PORTLAND PILOTS CROSS COUNTRY WEEK 1: VIKING RUST BUSTER

Event: Viking Rust Buster
Host: Portland State
Date: Friday, Sep. 2, 2022
Location: Westmoreland Park Portland, Ore.
Live Results: portlandpilots.com

Schedule of Events
Men's 6K: 2 p.m.
Women's 5K: 2:30 p.m.
 

THIS WEEK
• The Pilots will open their season at the Viking Rust Buster.
• Last year, the field included athletes from Oregon State, Portland, Portland State, and Pacific.
• The women's race was comprised of 49 athletes, while the men's race contained 33.
• In both the individual and the team races, the Pilots were victorious, something they will look to repeat this year.
• The races will take place on Friday, Sept. 2, with the men's 6K at 2 p.m. and the women's 5K at 2:30 p.m.
 

THIS SEASON
• The Portland men return five of their top seven runners who competed at last year's NCAA Cross County Championships in Tallahasee, Fla.: redshirt sophomores Bradley Peloquin and Jonas Gertsen, as well as redshirt seniors Zak Kirk, Cathal Doyle and Leo Donlea.
• Kirk returns as the Pilots' first finisher from the race (52th place) held at Apalachee Regional Park.
• The Pilots men's cross country team also welcomes 19 newcomers to the Bluff this fall.
• The Portland women return five of the seven who competed at last year's NCAA Cross Country West Regional: sophomores Mie Gam, Anna-Sophie Meusburger, Laura Pellicoro and Samantha Prusse and senior Emma Jenkins.
• The Pilots women's cross country team has also added two athletes to their roster for the upcoming 2022 season.
• In the preseason rankings, both the Pilots men and the Pilots women were ranked third in the WCC. For the women, Laura Pellicoro and Emma Jenkins were selected for the preseason team, while Zak Kirk and Cathal Doyle were selected for the preseason team for the men.
• Laura Pellicoro was named WCC Freshman of the Year in cross country for 2021 as a result of her 11th place finish. She later finished 16th at regionals - the second highest finish for the Pilot women. During track, Laura set school records in the mile (4:34.45) and 800m (2:03.17) disciplines on her way to qualifying for the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships where she finished 11th and 20th, respectively. She also ranks No.2 All-time in the 1500m (4:15.30)
• Emma Jenkins finished 19th in the 2021 WCC Championships, and then finished 50th in the NCAA West Regional Championships. Jenkins ranks No.8 in the 10,000m (34:15.67) and No.9 (4:24.23) in the 1500 in school history. Jenkins was an NCAA West Regional qualifier on the track in the Spring of 2022.
• Zak Kirk was the top finisher for the Pilots in 2021 cross country, finishing ninth at WCC, 10th at the NCAA West Regional Championships, and 52nd at the NCAA National Championships.
• Cathal Doyle excelled on the track in both the 2021 and 2022 track seasons. Doyle ranks No. 2 all-time in the 5,000m (13:38.01) and is the school record holder in the 1500m (3:38.05). In both 2021 and 2022, Doyle qualified for the NCAA Outdoor National Championships in track placing 13th and 19th respectively.
 

LAST SEASON
• Matt Strangio and Laura Pellicoro each picked up individual wins in the men's 6K and women's 4K, respectively, at the PSU Rust Buster on September 3.
• The Pilot men defeated Portland State in the team scores while the Portland women finished second only to No. 22 Oregon State.
• The Pilots later finished 16th for the men and 17th for the women at the Wisconsin Nuttycomb Invitational. Our highest finisher on the men's side was Bradley Peloquin who finished 56th. In the women's race, the Pilot's top finisher was Anna Pataki who finished 30th overall.
• Both the men and the women finished third at the WCC Cross Country Championships. Four pilots men received All-WCC honors - Zak Kirk (ninth) and Stan Niesten (10th) each claiming All-WCC First Team honors, and Bradley Peloquin (12th-place) and George Duggan (15th) nabbing spots on the All-WCC Second Team. For the Pilot women, Anna Pataki received First-team honors (sixth), while Laura Pellicoro (11th) received Second-team honors.
• At NCAA West Regionals, the Pilot men placed third overall earning themselves an NCAA National Championship berth. The Pilot women finished in fifth. Anna Pataki (13th), Laura Pellicoro (16th) and Veerle Bakker (19th) all received All-Regional Honors. For the men, Zak Kirk (10th), Jonas Gertsen (11th), Stan Niesten (16th) and Jacob Klemz (25th) finished with All-Regional honors.
• The Pilots men would finish off their 2021 season with a 16th place finish at the NCAA championships, beating 14 teams ranked ahead of them in the previous coach's poll. The team was led by Zak Kirk, who finished in 52nd.
 

PILOTS IN THE POLLS
• In the preseason coaches poll, the Pilot men were ranked 15th, their highest preseason ranking since 2019. For reference, the Pilots were ranked 14th in 2017 - the year they went on to finish second at nationals. Portland men were also ranked 4th in the NCAA West Regional poll. For the women, the Pilots were ranked seventh in the NCAA West Regional poll.
 

PILOT HISTORY
The Pilot men have qualified for the NCAA Cross Country National Championships 22 times, 18 of which have been top-20 finishes under head coach Rob Conner. In 2017, the team finished an astounding second and in 2018, the team finished in a respectable third. The Pilot women have qualified for the NCAA Cross Country National Championship three times, with a highest finish of 12th under coach Ian Solof.