Cross Country 2019

The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) preseason poll is out, and it ranks the Pilots 6th in the nation and 2nd in the region behind UW (BYU is 2nd in the nation).  I think that's probably a little higher than might be expected after UP finished 3rd last year but lost five of its top 7 runners to graduation.

http://www.ustfccca.org/2019/08/featured/2019-ncaa-di-mens-cross-country-national-coaches-poll-preseason

Nation's top 11:

As usual, it looks like the Pilot women's x-c team will be battling USF for the WCC crown if the USTFCCCA poll is to be believed.

UP is not ranked nationally, but is ranked #10 in the West Region behind #9 USF:

http://www.ustfccca.org/2019/08/featured/2019-ncaa-di-womens-cross-country-national-coaches-poll-preseason

West Region:

UW jumped up real quick once they got rid of Metcalf, who wasted a ton of local talent over the course of his tenure.

The men's X-C team is expected to finish second in the WCC to BYU this season, and four Pilots are on the pre-season All-WCC team...



https://portlandpilots.com/news/2019/9/5/-portland-men-picked-to-finish-second-in-2019-wcc-preseason-poll.aspx

Likewise, the women's X-C team is expected to finish second behind BYU in the WCC, but it's expected to be quite a battle for second with USF.

Rob's daughter, Lacey Conner, is the only UP runner on the preseason All-WCC team.





https://portlandpilots.com/news/2019/9/5/-portland-women-picked-to-finish-second-in-2019-wcc-preseason-poll.aspx

Why is Emmanuel not on the WCC All Conference Preseason Team?? Is he redshirting this year or did I miss something? I expected him to be the top returning runner. Glad to see we have four preseason picks, but I need an explanation.

The Wingman wrote:Why is Emmanuel not on the WCC All Conference Preseason Team?? Is he redshirting this year or did I miss something?  I expected him to be the top returning runner. Glad to see we have four preseason picks, but I need an explanation.

Just speculating, but one would think a runner would have to (be scheduled to) participate in the WCC Championships to be a preseason favorite, as there is no other WCC meet UP runs in.

Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse did not run in the WCC Championships his first two years at UP, but instead ran in only the NCAA West Regionals prior to the NCAA Championships...and he'll probably do the same this year.

Maybe one of our (former) UP runners can enlighten us further...

The Pilot (men) finished 9th at the Nuttycome Invitational in Wisconsin...

https://results.flotrack.org/XC-PTT.html?mid=1805

Three Pilots finish in the top 30, led by Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse in 19th place.

The Portland women finished 24th at the Nuttycome Invitational...

The top UP finishers were sophomore Anna Pataki in 47th place and sophomore Emma Jenkins in 67th.

The Pilot men's and women's X-C squads were runner-up finishers to BYU in the WCC Championships in Van Nuys today...

Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse did run for the Pilots, something he did not do last year, and finished 8th behind Reuben Kiprono who finished 6th for the Pilots. Michael Teran-Solano finished 10th to also earn All-WCC honors.

There were no UP women in the needed top-10 to win WCC honors, but Anna Pataki placed 11th individually to lead the Pilots and Maddy Lyons had a huge close to the race, passing eight runners in the final 1K to place 19th.

https://portlandpilots.com/news/2019/11/1/mens-cross-country-cross-country-teams-finish-second-at-wcc-championships.aspx

The race just finished, and the Pilot Women finished 6th in the NCAA West Regionals in Colfax, Washington.

The preseason coaches polled predicted UP would be the 10th best team in the West Region, but the young Pilots were never lower than 9th place during the race as they edged out Oregon State by moving from 7th to 6th over the last kilometer.  Junior Jasmine Fehr climbed 9 spots over the last K to finish 56th, senior Maddy Lyons moved up 8 places to finish 69th, and junior Grace Perkins climbed 10 spots to finish 87th.

The top UP finishers were sophomores Anna Pataki (9th) and Emma Jenkins (24th).

There were 244 competitors and 35 universities running for scores in the race.

Well done!

The men's race will get underway at 12:30...

Oh yeah, it's chilly in Colfax and there's light rain, but it's not snowing...

The Pilots Win!!

UP started fast, leading after 3K, dropped to 3rd for awhile and but passed Washington and then Stanford in the final K with senior Manu Roudolff-Levisse finishing 2nd.

UP placed six runners in the Top-25 to win the title for the 3rd year in a row...upsetting #1 ranked UW, who finished 4th behind Stanford and Oregon.

Sophomore Everett Silva was 12th, senior Michael Teran-Solano 13th, junior Riley Osen 18th, senor Joe Horen 20th, and junior Reuben Kiprono 23rd to round out the UP runners in the top 25.  Senior Caleb Webb finished 43rd.

It will be a short turnaround to the NCAA Nationals next Saturday....but the Pilots will be there!

The continuous light rain caused the snow to disappear on some parts of the course...


Manu Roudolff-Levisse is #332 in the picture...

https://portlandpilots.com/news/2020/5/13/mens-cross-country-recognized-as-top-d1-aaa-program-for-2019-20.aspx

Best mid-major program.