May 11, 2006

Corvallis, OR (CSTV U-WIRE) -- Last year's Pac-10 Championships was an introductory course for the Oregon State's track team, which was running in the meet for the first time since 1988. Now with more runners qualified and twice as many qualifying marks to work with, the sophomore campaign for the Beavers is more about building on their foundation.

A familiar setting awaits the Beavers as head coach Kelly Sullivan will send 10 runners to compete in events ranging from the 800 meters to the 10,000 meters at the University of Oregon. Since they have ran at Hayward Field three times already this season, Sullivan thinks his squad will be a little more relaxed than they were at last year's conference meet.

"It's different being in Eugene. I mean last year we ran at UCLA and it was out of sight, out of mind, outside maybe a few of the parents who were able to be there," Sullivan said. "The nice thing about this meet is that we run at Oregon so often that they're very comfortable being down there."

Sullivan returns five of the six runners who competed at last year's championships. Junior Ashley Younce and sophomore Nicole Crawford will run in the 10,000 meter race for the second straight season. Younce, who has qualified for the NCAA West Regional in the 5,000 meters two weeks from now, finished ninth at last year's championships, while Crawford came in 12th place. Junior Neoma Crawford, who was out until late April with injuries, is entered as well.

Despite it being their first 10,000 meter race of the season - or for any Beaver for that matter - Sullivan isn't worried.

"A 10K is an interesting event, but they've done everything right to this point," Sullivan said. "I just want them to go down there and have fun and enjoy the experience and run in front of their families, so that will be pretty cool."

Another familiar face for the Beavers will be sophomore Lauren Denfeld, who will be running the 3,000 meter steeplechase for the second straight season. Denfeld, who was the first competitor in OSU history to run the event, finished 15th at last year's conference meet with a time of 11:37.71.

One of the more successful runners in the team's resurgence has been sophomore Kaitlin Poggi, who has qualified for three events this weekend. After finishing 12th in the 1,500 meters at last year's championships, Poggi has not only improved on her 1,500 time this season, but has also been effective in the 5,000 meters and the 3,000 meter steeplechase. She enters this weekend in the school's top 10 in the 3,000 meter steeplechase (second, 11:15.41), 5,000 meters (third, 17:03.16) and the 1,500 meters (fifth, 4:33.24). Although she's entered to run the 5,000 meters, the possibility of doubling is up in the air.

"She's qualified in three events and I'm still not sure which event we're going to run her in," Sullivan said. "But wherever event we put her in, she's going to do really well."

Sophomore Jean-Marie Peterson will lead a group of runners in the 1,500 meter race. Also returning from last year's championships, Peterson is looking to build on her 14th place performance in the event. Joining her in the race will be freshmen Sylvia Veal and Holly Thomson and junior Katie Dye, who qualified for the championships last weekend at the Oregon Twilight meet. Peterson and Veal sit in at eighth and ninth all-time in school history for the event.

Rounding out the 10 runners is sophomore Noelle Harer, who will be competing in the 800 meters. Making huge strides this season, Harer has entered the top 10 all-time with a time of 2:13.95 that she ran at the Stanford Invitational earlier this season.

Sullivan has put emphasis on how competitive the Pac-10 distance running has been this season. Oregon freshman Bekah Noble is the top 800 meter runner in the nation, and there are numerous distances runners that are in the top 10 in the nation.

"When you're talking about the level that we're competing in, it's second only to the NCAA meet in a lot of ways," Sullivan said. "So our ultimate goal is how many points can we score versus the other schools in our conference in the distance events."

Since the Beavers only have distance events right now, a team championship is not the focus.

"Team scores for us in track are pretty irrelevant. What we're working towards is developing one of the more competitive distance programs in the conference," Sullivan explained.

"It's gotta be an exciting meet for them, 'cause each one of these girls have an opportunity to have a good meet. The big thing is getting on the starting line and 10 of them got a chance to do that this weekend, so that's huge."

(C) 2006 OSU Daily Barometer via CSTV U-WIRE