Oregon Ducks cross country will get good look at depth during Bill Dellinger Invitational

Oregon is hosting its only home cross-country meet of the season, and coach Jerry Schumacher is as eager as anyone to see the Ducks perform Friday morning.

Both Oregon teams have rosters loaded with young talent who lack experience competing at the collegiate level and Schumacher is ready to see them run.

He'll get his chance when the men compete at 11 a.m. in the Bill Dellinger Invitational 8K race at Pine Ridge Golf Club in Springfield. The women’s 6K will follow at 11:45.

“We’re trying to figure out who we are and what we are and I think this meet will tell us a lot,” said Schumacher, who is in his second season and 14th month at Oregon. “While I’ve seen some things in practice, you don’t really know who you are until you get there and have to run hard for 5 miles on the grass against competition.”

Oregon has entered 20 men and 14 women in their respective races, though most of the Ducks’ highly regarded freshmen class will be competing unattached and not in an Oregon uniform as Schumacher preserves their season of eligibility while also getting a good look at their ability.

Included among them is men’s freshman Simeon Birnbaum, who as a South Dakota high school senior was the national leader in the 1,500, 3,000, 3,200, mile, and 2-mile.

Also entered unattached are freshmen Connor Burns, Tayson Echohawk, Dan Watcke, and Will Heslam, as well as sophomore Josh Edwards.

The unattached freshmen women are Kate Peters and Ella Thorsett, as well as senior Emilie Girard.

Peters is a two-time OSAA Class 6A state champion from Lake Oswego who also won the 2022 U20 national title in the 3,000. Thorsett, who won a 4A state cross country title as a freshman at Sisters in 2019, finished her high school career as a member of the powerhouse girls program at Summit High in Bend.

“It’s one of those times where I think we have a lot of young bodies,” Schumacher said. “We had a really nice recruiting class last year so our freshmen class is large and I feel like they’re pretty solid, but I’m not going to run them in uniform yet until I really get a handle on what they’re capable of.”

The women’s team already got a good look at one freshman as Katie Clute began her career with a win in the season-opening Linfield Harrier Classic 4K on Sept. 1 in McMinnville.

She’s entered again on Friday, as is senior Izzy Thornton-Bott, who placed 36th at the NCAA championship meet last fall and who brings reliable, veteran leadership to a young group.

“Izzy is huge for the team in so many ways,” Schumacher said. “She is essential to our team. This is her last season so I know she wants it to be a special one and great one so she’s working hard and we expect her to do her thing.”

Elliott Cook was the men’s 6K winner at the Linfield Harrier Classic meet, and though a middle distance runner — and Pac-12 800 champion — on the track, he appears to be ready to contribute in cross country’s longer distances.

“He’s someone we’re not going to abuse out on the cross country course, but he’s super excited about it,” Schumacher said. “He’ll run this weekend and he’ll run in uniform and he’s really excited about it. He’s got good fitness and he looked good in the first one. I don’t know what that means for later in the season, but I expect he’ll have a good race this weekend.”

UCLA, BYU and Portland are among the teams entered Friday.

The Oregon State women are entered as well, as is their all-American Kaylee Mitchell, who was 18th at the NCAA meet last season.

The UC Davis women are returning with 2022 Bill Dellinger Invitational champion Sierra Atkins.

The Ducks will have just one more regular season meet — the XC-23 Pre Nationals in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Oct. 14 — before the postseason begins with the Pac-12 championship meet on Oct. 27 in Seattle.

“We’re going to try and find ourselves this weekend and see what we really can be,” Schumacher said. “We’ll make decisions going forward from this.”

Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com. For more sports coverage, visit registerguard.com. Want more stories like this? Subscribe to get unlimited access and support local journalism.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon Ducks cross country hosts Bill Dellinger Invitational