Track and Field All-Time History and Records
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TRACK AND FIELD ALL-TIME HISTORY AND RECORDS ROB CONNER *Men’s Head Coach - 29th Year Rob Conner is in his 29th year as the head cross country and track & field coach at the University of Portland in the fall of 2018. The Pilots have earned national recognition as one of the most consistent distance running forces among NCAA Division I competition throughout his tenure. He has led the Pilots to 19 NCAA Cross Country Championships appearances, finished in the Top 10 nine times at the national meet, and coached Pilot runners to 50 All-America honors. Conner guided the 2018 cross country team to their third podium finish in five years as the team placed third overall at the 2018 NCAA XC Championships. The accomplishment follows up last year’s most successful performance at the NCAA meet in program his- tory when the Pilots finished second as a team. This year Portland matched their school record of three Pilots earning All-American honors at the NCAA meet. Conner and the Pilots defended their West Region title to earn their third program title, with Conner claiming his sixth West Region coach of the year honor. After Portland’s second place finish at the national meet in 2017, Conner was named the Slats Gill Sportsperson of the Year at the 2018 Oregon Sports Awards, joining leg- endary Portland soccer coach Clive Charles as the only Pilot head coaches to win the award. The first podium finish in cross country for Conner came during the 2014 season when WCC Coach of the Year (8): Portland finished third as a team at the NCAA meet. That showing was the culmination 1998, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, of eight consecutive Top 14 finishes at the championship meet for the Pilots, a feat only 2009, 2012, 2014, accomplished by three other schools. West Region Coach of the Year Conner has led the Pilots to 34 West Coast Conference cross country titles, while the team has been ranked in the national Top 25 all but one year since 1991. (6): 1993, 2007, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018 Pilot cross country was put on the map during Conner’s fifth year at the helm. The his- toric 1993 season saw All-American Pete Julian lead Portland as it steamrolled through West Region Titles (3): an undefeated regular season and finish 12th in the program’s first-ever NCAA Champi- 1993, 2017, 2018 onship meet. Prior to handing the coaching reins to former pupil and assistant coach Ian Solof in NCAA Cross Country Team 2002, Conner also guided the Pilot women’s cross country team to 12 conference titles Qualifiers (19) in 13 years. The 1993 Pilot women placed sixth at the NCAA West Regional and the 1994 Year Finish team, led by All-American Nicole Karr, placed seventh at regionals. 1993 12th 2010 13th Track success has also been a constant for Conner and the Pilots as at least one indi- 1996 10th 2011 8th vidual has qualified for the NCAA Track & Field Championships each season since 1992. 1998 28th 2012 12th Portland competitors have competed in 66 individual events at the NCAA meet with 40 1999 26th All-America honors earned. In 2016, the Pilots reached their highest indoor ranking ever 2001 7th Year Finish at No. 20. 2003 27th 2013 7th Many former Pilots have gone on to successful professional running careers after 2005 9th 2014 3rd graduating from The Bluff. Michael Kilburg and John Moore competed at the 2008 2006 18th 2016 13th United States Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. Woody Kincaid and Scott Fauble competed 2007 14th 2017 2nd in the 2016 United States Olympic Trials. Tayte Pollmann signed a professional trail and 2008 7th 2018 3rd mountain-running contract with Nike in 2017 and competed in numerous international 2009 13th events, while track graduates Derek Mandell and Josh Ilustre competed in the 800-me- ter for Guam at the 2008 and 2016 Summer Olympics, respectively. 2 TRACK AND FIELD ALL-TIME HISTORY AND RECORDS IAN SOLOF *Women’s Head Coach - 23rd Year Ian Solof began coaching the Pilot women distance runners in the fall of 1995 follow- ing a standout career as one of UP’s all-time best cross country runners. Solof has continued to lead the program to unprecedented levels, reaching their highest program ranking in 2016 nationally at No. 5, earning their first ever at-large bid to the NCAA XC Championships in 2016, and posting their best ever finish at the National meet in 2018 with a 12th place finish. Solof guided the women’s team through their best ever season in program history dur- ing their 2018 campaign. The Pilots climbed the national polls, receiving their highest rank at No.19, but stunned competition at the NCAA championships as they entered the meet ranked at #23, but finished 12th overall. Portland produced two All-Americans, led by redshirt senior Lauren LaRocco who also recorded the best ever individual finish at the national meet, crossing the line 13th. 2016 was another one of their most successful seasons in Pilot history, as LaRocco won the WCC individual title and helped the Pilots win the team title in XC season. The Pilots earned their first ever bid to nationals, where the team finished 22nd and LaRocco earned her third overall All-American honor. The Pilots have won 20 West Coast Conference league titles and Solof has been named the WCC Coach of the Year seven times during his tenure on The Bluff: 1996, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, and 2016. WCC Coach of the Year (7): Solof has brought national-level talent to the fold including All-Americans Nicole Kaar, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2006, Tansey Lystad and Lauren LaRocco, as well as outstanding runners Nicole Ricci, Danna 2007, 2016 Morgan and Ashlee Vincent. During the 2016 track and field season, LaRocco was the youngest finisher in the top WCC Team Titles – Women (20): five of the 10,000m as a sophomore, posting a program best 4th place finish and a 1987 – 1989, 1991-1994, 1996 – record time of 32:47.30. Also competing in the 5,000 at nationals, LaRocco earned her 2000, 2002 – 2008, 2016 second All-American honors placing sixth overall in 16:21.09. Under Solof’s guidance, Karr was the first Pilot to begin to single-handedly rewrite the NCAA Cross Country Team track record books posting school records in the 800, 1,500, 3,000 and 5,000. Karr was Qualifiers (1) ranked among the top 5 fastest in the NCAA in both the 3,000 and 5,000 during her Year Finish senior year, 1996. She ended her collegiate career with an 8th-place finish at the NCAA Championships in the 3,000 garnering her third All-America honor. Karr went on to com- 2016 22nd pete in the 1996 Olympic Trials in the 1500 after running a 4:16.14 to qualify. 2018 12th Lystad, a native of Kirkland, Wash., qualified for nationals by placing sixth individually at the NCAA West Regional, tying Nicole Karr’s top finish in school history. She then US T&F of Oregon/Long Distance went on to finish 15th at the 2014 NCAA Women’s Cross Country Championship and Running Committee: earn All-America honors. Lystad’s finish marks the second highest individual finish in Male Runner of the Year 2001 Portland women’s cross country history. A highly-regarded runner in his own right, Solof won the West Coast Conference title as a junior in 1992. He followed that up with All-West Region honors the same fall. Solof was a key member of the 1993 “Dream Team” that was ranked fourth nationally and went undefeated during the regular season including winning the West Region Champi- onship. That team went on to finish 12th at the NCAA Championships. Solof continued his running with a stellar post collegiate career. Self-coached, he quali- fied for the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Trials Marathon. Solof was selected as USA Track and Field of Oregon’s Male distance runner of the year for 2000. Solof is a 1995 graduate of the University of Portland and a 1990 graduate of Ashland High School. 3 TRACK AND FIELD ALL-TIME HISTORY AND RECORDS JACK MULLANEY *Assistant Coach/ Recruiting Jack Mullaney is in his 2nd year as the Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coor- Coordinator- 2nd Year dinator for both the Pilots men’s and women’s cross country teams. During his time on the Bluff, Mullaney has helped the Portland men claim two podium finishes and the Portland women post their best ever finish in program history. In 2017, the men’s team placed 2nd in the Nation at the NCAA Championships and had three Pilots earn All-American honors, the most in Portland’s history. The men went on to repeat history in 2018, again recording a podium finish, this time placing third. The Pilots claimed their program’s second and third West Region titles as well as both individual titles in 2017 and 2018. 2018 marked the successful season in program history for the women, who earned their second ever At-large bid to the NCAA Championships. Entering the meet ranked #23 in the nation, Portland finished 12th overall and produced two All-American performances. Entering the 2018 season, Flotrack ranked the women’s distance recruiting class #10 in the nation, led by NXR Northwest and Montana State Champ Camila Noe. On the mens side, Mullaney helped bring in California State cross coun- NCAA Men’s Cross Country Team try champion Justin Hazell, who had the third fastest 3200m time (8:54) in the Qualifiers (2) nation coming into his his senior year.