On October 17, the Pacific University Boxer’s Cross Country teams will be hosting the North West Conference Championships at Sunset Grove Golf Course. In what Coach Tim Boyce called an “interesting season” full of individual growth and multiple health issues, the Boxers are going into the Conference Championships with a record that does not exactly reflect their talents.
In the past few meets, the Boxers have had to do without multiple runners due to injury and sickness. At the Warner Pacific Invitational on Oct. 13, the Boxers sat Rachel Schreiber and Hayley Brusewitz, as well as Joe Deardorff and Joe Sanchez. Resting his top runners for the Conference Championships makes Boyce confident that his Boxers will perform at a higher level than they have been.
At the Warner Pacific Invitational in Portland, the men’s team took 9th place out of 11, while the women’s team took 9th of 10.
At the Division III Pre-Nationals Race in Terre Haute, In., the men’s team took 21 of 30, and the women’s team took 18 of 30.
The Division III Pre-Nationals Race was held at the Lavern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course, where Division I championship races have been held in the past. It’s a famous course in the collegiate cross-country world and Boyce said that it “was a great team-building experience.”
He said that it was nice to bring the runners out especially because there are some on the team that have a shot at going to the National Championships in November. Two of the teams’ top runners are also two of the teams’ youngest runners. Tyler Shipley, a local freshman, has been a top finisher in every race this season and Rachel Schreiber, sophomore, is following a stellar freshman campaign with an even better sophomore season. Boyce said that it is “important to have fast runners, regardless of the year.” He said that every cross country team needs someone fast to increase the pace of the others on the team and their age doesn’t matter. One of the team’s top examples of this is senior Jilinda Franklin, who “has been running at a higher level with Rachel. She’s getting closer to Rachel every week.” At the Warner Pacific Invitational, Franklin finished 17 in the 5,000 meter race with a personal best of 18:56.62; a time which put Franklin at No. 6 on Pacific’s All-Time Top 25 List at the distance.
The Boxers get to sleep in their own beds the night before the NWC Championships as they host the race at the Sunset Grove Golf Course. Boyce said that the team is excited to not have to travel before the biggest race of the season, so far.
They are also excited to run in front of their friends, family and professors. The Conference Championship races will be held on Oct. 27 and will start at 11 a.m.
To get to the Sunset Grove Golf Course, take Nehalem Highway (47) and the course will be on the right side.
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