Previews
Entries
Schedule

Prior Years

the meet's own web site

Jr Women 6k - U. Colorado freshman Liza Pasciuto wins with preps Erin Bedell TX, Jenny Barringer FL, and Lindsay Flacks CA, and HS 5000m record holder Caitlin Chock, now with the Oregon Project, also making the World Cross team.
Jr Men 8k
Men 4k - Tim Broe wins, with Don Sage, Josh McDougal, Jorge Torres, Adam Goucher and Alan Webb also on World Cross team.
Men 12k
Women 4k
Women 8k - 40-year-old Colleen DeReuck wins

Oviedo FL sr Jenny Barringer qualified for the Team USA junior squad in the snow at Indianapolis last year and went on to finish 35th at World Cross. She will try again this year.

Other high school runners entered include Brandon Bethke CA, Jeff Helmer WA, Nate Huerta CA, Tim McLeod AZ, Bobby Papazian NJ, Isaac Stoutenbaugh OR, Erin Bedell TX, Erin Gray OR, Allison Kieffer NY, 2002 Foot Locker cross country champ Zoe Nelson, McKayla Plank, CA, Tori Tyler CA, and Bria Wetsch MN. Also, last year's high school male athlete of the year Galen Rupp and last year's 5k record setter Caitlin Chock. Former prep greats Dathan Ritzenhein, Alan Webb and Shalane Flanagan are leading entries in the senior races.

Oregon Project pair -- Galen Rupp and Caitlin Chock -- are junior favorites

by Leo Collins

The US XC championships return to the Portland , Or. Metropolitan area this weekend, as the USATF holds its National Championships for Cross Country. On the line also are the qualifying spots (top 6) for the IAAF World Championships to be held next month in St. Galmier , France . The contestants will face a moderately challenging XC course that features some hills including a rather crucial hill of 200 meters, which comes shortly before the finish. There will be no snow for the runners to cope with this year, as the temperature should be a rather balmy 50 degrees, but the forecast is for showers.

The Junior Women will run at 11:45 AM on Saturday & the favorites would appear to be Caitlin Chock & Liz Pasciuto. Chock, a former Footlocker finalist, is the current junior US record holder for the 5K & is training with the Oregon project. Liz Pasciuto also was a Footlocker finalist & was a member of the NCAA championship team for the University of Colorado . Her 13 th place finish in the NCAA meet suggests that she is more than capable of winning. Other runners of note are Lindsey Scherf, who placed 38 th for Harvard in the recent NCAA meet, Zoe Nelson, a former Footlocker champion who will run for the University of Oregon next year, Frances Koons of Villanova University (Footlocker finalist & Pennsylvania state champ), Tia Ferguson (Duke University � 85 th NCAA), Jennifer Barringer (Footlocker South Regional champion and a member of the World Cross junior team a year ago), Amy Kelly (North Carolina St. � 95 th NCAA), Sarah Kemple (Butler University � 127 th NCAA) & Heidi Magill of Brigham Young University (106 at NCAA). Claire Rothmeier, who placed 14 th in the Footlocker meet of 2003, could also make her presence felt.

It will be interesting also to note how young Ilsa Paulson, who had the 3 rd fastest time for the Oregon girls' State Meet, and Erin Gray, a former Oregon State champion who suffered this past fall due to injuries, fare at this elite level.

The favorite for the Junior Men would appear to be Galen Rupp, who runs as part of the Oregon Project. He broke the long standing 5K mark set by Gerry Lindgren last year &, if he is on his game, will be very difficult to beat. The most likely challenger would seem to be Bradley Harkrader of the University of Colorado , who placed 91 st in the NCAA meet. Others of note include Brandon Bethke -- California State champion & 15 th at Footlocker, Daniel Nunn ( Georgetown � 227 th NCAA. Ryan Vail of the University of Oklahoma & Christopher Pannone of the University of Colorado (186 th NCAA) are other collegiate challengers. Oregon prodects of note include Stuart Eagon (8 th at Footlocker '03 & running at the Univiersity of Wisconsin) & Scott Wall, while Evan Garber of Washington (State champ '03) & Kiel Uhl (Harrier Honorable mention of 2004). They race on Sunday (Feb. 13) at 10:00 AM with the weather expected to be the same.