The Seattle University men’s and women’s cross country teams are in Seattle for another week, this time to host their one home meet of the year, the Emerald City Open. The meet will take place Saturday at Lower Woodland Park in the Green Lake neighborhood.
The women’s 6K is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m., while the men’s 8K is scheduled to start at 11:15 a.m. There will also be an Alumni & Friends Open, which will begin at noon.
IMPLICATIONS
The team is three full-length meets into the season, and will be using the Emerald City Open to determine who will auto-qualify for the Western Athletic Conference Championships in Orem, Utah on October 31. The races will determine a minimum of five (maximum six) women, and a minimum of six (maximum seven) men after this race. Seattle University will ultimately take seven women and nine men to the conference meet.
According to head coach Trisha Steidl, although they obviously always want to win their home meet, “for the team, there’s more riding on this than the race itself.”
COMPETITION
The women will race against Portland State, Olympic College, Green River Community College, and Central Washington University.
The men will race against Portland State, Olympic College, Green River Community College, and University of Portland.
Both teams will race against club teams (Club Northwest, Seattle Running Club, Eastside Runners, Oiselle, and Dark Horse International), as well as attached and unattached runners from the University of Washington.
Steidl said she likes having club teams there because it adds “another layer of strength” and experience for her runners to go up against.
The team faced Portland State at the Sundodger Invitational earlier this year, and while the men finished in front of Portland State, the women did not. Steidl said this meet could serve as a sort of redemption for the women’s team.
With 135 men and 86 women signed up to compete, this may be the biggest men’s field the Redhawks have hosted.
PINK MEET
The Emerald City Open serves as the annual Pink Meet for the Seattle U cross country team. To go along with promoting breast cancer awareness, pink ribbons will be provided for runners to wear. There will be a pink table set up with more pink ribbons for people to purchase at a suggested donation, pink face-painting, and a representative from CanCan (previously known as Check Your Boobies).
HISTORY
Click HERE for a recent-years history of Redhawk finishes in the Emerald City Open.