Colorado State University Athletics
Cross Country faces stiff competition in Oregon this weekend
9/28/2007 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Sept. 28, 2007
EUGENE, Ore. - Colorado State cross country travels to Eugene to take on the strongest competition thus far this season at the Bill Dellinger Invitational Saturday morning. The field includes 14 nationally ranked teams. The Rams have finished in the top two spots in every meet this season with the women undefeated.
Competition begins on Saturday at 9:15 a.m. PT with the 6,000m women's race followed by the men's 8,000m race at 10:00 a.m. PT.
The women's field features six nationally ranked teams including the Rams. No. 4 Arkansas is the top ranked team followed by No. 15 Georgia, No. 17 Washington, No. 18 BYU, No. 21 Colorado State and No. 24 Oregon. "This is our first real competitive meet of the season," said Head Coach Bryan Berryhill. "We are going to find out where we are and where we need to be. This is an opportunity for us to see some of the top competition and beat some of them."
On the men's side the Rams will be competing against three of the top six ranked teams as ranked by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll (USTFCCCA). Leading the field is returning NCAA runner-up No. 1 Wisconsin joined by No. 3 Oregon and No. 6 UTEP. Also competing are No. 11 Portland, No. 17 Alabama, No. 21 UCLA, No. 22 Cal Poly, No. 30 Washington and Ohio State which is receiving votes.
"While both fields are full of good competition the men's side is more top heavy," Berryhill commented. "We are going to have to race our race. I am not worried about competing about the top; we just need to have a solid finish. This will give us some positive momentum going into conference if we can have a good finish."