Erinn Gulbrandsen (left), Laura Harmon (middle right) and Eri MacDonald (far right) were three Ducks who recorded personal records last weekend.
First they like them, then they don’t.
Now, the Oregon men’s cross country team is back on the good side of the national pollsters. The Ducks climbed back into the top 10 of the Mondo coaches’ polls.
After being ranked No. 9 in the preseason polls, the Ducks plummeted to the No. 18 spot in the middle of the season. Two impressive finishes at the Pre-NCAA meet on Oct. 14 and the Pacific-10 Conference Championships last weekend vaulted Oregon into the No. 10 spot.
The Ducks leap-frogged Pac-10 rival Arizona in both the national polls and in the Western region polls. Arizona fell to 12th after finishing third at the Pac-10 Championships. Oregon is ranked No. 2 for the Western regional meet in Fresno, Calif., on Nov. 11.
Colorado remained No. 1 in the men’s poll with 11 first-place votes.
The women’s team remained unranked for the third straight week after beginning the season ranked No. 12.
Brigham Young was a unanimous choice for the top women’s team for the third straight week.
PR Watch
After poor results in its first two 6,000-meter races, the Oregon women’s cross country team recorded six personal bests at last weekend’s Pac-10 Championships in Seattle.
Senior Katie Crabb saw the biggest time drop. Crabb improved her 6k time from 21 minutes, 59 seconds to 21:25, good enough for 20th place. Sophomore Erinn Gulbrandsen and senior Hanna Smedstad both recorded 30-second personal bests. Junior transfer Carrie Zografos saw a 26-second drop.
Freshman Laura Harmon also ran well, besting her personal record by 13 seconds.
Sophomore Eri MacDonald lowered her time by a second despite running an off race.
Feeling the groove
After a rough start to his running career at Oregon, junior Adam Bergquist is finally hitting his stride. The Boulder, Colo., native was recruited by former Oregon coach Bill Dellinger in the heyday of Matt and Micah Davis, Rob Aubrey and Steve Fein.
As a freshman, he saw limited action on the “B” team. Bergquist steadily improved until a hamstring injury forced him to miss the entire 1999 season. Hamstring injuries are one of the most painful and debilitating injuries for distance runners, and recovery from them can be slow.
But Bergquist did recover and is having a breakthrough season while settling into the Ducks’ No. 3 spot. Bergquist placed 17th at the Pac-10 Championships in 24:18, nearly a minute faster than the time he ran at the Roy Griak Invitational a month earlier.
On a team dominated by underclassmen, Bergquist could prove to be a team leader by his senior season.
Injury update
After a stellar start to her career at Oregon, sophomore Tara Struyk has hit a speed bump.
Before the 2000 track season began, Struyk suffered a stress fracture in her leg, forcing her to redshirt the 2000 track and cross country seasons.
The Edmonton, Alberta, native was one of Oregon’s top three runners all last season and even led the team at the Notre Dame Invitational.
Struyk ranked third among freshmen at the Pac-10 Championships and helped the Ducks to a 19th-place finish at the NCAA meet.
The loss of Struyk, coupled with the departure of Oregon’s top runner last season, freshman Amy Nickerson, has left the Ducks undermanned this season.
Struyk is expected to be healthy before the 2001 cross country season.