OSU release – EUGENE, Ore. – The 21st-ranked Oregon State cross country team opened the season with two top-10 finishes from redshirt sophomore Kaylee Mitchell and sophomore Meagen Lowe on Friday morning at the Oregon Cross Country Invite. As a team, the Beavers took third with 48 points while posting the second-best average finish at 17:14. No. 21 Oregon State finished ahead of No. 24 and in-state rival Oregon who posted a team point total of 136 with an average finish time of 18:59. This is the program’s first win against Oregon on record. Portland took the team title with 32 points and San Francisco finished second, just a point ahead of OSU with 47. “First off, it’s great to be racing again. It’s been a long, long time for this crew – so, we were excited to be able to put the jersey on and race again,” said head coach Louie Quintana. “I think that we left the course with some mixed feelings. Portland looked real good today. We knew they were good – it wasn’t a surprise to our group but they were very assertive early along with San Francisco. “We played it safe and just ran out of time. We competed hard – closed well and only lost to SF by one point. I know we have some fine tuning to do. Certainly, beating Oregon is nice. I know they were without some fire power in their line up and that they could look much different in a month’s time.” Mitchell claimed second with a time of 16:51.2 and Lowe finished 10th after finishing in a time of 17:14.7. A pair of Beavers finished 12th and 13th with Greta Van Calcar posting a 17:15.8 and Haley Wolf just behind her with a 17:16.8 finish. Gabby Peterson finished just outside the top-15, taking 16th in 17:34.4. It was a trio of OSU racers rounding out the top-20 in positions 18 through 20. Grace Fetherstonhaugh led the way at 17:35.3, followed by Audrey Lookner (17:38.0) and Mari Friedman (17:43.6). Alyssa Foote finished with a time of 17:47.9 to take 22nd, while Kate Intile completed the race in 18:00.7 to capture 26th.
