University of Washington
Emerald City Open
Freshmen Run Well In Woodland Park
October 02, 2011 | Cross Country
Oct. 2, 2011
SEATTLE - The Husky cross country teams were out in full force this morning at Woodland Park, supporting a small number of young Dawgs that ran in the Emerald City Open, hosted by Seattle U. Freshman Nick Schippers got the victory in the men's 8k race, and another freshman, Joelle Amaral, led the way for the women with a third-place finish.
Schippers, a Kingston, Washington native, ran with fellow freshman Jefferson Rieder (Bosque Farms, New Mexico) for most of the first three loops of the hilly and difficult course. He took a slight lead on the final lap and held on for the victory in a time of 26:35. Rieder came in third in 26:40. Both were competing unattached, leaving open the possibility of redshirting the year.
"It was a hilly course so my main goal was to sit through the first two or three laps and then try and work the last few (kilometers). And that's what I did," said Schippers. "Jefferson is really strong on the hills and I couldn't have done it without him; he pulled me along. It feels great."
Several more young Huskies crossed close behind Schippers and Rieder, as UW runners made up six of the top eight finishers. Chris Wozniak was fourth in 26:44, redshirt freshmen Danny Gibson and Kevin Mangan were sixth and seventh, respectively, and true frosh Kyle Rae was eighth in 27:05.
Amaral led for the first half of the women's 6k before relinquishing the lead in the second half. But the New Jersey native stayed in the mix, placing third overall in 23:05. Sophomore Mackenzie Carter was just a couple seconds back in fourth-place. Breanna Huschka came across in fifth-place to cap the Husky contingent.
The next big race for the Dawgs remains two weeks away, as UW will take its travel squad to the Adidas Wisconsin Invitational on October 14.
Players Mentioned
