By Dannielle Lowe
The women's cross country team won its sixth consecutive WCC Conference Championship last Saturday with sophomore Dana Morgan winning the individual title, adding the victory to a long list of season accomplishments.
Hosted at the Belmont, Calif., 6K Crystal Springs Course, the women ran strong, boasting a team score of 33 and four Pilots finishing in the top 10. The team's go-to runner, Morgan fulfilled team expectations beating out the pack to bring home the title with a 20.32 finish time.
The race day plan consisted of a simple strategy: hold off major competitor San Francisco. Coach Ian Solof told the runners to go after the green jersey-wearing competitors.
"We usually win the conference race, but our coach was really nervous," senior Allison Ritchie said in regards to the team's strategy. "He told us to go after all the green jerseys, and that's what we did."
According to Ritchie, the race strategy works because having four runners up front shows the teams that Portland is up front and that its runners are going for the win.
The team has won the race nine out of the last 10 years. This year's team victory adds to a growing list of 2007 season accolades.
This year, the Pilots performed better than ever, earning the program national attention and its highest ranking to date. Ritchie explained the 34th place ranking is exciting because it's a university first.
"I remember Coach Ian saying something: When we look back at the year people aren't going to remember the finish places or other things. They're going to remember this as the year we were nationally ranked," Ritchie said. "It's been pretty monumental for the team."
The women's conference will boost them in the rankings and prepare them for the upcoming regional race in which the Pilots will fight to receive their first berth to Nationals. Held in Eugene, the regional race hosts some of the toughest competition, including top-ranked programs University of Oregon (No. 2) and Stanford (No. 1).
Only the top two teams are given a berth to Nationals, and then individual runners are selected through votes. Morgan most likely will be among the individuals attending the national race due to her eighth-place finish at pre-nationals, teammate senior Bobeya Krishnek said. Amie Dahnke, the team's number-two runner, was also predicted to attend. But, due to a foot injury, it is unclear as to when Dahnke will be able to run again this season.
The regional race will be Nov. 10, on the same course as the Bill Dellinger Invite, where the women placed seventh earlier this year. According to Krishnek, the women feel confident about the race because of their previous experience running the course.
"It's the same course we raced at Delinger," Krishnek said. "It's really beneficial to us because we know the course and that it starts out fast."
The runners will continue training over the next weeks for the race. Their training regiment focuses on high mileage. On Sundays, they run 12 to 15 miles accompanied by two other harder training work outs during the week. According to Ritichie, the training program isn't extreme, but it works.
"Ian is a really great coach; he doesn't push us so we're throwing up during training or anything," Ritchie said. "He likes to keep us so we're feeling good. And that has really worked to our advantage, I think, because it is keeping us strong, and we're always feeling good."
Training not only prepares the runners but it helps identify the top seven varsity positions. Only seven women actually run in each race, but Ritchie said the top seven runners have been pretty well established over the season, so the team gets along pretty well. The team's chemistry, according to Krishnek, contributes to the team's success.
"A big part of (team success) is being close as a team and having a good attitude," Krishnek said.
