PORTLAND, Ore. --- The University of Portland cross country teams will host the Pier Park Invitational on Sept. 10 with races beginning at 4 p.m. local time. The ten-team event will begin with the women’s 6,000-meter race; followed by the men’s 8,000-meter race at 4:45 p.m. Post race results will be available at portlandpilots.com. Portland is expected to run full or partial ‘B’ squads in both meets.
Schools competing in the 2010 Pier Park Invitational include Portland, Willamette, Seattle, Oregon State, Warner Pacific, Portland State, Clackamas CC, Clark College, Mt. Hood CC, and Highline CC.
UP Men’s Cross Country
A year ago the UP men’s ‘B’ team finished third in the eight team field with 98 points which fell behind the scores posted by Gonzaga and Willamette but ahead of Warner Pacific. Portland had two runners finish in the top 10 led by Redshirt Sophomore Shane Gelger’s 26:12 which was good for fifth place.
Sophomore’s Joash Osoro and Trevor Dunbar finished first and second, respectively, but ran unattached.
This year’s tentative lineup for the Pier Park Invitational includes redshirt freshman Clif Campbell, redshirt freshman Charlie McDonald, senior Scott Olberding, redshirt sophomore Shane Geiger, and redshirt freshman Cody Wells. Wells is coming off finishing 32nd at the Junior World Mountain Racing Championships held this past weekend.
Head coach Rob Conner looks forward to this weekend’s event. “I am excited to see how our young guys do. I think we have an excellent shot at winning the team competition.”
The Pilots, ranked No. 8 in the USTFCCCA Preseason Poll, have been picked as the pre-season favorite in the WCC coaches poll to repeat as champions for the 32nd consecutive year. Four Portland runners were also named to the all-conference preseason team.
UP Women’s Cross Country
Last year the Portland women’s team finished first in the eight team field, edging out Gonzaga by two points in the team standings. Portland also had four individuals placing in the top 10, led by the 22:27 posted by Lyndy Davis who finished first.
Women’s cross country head coach Ian Solof is excited about his squad’s chances at the 2010 Pier Park Invitational. “We will be running a partial varsity squad, including all of our freshmen,” said Solof. “Training has been going well and this will be a great chance for us to see how people are developing and how deep our squad is.”
UP has been picked to finished second in the preseason WCC coaches’ poll while placing junior Davis on the preseason all-conference team. Portland women have won 19 of the 25 championships the WCC has sponsored, including 12 of the last 14.