Complete meet notes (PDF)
PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland State women's cross country team will not have a brutally long layoff between events, after all. After finishing fourth at the Sundodger Invitational in Seattle on Sept. 19, the Viking women were looking at about a month of running against no one but themselves. That void on the schedule has been filled as Portland State is now set to run in this weekend's Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational. The women's cardinal 5k – hosted by Willamette University – will get under way at 10:20 a.m. on Saturday at Bush's Pasture Park in Salem.
The lady Vikings are coming off a solid showing at the Sundodger where they finished fourth out of nine teams. Senior
Amanda Boman led Portland State with a mark of 21:39.11, good for 22nd overall. The Vikings also got top-35 finishes out of sophomore
Sarah Medved (30th), freshman Kaila Gibson (31st) and
Cheryn Trapp (34th).
The Portland State men remain idle and will be back in action at the Emerald City Open in Seattle on Oct. 17.
MEET INFORMATIONLocation: McCulloch Stadium and Bush's Pasture Park, Salem, Ore.
Start time: Women's Cardinal 5K (NCAA: DI, DII, DIII) - 10:20 a.m.
PSU ENTRIES:Women:
Nyalual Beng (So.),
Amanda Boman (Sr.),
Maggie Coleman (Jr.),
Nevina De Luca (Fr.),
Kaila Ann Gibson (Fr.),
Katie Hendricks (Sr.),
Kennedy Martin (Jr.),
Sarah Medved (So.),
Jocelyn Reynolds (Fr.)
Cheryn Trapp (Jr.)
TEAMS COMPETING:Colorado College, Concordia (Ore.), George Fox, Humboldt State, Lewis & Clark, Linfield, McMurry, Pacific (Ore.), Pacific Lutheran, Point Loma, Portland, Portland State, Puget Sound, Seattle Pacific, Seattle, Western Oregon, Whitman, Whitworth and Willamette.
SCORING:The team scores for the women's cardinal 5K will be separated into three different sections with teams from NCAA Division I, II and III each occupying their own section.
PSU'S HISTORY AT WILLAMETTE:The Portland State women competed in races hosted by Willamette University in three of the previous five seasons. The Vikings ran in the Charles Bowles Invitational in 2010 and 2012.
Most recently in 2013, Portland State ran in Willamette's Oak Knoll Loop Run. The Vikings won the six-team event, narrowly edging out second-place Portland and host Willamette.
A few current Vikings still on the roster performed well in the 2013 Oak Knoll Loop Run. Juniors
Cheryn Trapp and
Kennedy Martin each cracked the top 10 as freshmen with Trapp finishing fourth overall, four spots ahead of Martin. Senior
Katie Hendricks claimed 14th overall (out of 46) as a sophomore. Trapp, Martin and Hendricks are all slated to run in Saturday's Charles Bowles Invitational.
The Oak Knoll Loop Run was held at the Oak Knoll Golf Course, however, meaning the last time the Vikings competed at Bush Park and the Charles Bowles Invitational was in 2012, when then-senior Amber Rozcicha blew away the field and won the individual race in 17:46.70, a full 18 seconds faster than the second-place finisher. Hendricks also ran at the 2012 meet when she was a freshman and finished the 5,000-meter race in 20:28.68. Overall, Rozcicha's individual win led the Vikings to a fourth-place finish out of 20 teams, by far the best team finish for the Vikings at the meet.
The Vikings also had a strong showing at the Charles Bowles Invitational in 2007, when Kamila Bocian led the Vikings with a sixth-place individual finish in 17:38.80. Bocian's time still stands as the best individual time at the meet by a Vikings, and led her team to a fifth-place finish out of 15 teams.
The Vikings ran at the Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational every year from 2002-2010.
DIRECTIONS TO THE COURSE:Take Interstate-5 South toward Salem. Take exit 253 and turn right onto Mission Street Southeast. Bush's Pasture Park will be on the left.
THE COURSE:The course is a mostly paved path that loops around the perimeter of Bush's Pasture Park. The path takes runners around playgrounds, tennis courts, gazebos and flower gardens.
In February, the park was featured on the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC after an owl attacked multiple joggers. One day after the feature aired, another jogger was attacked by the owl. The Salem Parks Operation Division has since created several "angry owl" signs that have been erected throughout the park.
LOOKING AHEAD:After the Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational, the Vikings will be rejoined by their male counterparts and will race at the Emerald City Open in Seattle, hosted by Seattle University, on Oct. 17. The meet is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. at Lower Columbia Park.
