In three years, OSU has developed into a budding powerhouse

By Brooks Hatch
Corvallis Gazette-Times

There’s plenty of tangible evidence that the Oregon State cross country program is following the right course in its third season since being brought out of 18 years in mothballs.

• Scholarships have been increased from one to five and one-half.

• It’s ranked ninth in the latest NCAA West Region poll.

• It won the 13-team Cal Poly Invitational at San Luis Obispo this past Saturday. The same day, freshman Holli Dieu, running unattached, was the titlist at the Cascade Invitational in Lents Park in Portland.

• It also won the 19-team Chuck Bowles Invitational at Willamette University on Sept. 30.

• Its already been awarded the 2007 Pacific-10 Conference championships, to be staged at Trysting Tree Golf Course.

“Based on how limited we were when we first got started, I’m pleasantly surprised how quickly we’ve been able to move forward, especially when you look back at the first team,” coach Kelly Sullivan said last week, several days before the victory at Cal Poly gave the Beavers their second meet title in the same year for the first time in program history.

“We started out kind of elementary but to be ranked 10th in the region — the strongest region, too, we’d be as high as fourth or fifth in other regions — how we’re running is really encouraging.

“A year or two ago there wasn’t a chance of winning any meet. So it’s kind of neat for us to get some recognition, so it’s tangible as far as that is concerned.”

It’s even more impressive considering that Ashley Younce, who would be OSU’s top runner, is missing the cross country season while studying in Austria this term (she’ll be back for track season) and that Dieu and another top recruit, Megan Hibner, are redshirting.

“This is definitely what Kelly told us would happen, and it’s what we hoped would happen,” said junior Kaitlin Poggi, a Gladstone High graduate who placed fourth in a 141-runner field at Cal Poly in 18:10 for 5,000 meters.“(In 2004) it was hard to believe it was going to happen because we were so far behind.”

“But now that it’s actually happening, it’s really awesome and exciting. Kelly has a real positive attitude and all of the girls on the team believe in what he said, and work hard.”

With progress, however, comes higher expectations and increased attention from rivals who may no longer be so thrilled that OSU reinstated the program in 2004 after a 17-year hiatus.

“The light has come on now, reality is setting in with a lot of people that we’re not just a feel-good story any more,” Sullivan said. “When it first started, having no track and one scholarship, I don’t think a lot of people spent a lot of time thinking about us.

“But Ashley’s performance last year (22nd at Pac-10s, 23rd at regionals) started garnering some attention. Then we had a really good recruiting year, signing four in-state kids that gave us some validity. We’re on the radar. People are paying more attention.”

An on-campus track remains on the to-do list. The 2007 Pac-10’s at Trysting Tree will be the perfect opportunity for the program’s first big reunion weekend, and Sullivan is hopeful OSU can move up from eighth to seventh at this year’s conference championships, at Stanford on Oct. 28.

“We were close last year,” Sullivan said, noting that OSU was only two points behind California.

The West Regional, one of eight nationwide, is Nov. 11 at Blue Lake Park in Gresham. The top three or four teams there advance to the 31-team NCAA championships, set for Nov. 20 at Terre Haute, Ind.

“It helps a lot to be surrounded by so many talented girls,” said Poggi, one of a handful of three-year veterans. “I honestly think we’ll do great. I think we can surprise a lot of people.”