The University of Oregon Running Club began its season with a fast start at the Willamette Invitational on Saturday; both the men’s and women’s teams placed in the top six, and the day saw a few Ducks produce impressive individual performances.
Rain was in the air in Salem, and the course at Bush Park sported a sheen of mud, but the adverse conditions rolled like water off the Ducks’ backs. The women’s team took fifth-place honors in the open division, with an average time, which is taken from the top five finishers on the team, of 20 minutes, 7 seconds over the five-kilometer course. Crossing the line first for the Ducks was graduate student Tiffany Beechy with a time of 17:59, a performance that earned her third place overall.
“The beginning of the course was sloppy and we were the last team to run, but the conditions were ideal for me,” Beechy said.
Sarah Piazza rounded out the top 20 in the women’s competition, clocking in at 19:29 despite just returning from a trip to France.
The men’s team also acquitted themselves well, conquering the eight-kilometer course in an average time of 26:47. Another graduate student garnered the top individual time on the team: Brandon Michael completed the course in 25:53, placing him 35th out of 164 competitors. Freshman David Reid stopped the clock at 26:38, a very strong showing for his first eight-kilometer race.
“(Reid) is freaking fast,” Beechy said.
This encouraging showing by Oregon bodes well for the rest of the season.
“It was a good early season run,” senior Kevin Sully said.
Coach Tom Heinonen returns for his third year in charge of the club, and brings with him enthusiasm for the sport.
“With Tom, everyone enjoys (running) and gets excited,” Beechy said.
The Ducks running club also boasts a wealth of youth and experience, which will serve them well both this year and in the future.
“We have a good mix of people, from grad students to freshmen,” Sully said.
Interest in the club is also on the rise.
“We have 40 members now and 30 others showed interest at the recent Club Sports open house,” running club coordinator Justin Samudio said.
Another sure indicator of the success that the club has had in recent years is that it has seen members move on to more prestigious squads and competitions, including the Oregon intercollegiate track and field team.
“We’ve had some losses to private clubs and the intercollegiate team, and that has sapped us a little bit,” Beechy said.
The Ducks travel to Estacada for a meet next week, and then race in the OSU Beaver Classic in Corvallis on Oct. 22 and the Pre’s Trail Open in Eugene on Nov. 6.
Club soccer
With 11 returning players and a 6-1 record that won the Cascade Collegiate Soccer League last year, the men’s club soccer team has high aspirations for this season.
Soccer coordinator Patrick Drake believes the team has a chance to win the national title if it can to play to its ability.
“We need more solid attacking and finishing” Drake said. “If we could finish on the opportunities (last year) we could have had some blowouts.”
The regular season mostly consists of nearby small community and private colleges, where winning is not a difficult task. The main challenge during the regular season comes from Oregon State, which gave the men’s team its only loss last year. The team is looking forward a chance to repay the favor to the Beavers.
Drake suggested that the team lower its intensity while playing against smaller schools to keep from embarrassing its opponents. He believes the team should “focus on a lot of possession play. Keep (the ball) controlled 70 percent of the game.”
This year the team is looking for senior defensive midfielder Chris Platt and senior center forward Brian Mikolaitas to help carry the load.
The first game this season is Sunday against Central Oregon Community College in Bend.
The game will be the first test in what is expected to be an easy ride to the collegiate national tournament that will take place Nov. 17-19 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Until then, the team will try to meld and strengthen itself against teams that are unlikely to pose much of a challenge. The team hopes it will be able to play at a more intense pace once it reaches higher quality opponents in the tournament.
After the fall season, the club soccer team will continue to play through the winter in an indoor league and will play another season of soccer in the spring.