The Portland State men’s and women’s cross country teams competed on Saturday in the Bill Dellinger Invitational, hosted by University of Oregon at the Springfield Country Club.
Seniors Andrew Landstrom and Sarah Dean led the Vikings. The race was one of the most challenging meets of the season thus far, but the team managed to place well.
“Competing against the really high nationally ranked teams is always a challenge,” assistant coach (distance) Jonathan Marcus said. “It is always good to get that experience [because] it is preparing us.”
One standout on Saturday was freshman Cheryn Trap, who placed 57th overall in the
women’s 5,000-meter course with a time of 18:27. Trap said she is beginning to adjust to
college races.
“The level of running is a lot more competitive and a lot more intense than high school competition level. But I really love it because I want to get better,” Trap said.
She added, “[My teammates] are super helpful with each other and very reliable, trustworthy. They are part of my family now. We have gotten so close to each other.”
Senior Sarah Dean agreed that the team works well together. “It shows, too. We had really good packs throughout the whole race. Everybody stuck together and helped each other out, which is great.”
Dean is one of the most experienced runners on the team. She competed for Eastern Oregon University for two years before transferring to PSU. When asked if she considers herself like a “big sister” to the other girls on the team she said, “Yes I do. I try to do the little things right—eat right, have a positive attitude and have fun while doing it.”
Dean is the Vikings’ top runner, finishing 29th overall in the women’s 5,000-meter race with a time of 17:53. When asked what her quirky pre-game rituals are for every race, she said, “I always have a liter of coconut water before every race. It’s just something I have to do. I also have a pair of lucky socks that I always wear.”
A newcomer on the team is senior Andrew Landstrom, who is a transfer student from Concordia University. On Saturday he placed 56th overall in the men’s 8,000-meter race with a time of 25:41. When asked how well he thought he did in the race he said, “It was decent—definitely wasn’t my best race. I could’ve improved on a couple of things in the race, but it was decent overall.”
When asked how he likes PSU so far he said, “I like it, I like it a lot. A lot more intense training, professors are a little bit more involved in their class. All of my professors are excited about their subject areas, all of my coaches are excited about running, [teammates] are excited to run. I feel like there is a lot more to gain here than it was at my other school.”
Although he just joined the team, he said he has built connections with his teammates, “even though most of them are freshman.” One of the freshman on the team is his younger brother, Jordan Landstrom.
After the Bill Dellinger Invitational, the Vikings will have three meets before the 2013 Big Sky Championship, held in Bozeman, Mont.
