Women's track heads to Salem for Willamette Invite

Returning from a weekend full of school record book setting, head coach Kelly

By: The Daily Barometer

Posted: 4/6/07

Oregon State is continuing on its road to women's track and field success with another great weekend under its belt. After finishing strong in the Stanford Invitational, the Beavers will travel to Salem on Friday and Saturday to compete in the Chuck Bowles Willamette Invitational.

"We are on a pretty good roll with the Willamette and Oregon meets," OSU head coach Kelly Sullivan said. "We are getting to the point where people are beginning to believe they belong."

The Beavers traveled to Salem to compete at McCulloch Stadium in the Willamette Opener earlier this season. During their previous visit to Willamette, the Beavers had success with several women posting personal bests, along with new school records. This weekend, Sullivan will switch the runners up, having them compete in new events.

"Our 5,000-meter, 10,000-meter, and 3,000-meter steeplechase runners will compete in the 1,500 meters, with some of our 800-meter runners competing at 1,500 meters, and some of the 1,500-meter runners will in the 800 meters," Sullivan said. "We are really going to be moving people around this weekend."

Competitors for the Beavers this weekend include Jean-Marie Peterson in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, she is currently third on OSU's list of its all-time top-10 performers in the event. Krista Stangel, Elise Aschwanden, Hayley Oveson, Noelle Harer and Lorene Young will be competing in the 1,500 meters; Samantha Godfrey, Jenny O'Connor and Rebecca Mishler will compete in the 5,000; Julie Garcia will compete in the 400; Holly Thomson, Holli Dieu, Katelyn Van Brunt and Lauren Denfeld will compete in the 800; and Van Brunt, Garcia, Thomson, and Dieu will also compete in the 1,600-meter relay.

The Beavers are coming off a strong performance at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., on March 30. Denfeld set Oregon State's school record in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10 minutes, 46.54 seconds, which also qualified her for the NCAA West Regional Championships. The junior beat the regional qualifying standard of 10:50.00 to become OSU's second NCAA West Regional qualifier since the women's cross country/track program was reinstated in the fall of 2004. Ashley Younce had qualified for the meet in the 5,000 last season. Denfeld, who placed 11th, beat her own school record of 11:08.67, set last season.

Dieu also moved up Oregon State's list of all-time top performers in the women's 1,500 meter. The freshman finished in 4:35.90 to climb from ninth to seventh on OSU's all-time list in the event on the final day of the prestigious meet. Peterson won her heat of the women's 1,500 "B" sections at the Invite with a personal-record time of 4:37.70, and was the second OSU runner of the weekend to win a heat.

Not only did Denfeld set a school record and qualify for the NCAA West Regional Championships, but earning their way onto the Beavers' all-time top-10 lists with their performances were Harer and Stangel. Both moved into ninth place as Harer in the 800 meters with a time of 2:14.20, while Stangel in the 5,000 meters with a time of 17:25.39.

Other teams competing this weekend are Willamette, Western Oregon, Concordia, George Fox, Warner Pacific, Alaska-Anchorage, Pacific, Eastern Oregon, Mt. Hood Community College, Spokane Community College, along with many other local schools and unattached athletes.

"Everyone's attitudes are good and everyone has been working hard," Sullivan said. "We're excited; we just have to keep it going."