SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga University's men's and women's cross country teams will face one of the most elite challenges in program history when they travel to Sunriver, Ore., Saturday for a dual meet against the University of Oregon.
The meet will be held at Meadows Golf Course in Sunriver over holes one and two. The women's 5K starts at 6 p.m., followed by the men's 4-mile at 6:30 p.m.
The Duck men are No. 4 in the pre-season USTFCCCAs rankings, while the women checked in at No. 16.
But Gonzaga head coach Pat Tyson, a Duck alum and former roommate and teammate of the legendary Steve Prefontaine, said the Bulldogs look at this meet as a positive.
"It's a really nice buzz since we're the only team that gets to run a dual meet against a national power, and the reason we are doing it is it creates a lot of buzz, a lot of energy and it will be on the website. When you're looking at recruiting we're not afraid to shadow what we believe is the best. We want our kids exposed to what the best is and hope it will motivate them to train at a higher level," Tyson said.
But he knows comparisons between the two programs are like night and day. We're unique versus Oregon in that we are, for the most part, a walk-on team. But we want to remind them we are D-I. Even though we may not have the material goods, but we have a lot of heart in this program and not have any obstacles in the way by going to Oregon. I know this will be a very positive thing in the long run for this program," the upbeat Tyson said.
This will be the second straight short-course race for the Bulldogs, who opened the season last Saturday at the Clash of the Inland Northwest at Mead High in Spokane, the women running a 4.2K and the men a 6.2K.
Tyson said this is good for the early season.
"It's early September and many universities who have a late start are in pre-season training week one or two so most don't want to race too early. Those who are back on campus are trying to get some of the NCAA competitions out of the way, do some training and get a feel for who their top seven or nine are," Tyson explained. "These print races aren't a bad thing. We use them more as a workout and kind of look at who's competitive. Anytime you put a jersey on you can call it a workout, a tempo or a time trial, but deep down inside you are still there to lay it on the line. We look at this as a workout kind of race but we can also see who has that kind of competitive juice."
Some newcomers caught the eye of the coach last week.
On the women's side "Maggie Jones is right in the in the hunt. Erin Bergmann is right there, too. There are others, but those two right off the bat have performed well," Tyson said.
"On the men's side with junior Tate (Kelly) out with an injury, Colin O'Neil out of Inglemoor (Seattle, Wash.) was our number two guy. I liked his competitiveness. Nick Roche (Tigard, Ore.) was right in the game, Alex Foote (Aloha, Ore.) surprised me and you throw in Braeden Van Deynze out of Davis (Calif.) and we have some good young freshmen. They all earned the right to wear that jersey and get them off the unattached list and let's go. I think we'll find some freshmen helping us at the West Coast Conference meet."
"On the women's side sophomore Virginia Whalen earned the right to go. She never ran varsity at Gonzaga Prep. She's symbolic of several of the ladies. On the men's side equally, Brad Kachigan, who wore the jersey two years ago at WCC and the door opened up, is another who will help us," Tyson said.
A few veterans still aren't a full strength.
Sophomore Robert Walgren is battling a little bit of a knee problem. Senior Andrew Walker is coming off some summer injuries and is expected to return to action.
Tyson said Nate Gesell "looks really, really good. Again, we're a year away. It's a good thing we are redshirting (Chris) Boyle because these guys are going to get all of this experience."
Boyle, a fourth place finisher at the WCC Championship a year ago and a two-time regional competitor, is redshirting this season. As a redshirt he can run unattached.
Tyson said there is great anticipation among the women.
"On the ladies side we have some goals. We believe our ladies have a real good shot at going to regionals. We need to show a good performance at WCC and we'll take them to Palo Alto," Tyson said.
As far as who will help the Bulldogs reach their goals Tyson said, "We're high on Lindsay Drake and Emily Thomas, our co-captains, and then we have a slug of returnees and freshmen. Elizabeth Ryan is another we are excited about. The two leaders up front and then all of the young ones are pretty exciting."
But nothing is as exciting, perhaps, as getting the chance to race the Ducks.
"We told them to enjoy themselves and be competitive. This will callous you for some of the big shows down the road," Tyson said he and assistant coach Patty Ley have been telling the teams all week..
