Friday, October 29, 2010

Pac-10 Championships Up Next For Stanford

Courtesy Stanford

The No. 1 men and No. 9 women will look to sweep the Pac-10 Championships for the first time since 2005. Chris Derrick will look to defend his Pac-10 title.

Oct. 28, 2010

•Watch The Pac-10 Meet Live On Flotrack

Stanford, Calif. - The No. 1 men's and No. 9 women's cross-country teams will travel to Seattle this Saturday to compete in the Pac-10 Championships. Both teams should contend for the conference championship, although the Pac-10 is widely considered to be among the top cross-country conferences in the nation. The women's race will begin at 10:00 a.m., while the men's gun will be at 11:00 a.m.

Washington is this year's host of the meet and has set the course at Jefferson Golf Course on Seattle's Beacon Hill. The municipal golf course will be set up with a 2,000-meter loop that will be run four times by the men and three times by the women. The weather calls for wet conditions, making the 8,000-meter men's course and 6,000-meter women's course a challenge.

The meet will be broadcast live on flotrack and a link is provided above.

Both the men's and women's team have had recent success at the Pac-10 Championships and 2010 is expected to be no different.

"We go there with a goal of winning on both sides," said head coach Jason Dunn. "I believe we have the personnel to do so, but both races should be extremely close."

The men's race is expected to be between the top-ranked Cardinal and No. 3 Oregon. Last season, Stanford won the conference title with just 28 points compared to 45 from Oregon. However, Oregon rebounded to finish as the national runner-up and has a lot of returning talent again this season.

"I think it will be really tight between the two teams, said Dunn. "Oregon is very good and we expect to have our hands full."

Defending Pac-10 champion Chris Derrick [JR Naperville, IL (Neuqua Valley)] will lead the Cardinal, but don't expect him to be alone. Elliott Heath [SR Winona, MN (Winona)] and Jacob Riley [RS JR Bellingham, WA (Sehome)] have run side-by-side with Derrick at every meet so far, including the trio's historic 1-2-3 finish at Pre-Nationals. Heath was third at last year's meet and is the top returner outside of Derrick.

Oregon will be led by Luke Puskedra who was fourth last year, but was the Pac-10 newcomer of the year ahead of Derrick in 2008. He will look to challenge for the individual title as will his teammate Matthew Centrowitz, who was fifth last year.

The key should be the depth, where the Cardinal are very strong.2009 Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year Miles Unterreiner and All-America steeplechaser J.T. Sullivan are among the candidates to fill out Stanford's top-5. Each team will be allowed to run 10 at the meet and Stanford will have the full 10 running with Dunn expecting any in the group to make a difference.

Other ranked teams include No. 22 California led by a potential individual challenger Michael Coe and No. 31 UCLA.

The women's race could be even more competitive than the men's with five ranked teams, including Stanford at No. 9. No. 2 Oregon is the favorite, but No. 6 Arizona is a young improved team, while No. 20 Washington is just two years removed from a national title and has several pieces remaining from that team, while No. 22 California will also be a factor.

"The race is probably going to come down to who can get its fifth girl in first," said Dunn. "It is really going to be that close."

Stanford is led by Kathy Kroeger who won the Stanford Invitational and placed third at Pre-Nationals. She did not compete at last year's meet, but should contend for the title this year. Stanford's top returner is Alex Gits who placed 10th last season, but with improved health this year will be looking to better that spot. Also returning is Stephanie Marcy who placed 11th last year and was Stanford's top runner at the national meet a year ago. Alex Dunne, Georgia Griffin and freshman Jessica Tonn are the others that should provide the scoring for Stanford, although the depth of the full squad could be utilized in the women's race as well.

Oregon carries its lofty ranking into the meet after placing second to Washington at the Pac-10 meet last year. The Ducks are led by sophomore Jordan Hasay who is the top returning runner after placing third last season. Teammate Alex Kosinki is also expected to be in the lead pack after finishing right with Hasay at the Bill Dellinger Invitational two weeks ago.

Arizona has rose through the rankings more than any other Pac-10 team with its impressive win at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minnesota earlier this season. The young Wildcats team was just sixth at last year's meet, but has shown a great pack this year that could result in getting its five runners in first.

Washington returns Mel Lawrence and Christine Babcock who were fourth and fifth last season. The Huskies have yet to showcase its full squad, which may be the reason for its ranking, but this is still the two-time defending conference champion and a team that placed third at the NCAA meet last year.

Finally, California is another improved team led by Deborah Maier, who is mentioned as one of the favorites for the individual title.

Overall, it will be an exciting weekend of racing in Seattle with several of the nation's top teams. Both Stanford teams are legitimate threats to win the conference title, something that has not happened since 2005.

NOTES

•The Stanford men won last season's Pac-10 Championship, which was its 12th in the 40 year history of the race. Chris Derrick became the fifth individual champion in Stanford history, joining Ian Dobson (2003), Grant Robison (2001, 2002), Jonathon Riley (2000) and Marc Olesen (1985).

•The Stanford women placed fourth last season, but have won 14 of the 24 Pac-10 Championships. It's last title was 2007, which completed a run of 12 consecutive conference titles. The Cardinal women have had four individual Pac-10 Champions in Arianna Lambie (2005, 2007), Sara Bei (2002, 2003), Lauren Fleshman (2001) and Erin Sullivan (1999).

•Jason Dunn is the returning Pac-10 Coach of the Year and Miles Unterreiner is the returning Pac-10 Newcomer of the year, while Chris Derrick is the returning Pac-10 Athlete of the Year.

•Kathy Kroeger ran the fastest time of any Pac-10 athlete at the Pre-National meet this season. Pre-Nationals is widely considered the top midseason invitational in the country, although Oregon was among the Pac-10 teams that did not attend this year.

•The times of 23:16.9, 23:16.9 and 23:17.1 run by Derrick, Elliott Heath and Jacob Riley were the fastest of the day at Pre-Nationals and the ninth, 10th and 11th fastest all-time at the Pre-National course at Indiana State.

•The Pac-10 Championships are being run at Jefferson Golf Course for the first time. Lincoln Park in West Seattle is the normal home course for Washington and is where it holds its annual Sun Dodger Invitational. It was also the site of the 2000 Pac-10 Championships, the last time the Huskies hosted the meet.

Stanford Roster

MenLast Name
Name eligibility
Yr. Hometown (High School)
atchoo michael
Michael Atchoo 1
FR Troy, Mich. (Troy)
bazzell graham
Graham Bazzell 1
FR Columbia, MD (Atholton)
berberick andrew
Andrew Berberick 2
RS FR Littleton, CO (Mullen)
bertolotti marco
Marco Bertolotti 1
FR Port Washington, N.Y. (Paul D. Schreiber)
castro spencer
Spencer Castro 6
RS JR Groveland, CA (Sonora)
chapin ramsey
Ramsey Chapin 2
RS FR North Bethesda, MD (Georgetown Prep)
derrick chris
Chris Derrick 5
JR Naperville, IL (Neuqua Valley)
duran bronson
Bronson Duran 1
FR Albuquerque, N.M. (Sandia Prep)
edwards travis
Travis Edwards 1
FR Simi Valley, Calif. (Royal)
ferris dylan
Dylan Ferris 4
RS SO Kernersville, NC (East Forsyth)
gregg brendan
Brendan Gregg 7
SR Davis, CA (Davis)
havel kevin
Kevin Havel 4
RS SO Arlington Heights, IL (John Hersey)
heath elliott
Elliott Heath 7
SR Winona, MN (Winona)
johnson benjamin
Benjamin Johnson 4
RS SO Albuquerque, NM (Albuquerque Academy)
krotzer kenny
Kenny Krotzer 1
FR Buckley, Wash. (Auburn-Riverside)
mallon thomas
Thomas Mallon 1
FR Chalfont, Pa. (Central Bucks South)
olson erik
Erik Olson 1
FR Novato, Calif. (Novato)
riley jacob
Jacob Riley 6
RS JR Bellingham, WA (Sehome)
stutzman tyler
Tyler Stutzman 2
RS FR Charlottesville, VA (Western Albermarle)
sullivan j.t.
J.T. Sullivan 6
RS JR Rancho Santa Margarita, CA (Trabuco Hills)
sullivan riley
Riley Sullivan 4
RS SO Rancho Santa Margarita, CA (Trabuco Hills)
summers paul
Paul Summers 1
FR Palo Alto, Calif. (Gunn)
thorne adam
Adam Thorne 1
FR Spokane, Wash. (Joel E. Ferris)
unterreiner miles
Miles Unterreiner 4
RS SO Gig Harbor, WA (Gig Harbor)
valdes ryan
Ryan Valdes 2
RS FR San Juan Capistrano, CA (Dana Hills)
valdes tyler
Tyler Valdes 2
RS FR San Juan Capistrano, CA (Dana Hills)

Women Last Name
Name eligibility
Yr. Hometown (High School)
amaro emilie
Emilie Amaro 4
RS SO Cooper City, FL (Cypress Bay)
collison claire
Claire Collison 5
JR La Crescenta, CA (Crescenta Valley)
dailey anna
Anna Dailey 1
FR Seattle, Wash. (Garfield)
duhon madeline
Madeline Duhon 6
RS JR Wassenaar, The Netherlands (The American School of the Hague)
dunne alex
Alex Dunne 3
SO San Clemente, CA (San Clemente)
fedronic justine
Justine Fedronic 2
RS FR Belmont, CA (Carlmont)
ferrante marissa
Marissa Ferrante 1
FR Aptos, Calif. (Aptos)
francis leah
Leah Francis 1
FR Juneau, Ak. (Juneau-Douglas)
ginez sophia
Sophia Ginez 1
FR Dayton, N.J. (South Brunswick)
gits alex
Alex Gits 7
SR Edina, MN (Edina)
griffin georgia
Georgia Griffin 5
JR Norwich, VT (Hanover)
kroeger kathy
Kathy Kroeger 3
SO Franklin, TN (Independence)
lattanzi maria
Maria Lattanzi 4
RS SO Palo Alto, CA (Palo Alto)
malone maria
Maria Malone 2
RS FR Folsom, CA (Folsom)
marcy stephanie
Stephanie Marcy 6
RS JR Sequim, WA (Sequim)
mccurdy sarah
Sarah McCurdy 4
RS SO Brightwaters, NY (Bay Shore)
miller-bedell emma
Emma Miller-Bedell 4
RS SO Orangeburg, NY (Tappan Zee)
murray tate
Tate Murray 1
FR Lake Oswego, Ore. (Lake Oswego)
pennings tori
Tori Pennings 4
RS SO Warwick, NY (Warwick)
reese kristin
Kristin Reese 4
RS SO Holmes, NY (Carmel)
tonn jessica
Jessica Tonn 1
FR Paradise Valley, Ariz. (Xavier Prep)
varnell hannah
Hannah Varnell 2
RS FR Gloucester, VA (Gloucester)


Coaching Staff


Edrick Floreal - Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track & Field
Jason Dunn - Head Coach
David Vidal - Assistant Coach
Hakon DeVries - Volunteer Assistant Coach
Garrett Heath - Volunteer Assistant Coach

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