It’s rare to see a curveball thrown at a cross country meet, but Galen Rupp has accomplished just such a feat.
The senior All-American, who was the individual runner-up at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in 2007, will race for the top-ranked Ducks at the Mike Hodges Invitational on Saturday. Rupp had previously announced his intention to run his first cross country race of the year at the Pacific-10 Conference championships on Oct. 31.
The Mike Hodges Invitational, held at Clackamas Community College, is close to home for Rupp, a graduate of Portland’s Central Catholic High School. Rupp also holds the meet record in the event (18:40), which he set in 2006.
Rupp, however, will be the only one of the top seven from the 2007 NCAAs who will compete for the Ducks. Fellow seniors Vincent D’ Onofrio, A.J. Casteel and Chris Winter, whose 20th-place finish at the Bill Dellinger Invitation on Oct. 4 sealed an Oregon team win, will compete alongside Rupp, in addition to sophomores Eric Dettman, Matt Dettman and Isaac Stoutenburgh.
On the women’s side, All-Americans Nicole Blood and Alex Kosinski are sitting out the Mike Hodges, but senior transfer Lindsey Scherf, who finished in ninth place at the Dellinger, will headline the Duck runners. Sophomore Zoe Buckman, whose 39th-place finish at the 2007 NCAAs was third-best by a Duck woman, will also compete.
Joining them will be senior Zoe Nelson, juniors Bria Wetsch and Brooke Giuffre, sophomores Betsy Bies and Hayley Belli, and freshman Bronwyn Crossman.
Portland, Portland State, Willamette, Southern Oregon, Western Oregon, Clark College, McMurry, Lane Community College and Southwestern Oregon Community College will also field men’s and women’s teams at the Mike Hodges. The Oregon State men will also compete. The Portland men finished second to the Ducks at the Dellinger, despite a 1-2 finish by senior All-American David Kinsella and freshman Alfred Kipchumba, and are currently ranked fourth in the nation, matching the highest in school history.
The women’s race begins at noon, and the men’s race begins at 12:45 p.m.
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