Event: Oregon Cross Country Preview
Host: University of Oregon
Dates: September 6, 2018
Location: Alton Baker Park, Pre's Trail; Eugene, Ore.
Live Stats: RecordTiming.com
Video: None
 
Schedule of Events
Women's 5k: 6:00pm
Men's 7k: 6:30pm
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots will send select runners to compete at the Oregon Preview at Alton Baker Park, in Eugene, Ore.
• The Portland men competing are: (Freshmen) Thomas Salas, Jake Knoblich; (Sophomores) Henry, Hayes, Peter Allegre; (Juniors) Sam Lomax, Cobie Chavez-Killinger, Devin Wulff, Matt Schumann; (Senior) Stuart McCallum
• For the Pilot women, runners competing are: (Freshmen) Camila Noe, Sofia Castiglioini, Katelyn Schultz; (Sophomores) Lacey Conner, Susan Van Weperen; (Juniors) Maddy Lyons, Natalie Smith, Sophia Noto, Dylan Hite; (Seniors) Courtney Cox, Becca Howard
• Quote - Ian Solof: "This group has been training really well so I'm excited for them to race. We are training through this meet but it will give everyone a sense of their fitness as we prepare for the bigger invitationals to come."
• Live stats can be found on RecordTiming.com on the day of the meet. There will be no video for this event.
 
LAST WEEK
• The Portland men won the Viking 'Rust Buster' with 17 points. Redshirt junior Said Guermali led the Pilots to their first victory of the season claiming the individual title with a new personal 6k record of 18:56.8.
• Guermali claimed the first WCC Runner of the Week honors for the week of September 3rd for his performance at the Invite.
• The Pilot women also ran at the Viking Rust Buster, finishing third overall. Redshirt Sophomore Susan Van Weperen was the top finisher for the women in the 4k, crossing the finish line in fifth (14:15.3).
 
2018 LOOK AHEAD
• The men return five of the seven runners that competed at Nationals in 2017, graduating XC and 1500m All-American Jeff Thies, and the fifth man at the national meet Matt Welch.
• Reigning West Region runner of the year and Portland's top finisher at the National meet (11th place), Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse, returns for his junior season. The Pilot also earned All-American Honorable Mention in the 2018 Outdoor Track and Field season in the 10,000m
• 2017 XC All-American Nick Hauger also returns for his senior season on the Bluff, and was the third man to finish for Portland at the NCAA Championships.
• For the women, five-time All-American Lauren LaRocco returns for her final season in the Portland jersey. LaRocco most recently earned All-American honorable mention at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
• Taryn Rawlings is also back for her senior season as a Pilot and produced a podium finish at the Track and Field Championships this spring to earn her first All-American honors of her collegiate career. Rawlings also competed at the 2017 XC Championships as an individual, placing 51st overall.
• Women's XC has brought in three strong newcomers to the Bluff. Portland most recently signed Hungarian U23 Cross Country Champion Virag Weiler and Canadian U20 3000m and 1500m Champion Jasmine Fehr. Earlier last year, the Pilots also secured Camila Noe who won the NXR Northwest Meet in the fall and ranked first in the two-mile among high school girls over the summer.
 
PILOTS IN THE POLLS
• Men's Cross Country was picked to finish second to BYU in the 2018 WCC Preseason Poll.
• The women were picked to finish third, behind BYU and San Francisco who tied in the WCC Preseason polls with first place votes.
• LaRocco has been ranked by FloTrack as the No. 20 Individual and senior Noah Schutte has been predicted to make a huge jump to No. 22 as an individual. Schutte was the seventh man for the Pilots at last year's national meet finishing 148th. The Pilot most recently finished 23rd at the European 3K Steeplechase Championships.
• Roudolff-Levisse has been ranked as the No. 10 men's individual in the most recent FloTrack rankings.
• The Pilot women have also made an appearance in the FloTrack women's Team poll, checking in at No. 12.
• In the USTFCCCA Preseason Regional Poll, the men rank No. 1 in the West region, while the women rank No. 7.