was happening.

I could be wrong, but I don't think there's much team tactics in college xc racing. It's scored by place, so.....run fast.

The men moved up to No. 5 in the USTFCCCA rankings and the women are receiving votes! Nice job by both.

http://www.ustfccca.org/2012/09/featured/heart-of-cross-country-regular-season-starts-with-wisconsin-washington-leading-di

Uh, what.
http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=4826290

pilotram wrote:Uh, what.
http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=4826290

Hah. An internet flame war regarding cross country. With the spelling police and everything. Who'd a thunk it?

letsrun.com is referenced in SI, the WSJ, and the NYT frequently. Where dreams become reality, you guys.

It is certainly where my dreams of a mostly unmonitored board that doesn't require registration and thus is a complete disaster have become reality.

Woodless! wrote:letsrun.com is referenced in SI, the WSJ, and the NYT frequently. Where dreams become reality, you guys.

It's in the New Yorker now too (the story is actually interesting):

One of LetsRun’s salient features is its “World Famous Message Boards,” where most participants use pseudonyms, and the content quality runs the expected gamut (factual, analytical, sophomoric, inanely combative).

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/08/06/120806fa_fact_singer#ixzz281Cx0RWF

I usually run that gamut in a single PN post.