2008 Woodie Awards
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The elephant on the golf course
Conditions appear right for the Duck women to match the men's 2007 cross country national title with one of their own
by Robert Husseman | Sports reporter
Is it possible to goad Vin Lananna into mentioning a possible national championship run for the women's cross country team?
"The women did a great job last year. It was exciting all the way through the season," the Oregon track and cross country coach said. "We were OK in the first meet and then we just got better and better as the season progressed."
The season progressed into a second-place finish at the 2007 NCAA Cross Country championship meet, 19 years removed from the Ducks' last such performance. Junior Nicole Blood, the 2006 U.S. junior cross country champion, and sophomores Alex Kosinski and Zoe Buckman placed in the top 40, and Blood and Kosinski walked away with All-America honors.
"Cross country is a sport where you can't always carry over what you did last year into next year, especially on the women's side," Lananna said. "Lots of things change. We get excited about it, we get enthusiastic about it, but I think the athletes really are fired up about getting started."
Sarah Pearson was the only senior to run in a cross country race for the Ducks in 2007. This year, three senior transfers - Mattie Bridgmon, Melissa Grelli and Lindsey Scherf - will add depth and experience to the women's team. Grelli finished 10th at the 2007 NCAA championships for Georgetown, and Bridgmon finished 64th running individually and representing Eastern Washington. Scherf won three All-American honors as a Harvard freshman. All three have earned bachelor's degrees and have transferred to Oregon to pursue graduate degrees and use a remaining year of eligibility. They also make up three-fifths of the seniors on the cross country roster.
"They will make a big difference in our lineup this year. I'm excited about who we have returning and excited about what they've done," Lananna said.
"We've been so young for years. That's been the big challenge at Oregon since I've gotten here, is that we've always been doing it with young kids."
And Oregon may see the triumphant return of touted redshirt sophomore Keara Sammons, who finished eighth in her only race of 2007, the Bill Dellinger Invitational, before succumbing to season-ending injuries.
"The women did a great job last year. It was exciting all the way through the season," the Oregon track and cross country coach said. "We were OK in the first meet and then we just got better and better as the season progressed."
The season progressed into a second-place finish at the 2007 NCAA Cross Country championship meet, 19 years removed from the Ducks' last such performance. Junior Nicole Blood, the 2006 U.S. junior cross country champion, and sophomores Alex Kosinski and Zoe Buckman placed in the top 40, and Blood and Kosinski walked away with All-America honors.
"Cross country is a sport where you can't always carry over what you did last year into next year, especially on the women's side," Lananna said. "Lots of things change. We get excited about it, we get enthusiastic about it, but I think the athletes really are fired up about getting started."
Sarah Pearson was the only senior to run in a cross country race for the Ducks in 2007. This year, three senior transfers - Mattie Bridgmon, Melissa Grelli and Lindsey Scherf - will add depth and experience to the women's team. Grelli finished 10th at the 2007 NCAA championships for Georgetown, and Bridgmon finished 64th running individually and representing Eastern Washington. Scherf won three All-American honors as a Harvard freshman. All three have earned bachelor's degrees and have transferred to Oregon to pursue graduate degrees and use a remaining year of eligibility. They also make up three-fifths of the seniors on the cross country roster.
"They will make a big difference in our lineup this year. I'm excited about who we have returning and excited about what they've done," Lananna said.
"We've been so young for years. That's been the big challenge at Oregon since I've gotten here, is that we've always been doing it with young kids."
And Oregon may see the triumphant return of touted redshirt sophomore Keara Sammons, who finished eighth in her only race of 2007, the Bill Dellinger Invitational, before succumbing to season-ending injuries.
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