FOR IMMEDIATE USE

September 6, 2011

 

Oregon Hosts Gonzaga in Sunriver

Cross country teams open season in Eastern Oregon.

 

        EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon men’s and women’s cross country teams will head over the Cascade Mountains to open the 2011 season by hosting Gonzaga in a dual meet on Saturday, Sept. 10 in Sunriver, Ore. The meet will be held on the Meadows Golf Course (holes #1 and #2) at Sunriver Resort. The races start at 6 p.m. and admission is free.

        Both teams come into the season ranked nationally. The men are No. 4 in the USTFCCCA preseason top-30, while the women are 16th.

        The women’s 5,000 meter race will open the competition at 6 p.m., followed by the men’s 4-mile run at approximately 6:30 p.m.

 

OREGON-GONZAGA DUAL MEET DETAILS - Meadows Golf Course (Holes #1 and #2), Sunriver Resort, Sunriver, Ore.

 

WOMEN’S RACE

Time: 6:00 p.m. PDT

Length: 5,000 Meters

MEN’S RACE

Time: 6:30 p.m. PDT

Length: 4 Miles

Results: www.goducks.com

 

SCORING

The place of the first five finishers counts toward the team score. First place is worth one point, second place two points, etc. Low score wins.

 

PARKING

Spectator parking will be at the main lodge at Sunriver Resort.

 

SUNRIVER CONNECTIONS

        Both women’s teams have connections to the Sunriver area. The Ducks have redshirt senior Kimber Mattox, a Bend, Ore., native on their roster, while the Bulldogs have sophomore Catherine Theobald, also from Bend. Mattox was the 2004 state 4A cross country champion as a sophomore for Bend High School. She also lettered in soccer and basketball for the Lava Bears. She attended Cornell for a year before transferring to Willamette University in Salem, where she was a four-time All-American. Mattox transferred to Oregon for graduate school and has one year of eligibility remaining in both cross country and track and field. She has been slowed with a recent leg injury and may not be able to run against Gonzaga. Theobald was the 2010 state 5A 800 meter champion as a senior for Bend High School.

 

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY PREVIEW

        The Ducks return eight talented letterwinners, including 2010 Pac-10 champion and NCAA third-place finisher Jordan Hasay, for the 2011 season. That’s the good news for Oregon.

        On the flip side, the 2010 season saw the closest conference race in league history, where the top four teams finished within six points of each other, and now 2011 welcomes distance power Colorado into the mix for the inaugural Pac-12 Championships.

        It means that Oregon will need all of that talent and depth to once again challenge at the conference and national levels.

        Hasay, a junior from Arroyo Grande, Calif., had a dynamite sophomore season both on and off the track. She was named the Pac-10’s cross country runner of the year, and her third-place showing at the NCAA meet last fall was the best by a Duck in nearly 30 years.

        She’ll lead a team that will have to overcome the graduation of two-time All-American Alex Kosinski and NCAA veteran Zoe Buckman.

        Stepping up behind Hasay will be sophomore Lanie Thompson, who was the team’s most consistent runner behind Hasay and Kosinski in 2010, including a 16th-place finish at the Pac-10 meet.

        Oregon also has NCAA veterans in seniors Bronwyn Crossman and Claire Michel, junior Anne Kesselring and sophomore Sarah Andrews, while juniors Becca Friday and Taylor Wallace both have Pac-10 cross country championships experience.

        The women also to look to be able to add depth from a pair of talented distance newcomers in freshmen Molly Grabill (Poway, Calif.) and Allie Woodward (Green Bay, Wis.).

        There are also middle distance runners Phyllis Francis (Laurelton, N.Y.), Megan Patrignelli (Monroe, N.Y.) and Laura Roesler (Fargo, N.D.), who all redshirted the 2010 season, on the roster, as well as true freshman Claudia Francis (Laurelton, N.Y.).

        The Ducks have also added senior transfer Kimber Mattox to the roster. The Bend, Ore., native was a Division III cross country All-American as a junior in 2010 for Willamette University.

 

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY PREVIEW

        Senior Luke Puskedra figures to lead a talented group of youngsters into the 2011 cross country season.

        Puskedra, from Ogden, Utah, had his finest season as a Duck in 2010 as he finished third at the NCAA Championships and fourth at the Pac-10 Championships. He should again be positioned for a high finish at the conference and national meets.

        Beyond Puskedra, the Ducks will largely be a team of freshmen and sophomores who will look to fill a number of openings left by the graduation of All-Americans A.J. Acosta, Matthew Centrowitz and Danny Mercado.

        There are some experienced runners on the team, such as senior Chris Kwiatkowski who finished 24th at the Pac-10 Championships in 2010, as well as junior Bryce Burgess, a two-time Pac-10 competitor and a 2010 NCAA West Regional qualifier,

        But the bulk of the team will be youngsters. Sophomores Ben DeJarnette, from Mechanicsville, Va., and Parker Stinson, from Austin, Texas, both ran in all three championship races for the Ducks as freshmen in 2010.

        Fellow sophomore Brian Shrader was also a Pac-10 and NCAA championships performer last fall. Sophomore Mac Fleet redshirted the 2010 cross country season but was a Pac-10 competitor in 2009. Sophomore Mitchell Hunt also was a Pac-10 qualifier in 2010.

        Oregon will have a bounty of freshmen and redshirt freshmen competing for roster spots. Highly touted newcomer Lukas Verzbicas (Orland Park, Ill.) leads that list. Other true freshmen to watch include Chris Brewer (Vista, Calif.), Jeramy Elkaim (Livingston, N.J.), Russell Hornsby (Williamsburg, Va.), Matthew Jablonski (Cockeysville, Md.), Matt Melancon (Eugene, Ore.), Chad Noelle (Greene, N.Y.) and Ryan Pickering (West Palm Beach, Fla.).

        The redshirt freshmen include Colby Alexander (Strongsville, Ohio), Boru Guyota (Portland, Ore.), Cole Watson (Rogue River, Ore.) and Daniel Winn (Portland, Ore.).

        In recent seasons, the men have experienced success on a national level rarely seen in Track Town, USA. Oregon won back-to-back NCAA titles in 2007 and 2008, and followed that with a runner-up finish in 2009. Those results harken back to the era of the legendary Steve Prefontaine, when the Ducks won national titles in 1971, 1973 and 1974, were second in 1970 and third in 1972.

 

PRESEASON RANKINGS

        Oregon will open the 2011 cross country season ranked fourth in the men’s poll and 16th in the women’s according to the preseason top 30 released by the USTFCCCA.

        The men, who were the 2010 Pac-10 runners-up and finished sixth at the NCAA Championships, return senior Luke Puskedra, but graduated All-Americans Danny Mercado, Matthew Centrowitz and A.J. Acosta (Centrowitz does have a season of indoor and outdoor track remaining).

        Meanwhile the Women of Oregon return Pac-10 champ Jordan Hasay and seven other letterwinners from the squad that tied for third at the league meet and were 12th at the NCAA Championships.

        Oklahoma State was the men’s preseason No. 1, while Georgetown held that honor for the women.

        The new Pac-12 was well-represented.

        In the men’s poll, Stanford was No. 2, Oregon No. 4, Colorado No. 7 and Arizona State No. 29. The women’s poll had one more team represented with Colorado fourth, Stanford seventh, Arizona eighth, Washington at No. 11 and Oregon at No. 16..

 

TRACK TOWN, USA, HERITAGE

        The last three years have certainly lived up to the heritage established by the legends of Track Town, USA. In 18 NCAA championships and 12 Pac-10 championships, the Men and Women of Oregon have won 11 championships and another 12 silver medals. Here’s the list from the last three years:

 

          Gold - Champions                                                     Silver - Runners-up

          2008 NCAA Men’s Cross Country                       2008 NCAA Women’s Cross Country

          2008 Pac-10 Men’s Cross Country                     2008 Pac-10 Women’s Cross Country

          2009 NCAA Men’s Indoor Track & Field           2009 NCAA Women’s Outdoor Track & Field

          2009 Pac-10 Women’s Track & Field                2009 NCAA Men’s Outdoor Track & Field

          2009 Pac-10 Men’s Track & Field                       2009 NCAA Women’s Cross Country

          2010 NCAA Women’s Indoor Track & Field   2009 NCAA Men’s Cross Country

          2010 Pac-10 Women’s Track & Field                2009 Pac-10 Women’s Cross Country

          2010 Pac-10 Men’s Track & Field                       2009 Pac-10 Men’s Cross Country

          2011 NCAA Women’s Indoor Track & Field   2010 NCAA Men’s Indoor Track & Field

          2011 Pac-10 Women’s Track & Field                2010 NCAA Women’s Outdoor Track & Field

          2011 Pac-10 Men’s Track & Field                       2010 Pac-10 Men’s Cross Country

                                                                                                    2011 NCAA Women’s Outdoor Track & Field

 

- www.GoDucks.com -

 

 

Greg Walker

Associate Director, Media Relations

University of Oregon

Track & Field and Cross Country Contact

541-346-2252 (o)

541-954-8775 (c)