Eastern Oregon headlines the Cascade Conference's representation at the NAIA national cross country championships.
EOU Leads CCC Contingent into National Championships
PORTLAND, Ore. – Ben Welch and his Eastern Oregon University men’s and women’s cross country teams headline a contingent of Cascade Conference representatives competing in Kenosha, Wis., this Saturday at the NAIA National Cross Country Championships.
The Mountaineers, who captured both the men’s and women’s Cascade Conference team titles Oct. 20 and led all CCC teams at the NAIA Region I Championships in Olympia Nov. 3, will be joined by fellow CCC member College of Idaho in the men’s race at the national meet. In addition, nine CCC individuals – five men and four women – earned invitations to the national championships.The men’s race, covering eight kilometers, is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. CST. The women’s 5K race will begin at 11:45 a.m. CST. The meets will be contested at the Dr. Wayne E. Dannehl Cross Country Course, considered one of the premier cross country venues in the nation.
Welch, EOU’s 17th-year head coach, is a veteran of the NAIA championship meet – the Mountaineer men are advancing as a team for the 14th time, the women for the ninth. The 2007 CCC Coach of the Year expects a wide-open affair in the men’s event, but considers Region I champion Simon Fraser the team to beat in the women’s race.
“There seems to be a lot of balance on the men’s side this year,” said Welch. “Some of the strong teams from the past few years are down – or gone – and some others have stepped it up. The women’s race should see Simon Fraser dominate yet again, and after about the top five teams there is a lot of balance, especially in the mid-teens.”
Welch likes where his teams are heading into the biggest event of the season.
“We feel quite good about where we are at this point in time,” said Welch. “We took a calculated risk at the region meet by racing tired, so we have room to peak for the national meet. The men ran very solid at the region meet, but were coming out of a very difficult training period. The women have continued to improve meet by meet, and their performance in the region meet was the best of the year, by far.”
The national meet is being contested at a cross country course Welch knows well.
“This is a course that I am very familiar with, and we have historically run pretty well on, in several cases very well,” says Welch. “We have been working on strong starts and finishes and hill running techniques – both up and down – as there are several significant hills on the Kenosha course.”
Welch’s strategy since the region meet has been to back off mileage in workouts. He is hopeful for strong showings on Saturday.
“We had some high expectations this year – the men have been building for this season for the last two years, and the unity of pack has been a pleasant bonus,” he said. “For the women, we had high hopes as we had virtually everyone back from last year, plus several additions. However, we struggled with injuries and illness, especially early in the season. As a result, we started slow, but several athletes have stepped in to make up the difference.”
At the Region I men’s meet, five EOU runners finished in the top 20 of the 8K race, led by sophomore Zach Heath, who finished ninth in a time of 25:46. He was followed by teammates Cam Starner (11th, 25:50), Troy Blackburn (15th, 26:01), Josh Ego (19th, 26:09), and Doug Benson (20th, 26:10). On the women’s side, five EOU runners finished in the top 43 at the Region I meet, including Marcella Bosch (7th, 18:36), Stephanie Windle (12th, 18:47), Kristy Pletan (23rd, 19:34), Sara Bates (32nd, 19:47) and Chelsee Harmon (43rd, 20:18).
During his EOU coaching career, Welch has led the Mountaineers to 10 top 10 finishes at the NAIA meet – seven for the men, three for the women.
College of Idaho’s men’s team, under the direction of fourth-year coach Pat McCurry, is making its second appearance in three years at the national meet. In 2005, the Yotes finished 19th at the NAIA Championships. Senior Tyler Hopper has been C of I’s top finisher at both the conference and region meets.
Individually, the Cascade Conference will be represented on the men’s side by Eric Burck (Concordia), Kory Humberston (Oregon Tech), Kevin Jeffers (Southern Oregon), Cameron Kreuz (Southern Oregon) and Leonard Randall (Northwest). On the women’s side, CCC individuals earning bids to the national meet include Stephanie Helm (College of Idaho), Danielle Jordan (Corban), Elizabeth Knudtson (Northwest) and Carlie Moller (Corban).
Notes: This is the eighth time Welch has led both the EOU men and women to the nationals in the same season … College of Idaho coach Pat McCurry and his assistant, Mike Anderson, both ran under Welch at EOU, and both have competed at nationals in Kenosha … the Malone College (Ohio) men’s team has been ranked No. 1 in the nation the entire season … Simon Fraser is ranked No. 1 on the women’s side.