University of Washington
Emerald City Invitational
Freshmen Impress At Emerald City Open
October 02, 2010 | Cross Country
Oct. 2, 2010
SEATTLE - A pair of true freshmen showed tremendous promise today as those members of the Husky cross country teams that did not make the trip to Notre Dame competed at the Emerald City Open, hosted by Seattle U. at Woodland Park.
Katie Flood, one of the nation's top recruits a year ago, competed for the first time today and looked like a veteran over the hilly 6,000-meter course, placing third overall, while freshman Aaron Beattie, coming off a good run at the Sundodger two weeks ago, took second overall in the men's 8k. Both Flood and Beattie competed unattached, Flood wearing a Redondo jersey supplied by teammate Chloe Curtis, the 2010 California 1,600m state champion, who also ran for the first time this year and took 10th overall.
Flood's time of 22:03 was a full minute faster than the winning time last year that was run by former Husky Mo Huber. The 2009 Nike Team National individual champion and high school All-American was only beaten by two experienced club runners more than 10 years older. Chelsea Orr, a freshman from Sammamish, was the second Husky finisher, clocking 23:02 which was also one second under the winning mark a year ago. Redshirt freshmen Breanna Huschka and Alison Ponce were seventh and eighth overall, followed by Curtis, then sophomore transfer Phoebe Merritt in 11th place in 23:33.
Courtney Lightfoot took 16th, Jacquelyn Komen was 26th, and Nicole Aurigemma and Laura Schmitt rounded out the UW contingent in 29th and 31st-place respectively.
Beattie, a Naperville, Illinois native, chased after Seattle U's Erik Barkhaus for the last couple laps, but settled for second-place, just 11 seconds back in 26:11. The only other Husky competing in the men's race was sophomore Greg Drosky, who led early on before winding up in fifth-place in 27:01.
Players Mentioned
