MOUNTAINEER ATHLETICS | Cross Country
Women Finish 1st and Men 3rd at NAIA Regional Preview Meet
October 7, 2006
Courtesy : Eastern Oregon Cross Country
La Grande, Ore. - The Mountaineers competed at home for the first time in three years on a newly laid out course at the south end of the EOU campus. The women’s team used this to their advantage as they came up with their first win of the year while the men closed the gap on a pair of tough teams.
“This was by far the most difficult course we have faced all year as there were a number of challenging turns and much rough footing,” said Head Coach Ben Welch. “The constant change in footing between rough ground, dry ground, and softer ground on the watered areas makes it very hard to develop a consistent race rhythm and challenges the athlete to constantly adjust their race pattern. Windy conditions did not help matters either!”
Despite a hard fast start, or perhaps because of it, the EOU women put together a solid team effort to top 6 other teams to win the first home meet since the 2003 season. “It is always nice to win at home, especially when you beat a team who has beaten you earlier in the year and is ranked ahead of you in the current rankings,” said Welch.
The Mountaineers finished ahead of 13th ranked Lewis Clark State College who ran without several of their top runners as part of their overall season strategy. “The ladies worked well together throughout much of the race and had a much tighter 1-7 team gap than the last 3 meets (less time between the #1 and #7 runners),” Welch commented. “I was very pleased with how they pushed the last 1,000 meters of the race, especially as much of the very rough ground lies within that portion of the course and it is very difficult to push on rough ground when you are very fatigued.”
Marcella Bosch pushed the pace early for EOU, and while she paid the price in the very rough ground that constitutes a good deal of the course, she held on, despite an ankle sprain that she suffered earlier in the week. Bosch led all EOU Harriers with her 6th place overall finish. Closing strong in the later stages of the race was Kendra Stone who dramatically cut the gap the Mountaineers have had between #1 and #2 this fall to finish 8th overall.
Perhaps the most outstanding race of the day for the EOU women belonged to the #3 runner, Marika Dobos, who finished 10th overall. Dobos’ time was one of the closest to last weeks very fast Willamette course of all the women who ran both places.
The men had another very solid day for the Mountaineers. Using a different strategy than the women’s team, the men went out a bit more cautiously and moved up well throughout the race. However, as with the women, there was some outstanding team work during the race and they were able to run much more closely to Concordia and Albertson than on previous occasions this year.
Individually, Troy Blackburn ran a very fine tactical race to lead the men with a 3rd place overall finish and in the process he defeated four conference foes he had not beaten in the three previous outings this fall. Josh Cobb, the Mountaineers #2 man, started cautiously due to a sprained ankle suffered earlier in the week and worked his way up throughout the race.
Our freshmen continued to make strides and worked very well together in this race,” said Welch. “They were also assisted by red shirt Daniel Sipko who competed unattached and did a great job of working well with the younger runners.”
The Mountaineers now have a week off before they head to Lewiston, Idaho on October, 21 for the Lewis Clark State College Invite.
EOU Women Placers: Teams (Overall):
6) M. Bosch 20:06 1) EOU- 53
8) K. Stone 20:28 2) LCSC- 61
10) M. Dobos 20:46 3) Northwest- 63
14) K. Clapp 20:54 4) NNU- 96
15) A. Morrison 20:54 5) Albertson- 97
16) L. Clayton 20:57 6) TVCC- 144
18) K. Janssen 21:07 7) Concordia, OR- 175
23) C. Harmon 21:19
27) J. Johnston 21:37
EOU Men Placers Teams (Overall):
3) T. Blackburn 26:34 1) Albertson- 35
11) J. Cobb 27:31 2) Concordia- 37
17) C. Starner 27:49 3) EOU -59
22) J. Dean 27:58 4) TVCC- 131
27) K. Thissell 28:13 5) NNU- 132
39) M. Saltenberger 29:46 6) Northwest- 133
53) J. Peterson 32:32 INC- LCSC
Contact Information
EOU Athletics/Quinn Coliseum
One University Blvd.
Voice: 541-962-3364
Eastern Oregon University
La Grande, Oregon 97850