Boxers Hope NWC Championships Will Be Showcase Meet
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THIS WEEK IN PACIFIC CROSS COUNTRY
NORTHWEST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Sat., Oct. 29, Willamette Mission State Park, Brooks, Ore.
Women's 8,000 Meters, 10 a.m./Men's 8,000 Meters, 11 a.m.
Meet Website:
http://www.linfield.edu/sports/
BOXERS EXPECT TO SEE IMPROVEMENT IN NWC MEET
A great season of improvement culminates this weekend as the Pacific cross country teams participate in the first of the championship meets of the year. The Boxers will return to Willamette Mission State Park on Saturday for the Northwest Conference Championships. The meet will be Pacific's first after their own Boxer Rebellion meet in Forest Grove on Sat., Oct. 15.
BOXER BYTES
• Both Pacific teams showed well at their own Boxer Rebellion meet, held on Oct. 15 at the Sunset Grove Golf Course in Forest Grove. The Pacific men placed third, nine points behind a first place tie between Whitman & Lewis & Clark. The Pacific women placed fourth in the meet.
• In a sign of the team's growth, a total of 10 Pacific runners ran season best times at the Boxer Rebellion.
Jilinda Franklin bettered her personal best for 6,000 meters by two seconds to improve her No. 12 time on the Boxers' All-Time List.
Caitlyn Reilley moved up to No. 17 on the list after running the Boxers' third best time at the meet.
• The Pacific men are set up for a strong performance at the NWC Championships, if past performances are any indicator. Six of the Boxers' 10 men ran their season best times at the Sept. 24 Linfield Invitational, which was held on the same Willamette Mission State Park course.
• On the men's side,
Jerry Sanchez and
Dan Flora both ran their season best and Pacific Top-25 times on the Willamette Mission course. Two of Pacific's women,
Rachel Schreiber and
Ally Shackelford, also ran Top-25 times at the Linfield Preview.
• Both Pacific teams will be aiming to improve on their performances at the 2010 NWC Championships, held in Tacoma, Wash. The Pacific men finished seventh out of nine teams, while the women placed eighth.
ABOUT THIS WEEK'S MEET
NORTHWEST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
This will be the second meet this season on the Willamette Mission State Park course and the second time that the Northwest Conference Championships has been held at the park (the first coming in 2007). Whitworth will be aiming to defend their men's title and claim their third crown in four years. The Pirates return three of their top five runners from last year. Willamette is expected to be a strong contender to win their 20th NWC title, led by defending individual champion Leo Castillo. On the women's side, Lewis & Clark appears to be in good position to defend their championship. The Pioneers return all five of their scoring runners from last year's championship, led by fourth place finisher Illana Livstrom. Lewis & Clark is expected to be pushed by very competitive squads from Whitman, Whitworth and Willamette. Whitworth's Joy Shufeldt is the top returning finisher, earning runner-up honors at the 2010 meet.
Pacific stands a good chance to move up in the standings in both the men's and women's races. The Pacific men finished seventh in last year's meet, scoring 185 points.
Joe Deardorff (Jr., Independence, Ore.) is Pacific's top returning finisher, placing 32nd in 2010 with a time of 27:05.20. The Pacific men finished eighth with a score 216 points.
Ally Shackelford (So., Portland, Ore.) is the Boxers' top returning finisher from 2010. She placed 49th with a time of 25:00.42.
HEAD COACH TIM BOYCE'S THOUGHTS ON THE MEET: “We are looking forward to the NWC Championships this weekend. Both teams have put in a great season of training in anticipation of the next few meets. We will need everyone to bring their best competitive effort on Saturday. While there may be a few favored teams in each race, it is impossible to predict how things will play out over the distances. The Boxers are capable of being very competitive team-wise and each of our runners must individually do all that is possible from start to finish. Believe.”
PACIFIC NEWS & NOTES
HIGH PERFORMING WOMEN: Pacific chances of moving up on the Northwest Conference ladder are good thanks to some high performing members of rhe roster.
Jilinda Franklin (Jr., Fort Jones, Calif.) turned in her best performance of the season two weeks ago at the Boxer Rebellion, leading the Boxers with a 10th place finish in a time of 24:00.90. The performance knocked two seconds off of Franklin's personal best over 6,000 meters, which is No. 12 on Pacific's all-time list at the distance. The Boxers will also be looking for a big day from
Rachel Schreiber (Fr., Longmont, Colo.). The first year college athlete turned in her season best at the 6,000-meter distance on the Willamette Mission course, running 23:51.09 at the Linfield Preview. The performance ranked Schreiber No. 9 on the Pacific all-time list for 6,000 meters.
Caitlyn Reilley (Fr., Reedsport, Ore.) enters the NWC Championships also have run her best time at the Boxer Rebellion. Reilley clocked a time of 24:45.20 on the home course, making a 31-second improvement over her previous season best. The time also ranked Reilley No. 17 on the school's all-time list.
MEN MAKING A STAND: The Pacific men's cross country team has come together to be a consistent team presence all season long. The Boxers have been well grouped between the No. 1 and No. 5 runner, with their largest gap of 1 minute, 25 seconds happening at the Sept. 24 Linfield Preview. The Boxers will look towards a trio of quartet to top performers who ran their best times of the season at that meet.
Jerry Sanchez (Jr., Mecca, Calif.) owns the Boxers' best time of the season over 8,000 meters, having run 26:39.39 at the Linfield Preview. That time was not only fifth place in the race, but ranks No. 19 all-time.
Dan Flora (Jr., North Bend, Ore.) ran a personal best of 26:42.41 at the Linfield Preview, finishing sixth and moving up to No. 23 on Pacific's all-time list.
Joe Deardorff (Jr., Independence, Ore.) finished seventh with a season best time of 26:53.03 and
John Cushman (Sr., Lakewood, Wash.) placed 11th on that course with a season best of 26:53.03. Of Pacific's 10 men on the roster, a total of seven ran their best times at Willamette Mission State Park.
SEASON BESTS AT BOXER REBELLION: Eight of the Boxers' 13 women's runners ran season best times at the Boxer Rebellion. The list includes
Kiersten Iwai (So., San Diego, Calif., 29th place, 25:13.00),
Jenna Matsumoto (Sr., Kailua, Hawaii, 50th place, 26:46.30),
Jessica Hattig (Fr., Beaverton, Ore., 60th place, 28:05.90),
Lorena LaBarbera (Fr., Bonners Ferry, Idaho, 62nd place, 28:22.00),
Kori Bellwood (So., Yamhill, Ore., 66th place, 32:13.60) and
Nicole Smith (Sr., Wailuku, Hawaii, 67th place, 33:12.40). Bellwood was competing in just her second race of the season, while Smith was competing in her first meet of 2011. On the men's side, Pacific received a season best at the Boxer Rebellion from
Rudy Sanchez (So., Albany, Ore.), who ran 30:07.30 in his first meet back since the Sept. 3 season opener.
