EUGENE, Ore. – The University of San Francisco cross country team made its long awaited 2021 debut on Friday morning. After a 10-month delay, the Dons looked sharp with the women capturing second and the men finishing in third at the Oregon XC Invite hosted by Oregon at Lane Community College.
WOMEN
"I'm really pleased with how the women competed today," said interim head coach Timothy Riley. "I'm pleased with how they executed race plans. After not racing for 10 months the biggest challenge for us would be getting back into race mode and competing against some really good competition. We raced against two teams ranked in the top-25, to beat Oregon State by a point, a national caliber team, is big for us and I think we are right there with Portland who we will see later this year at the WCC Championships."
USF, who is seventh in the West Region Polls, finished second today with 47 points. Portland took home the team title with 32 points. The Dons finished the 5k race with three runners in the top-10. No. 21 Oregon State finished third with 48 points, followed by Gonzaga with 108 points. In fifth was No. 24 Oregon with 136 points.
Newcomers MacKenzie Yanek and
Zoe Wassell shined in their cross-country debut for the Dons. Yanek was the Dons' top finisher and placed third overall with a time of 16:59.8. She finished just behind Oregon State's Kaylee Mitchell who was the top team finisher with a time of 16:51.2.
Yanek had a strong finish, at the halfway point she was sitting in seventh place with a time of 8:38.7, she moved up four spots after finishing the final 2.5k in 8:21.1 out kicking three runners from Portland.
Even Jensen finished second for the Dons and was fifth overall with a time of 17:01.7. Like Yanek, Jensen was faster on the final 2.5k moving up four spots to capture a top-five finish. Wassell, a junior transfer from Nailswoth, England, finished third for the Dons and eighth overall with a time of 17:10.0.
"I'm very pleased with how our newcomers ran," said Riley. "Zoey was a bit of unknown, we recruited her based on video and talking to her over the phone so to finally see her race live I was really impressed. I think the course and conditions really matched what she was comfortable with, it felt like a wintery English day in Eugene. MacKenzie is in a really good spot; she ran track for us last year but sat out cross country and I was really impressed with her performance today."
In fourth for the Dons and 14
th overall was
Anna Tait who finished with a time of 17:17.8. Abigail Pradere finished 24
th overall with a time of 17:52.2.
Sophie Soefeldt finished right behind her in 25
th place with a time of 15:59.0. Baneet Baines and
Maddy Hamilton finished 35
th and 36
th respectively at 18:18.4 and 18:27.8.
MEN
"We only brought five, so our biggest thing was everyone is scoring today," said Riley. "It added a little pressure on them and some of the guys really responded."
The Dons finished third overall with 71 points. Portland finished in first with 20 points followed by Oregon in second with 45 points.
USF's top finisher was senior Daniel Mangeloveg who finished 11
th overall with a time of 24:54.0, the second fastest time of his career. His top finish was 24:50.5 at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational on September 28, 2018.
In second for the Dons was
Ed Kiolbasa who finished 17
th overall with a time of 25:11.0, a strong debut for the senior transfer. Behind him was
Caleb Haugland who crossed the finish line 24
th overall with a time of 25:40.3. The time by Haugland was a new personal-best, breaking the old mark of 24:52.3 set at the USF Invitational on Aug. 31, 2019.
Jacob Hernandez finished 25
th overall with a time of 25:42.3 and
Ben Preddy took 30
th with a time of 26:49.0.
"Dan ran really well, his second fastest time on sloppy wet course so that shows where he's at," said Riley. "Ed was impressive for the first 3/4 of the race, it's just putting that last piece together. Caleb was solid, Ben ran his first race as a true freshman in the US - he was a little disappointed but he will be there in a couple weeks at conference."
COMING UP
The Dons will run some individuals next week at Santa Clara. USF will next race as a team on Wednesday, February 24 at the West Coast Conference Championships in Las Vegas, Nev.
