University of Portland Cross Country Teams off to Fast Start

Men's Results
Women's Results

MONMOUTH, Ore. --- The University of Portland men’s and women’s cross country teams ran away with team titles at the 2008 Western Oregon Summer’s End Invitational on Friday. Freshman Alfred Kipchumba set a new course record in the men’s 8K event to win the individual title, while freshman Lyndy Davis placed second to pace the Pilot women.

 

Men’s 8K Recap

Freshman Alfred Kipchumba received a lot of preseason praise from head coach Rob Conner and he showed why with his first collegiate performance on Friday. Kipchumba, a native of Iten, Kenya, set a course record with a time of 24:14.20, besting the second place finisher by over 23 seconds. The Pilots cruised to the team title of the five-team meet as four Pilot runners earned top 10 finishes.

 

“Alfred did a great job,” Conner said. “He ran controlled and comfortably. It will be exciting to see him settle into training over the next month.”

 

Finishing third was Colin Harris; a redshirt freshman from Longmont, Colo. Harris clocked a 34:40.20. Other Pilots to contribute to the team score included redshirt freshman Wesley Tarus (sixth place), senior Rob Schlegel (ninth place) and sophomore Derek Simmons (18th place).

 

“Colin Harris obviously did a great job with his summer training and should be ready for an outstanding year,” Conner added.

 

Portland boasted a team score of 28, while host Western Oregon finished second with 70 points.

 

Women’s 5K Recap

A total of 14 Portland harriers took to the course on Friday for head coach Ian Solof, among them a trio of freshmen who posted quality results in their first ever collegiate meet. Lyndy Davis (Snohomish, Wash.), Hailey Knettles (Salt Lake City, Utah) and Elizabeth Keaveny (Mission Hills, Kan.) finished second, third and fourth, respectively, leading the Pilots to the team title with 20 points.

 

Host Western Oregon finished second with 67 points, while Linfield’s Marci Klimek (18:39.60) took the individual title.

 

Pilot runners littered the top of the leaderboard with six top 10 finishes. Davis clocked in at 18:53.40. Other top Pilot finishers included sophomores Abigail King (fifth), Theresa Hailey (sixth) and junior Megan Smith (ninth).

 

“This was a great start to our season,” Solof said. “I thought our freshmen did a great job and most of our returners are way ahead of last year. We're really looking forward to Pier Park in a couple weeks."

The Pilots will next be in action as host of the Pier Park Invitational on Sept. 12 at 4 p.m.

 

Western Oregon Summer’s End Invitational

Monmouth, Ore.

August 29, 2008

 

Men’s Team Results (8K)

1. Portland 28

2. Western Oregon 70

3. Concordia 77

4. Lewis & Clark 83

5. Linfield 92

 

UP Men’s Individuals

1. Alfred Kipchumba, 24:14.20 (course record)

3. Colin Harris, 24:40.20

6. Wesley Tarus, 25:04.20

9. Rob Schlegel, 25:30.70

18. Derek Simmons, 25:54.30

22. Brooks Broom, 26:09.20

25. Scott Olberding, 26:19.80

 

Women’s Team Results (5K)

1. Portland 20

2. Western Oregon 67

3. Concordia 80

4. Linfield 94

5. Lewis & Clark 119

 

UP Women’s Individuals

2. Lyndy Davis, 18:53.40

3. Hailey Knettles, 19:04.90

4. Elizabeth Keaveny, 19:11.20 

5. Abigail King, 19:14.70               

6. Theresa Hailey, 19:17.80  

9. Megan Smith, 19:44.10               

12. Kendel Nelson, 19:50.50             

13. Claire Giuliano, 19:50.60                 

15. Jackie Dargitz, 19:55.60                 

18. Stephanie Bolce, 20:19.40                 

19. Katie Nelson, 20:19.80                 

28. Brianna Gallaher, 20:53.10                  

33. Andrea Guthrie, 21:15.80                 

35. Nora Panitz, 21:32.30