April 22, 2008

Corvallis, OR (UWIRE) -- It was cold and windy last Friday night at Western Oregon University, but that didn't stop the Oregon State University track ladies from winning and putting up solid times.

Junior Holly Thomson took first place in the 800 meter and was followed by senior Noelle Harer and freshman Casey Masterson with times of 2:15.50, 2:15.76, 2:15.98 respectively, landing the Beavers in all three top spots in the event.

"It was nice to win the race and see my teammates succeed," said Thompson. "There was a girl from Western Oregon in the lead for the majority of the race and it was great to have such a great runner to chase. It really helped to take the focus off the weather."

The weather did not help anyone at the meet Friday as temperatures dropped, the wind picked up and a little rain stopped by.

"The weather wasn't great at all, which means that the meet wasn't a big PR meet," said sophomore Hayley Oveson.

Despite the weather, the track team took the top three spots in the 800 meter and took second in the 1,500 meter and the 5,000 meter.

"We ran really well," said junior Lorene Young. "We had a big win in the 800 meter and the 5k runners put up big PRs."

In the 5,000 meter race, freshman Melissa Kauffman took second, if not running unattached, with a time of 17:32.93. Junior Jenny O'Conner improved her time from an 18:51 to an 18:40.63.

"We had a great performance and the experience gained from this meet will help us with future meets," said O'Conner.

The track team continues to put up big wins and big times with their shared mentality and will head into this week with the same intensity and determination.

"We did well across the board," expressed senior Katie Dye. "Weather was bad and we just tried to win, and girls were doing that."

OSU track is excited to start this week in preparation for the Oregon relays in hopes to win big and put up needed regional qualifying times.

"This was a great in between race," said Oveson. "We ran shorter races to help prepare for the Oregon relays."

The women's track team will look to perform big next weekend as they go down to Eugene for the Oregon relays.

(C) 2008 OSU Daily Barometer via UWIRE