TSR Collaboration
Aug 13, 20227 min
Written by Maura Beattie and Garrett Zatlin
The Oregon Ducks could be a fascinating team to follow this fall after their headline-grabbing coaching change earlier this year.
New head coach Jerry Schumacher and newly-minted assistant coach Shalane Flanagan are two of the best in the game after the success that they bot had at the Bowerman Track Club in events ranging from the 1500 meters to the 10k, and even the marathon when you look at Flanagan’s resume.
Once upon a time, Schumacher was a successful collegiate coach at Wisconsin from 1998 to 2008. But will being away from the collegiate scene for over a decade introduce a new learning curve for him? Or will the Oregon women immediately reap the benefits of Coach Schumacher and Coach Flanagan?
Over the next few months, we'll likely find out.
Last fall, the Ducks kicked-off their season at the Dellinger Invite, an Oregon-hosted season opener for many of the better distance programs out west. There, the Oregon women would face the likes of Utah, Colorado State, Arkansas, Portland and Oregon State.
And they would lose to all of them.
Alessia Zarbo was the top scorer for the team with a 22nd place individual finish while rookie Harper McClain held her own with a 28th place result. However, the drop-off scoring proved to be a challenge as their final three runners finished 39th, 48th and 50th.
While that 6th place team finish was far from great, there were a few small silver-linings. Zarbo was clearly better than the 22nd-best runner in that field, most of this lineup was extremely young, veterans Aneta Konieczek and Caramia Mestler didn't run and most of Oregon's early-season meets are often contested with limited emphasis.
Simply put, we weren't too concerned about that 6th place result.
Fast forward to the Nuttycombe Invite and things only got marginally better. Zarbo's 28th place finish was solid, but the rest of the lineup faltered. Konieczek was 84th while Malia Pivec finished 100th. Their final two scorers finished 122nd and 179th overall.
The end result was an 18th place team finish which admittedly didn’t look all too promising for a historically deep and talented team. Oregon's depth was clearly limited, although wins over West Virginia, Villanova and a few others did inspire some minor confidence.
Luckily, things began to improve in the postseason. After back-to-back 3rd place finishes at their conference and regional meets, the ladies of Oregon found themselves at the NCAA XC Championships.
Securing a win over both Stanford and Washington at the PAC-12 XC Championships was extremely encouraging, especially with three women finishing inside the top-20 overall spots and the Ducks' depth showing promising improvements.
Eventually, Oregon would qualify for the cross country national meet where they would place 24th overall, a result that was fairly indicative of their season as a whole, although one that may be a touch off from the caliber of their other postseason results.
Konieczek's 64th place finish was a strong result. But after her, the scoring within Oregon's lineup began to fade. While no other Duck finished inside the top-135 spots, their fifth runner did somewhat limit the excessive scoring by placing 166th overall.
As we look to the fall of 2022, the Oregon women will be in an interesting situation. While they do lose one or two key names, the overall youth of last year's lineup along with the highly encouraging results that we saw from other rising talents, should allow this team to improve with a year of gained experience.
And with one of the greatest distance coaches in the world now at the helm of this program, one has to think that the Ducks will only benefit this fall...right?
Let's start by getting the tough news out of the way.
The Ducks will be losing a key front-runner in Aneta Konieczek as well as a reliable backend contributor to Caramia Mestler who is venturing to Gonzaga as a graduate transfer.
Konieczek’s departure will undoubtedly hurt the Ducks. She was a highly consistent scorer throughout last fall who proved to be very reliable. In fact, her up-front scoring potency allowed her to be the only true front-runner that this team had last fall.
As for Mestler, her presence as runner 5-6-7 runner will be missed. Depth, after all, is an important aspect to have. But the good news is that everyone else on this squad is expected to return. And while Mestler was a nice name to have, her departure won't dramatically alter this lineup in 2022.
With Konieczek leaving, Oregon absolutely needs to find a new low-stick to lead their squad. Their depth throughout last fall, while it certainly could have been better, wasn't too far off from a handful of other nationally competitive teams.
Luckily, the Ducks should have a potential All-American candidate leading their group later this fall.
Long distance specialist Alessia Zarbo is expected to take the reins for Oregon during this upcoming cross country season after gaining valuable experience throughout the past year.
Despite a not-so-great showing at the national meet, her 2021 fall season as a whole was very solid. She showed promise as a potential front-runner by placing 28th at Nuttycombe and was even 9th at the PAC-12 XC Championships.
Zarbo would later rebound during the indoor and outdoor track seasons by running outstanding personal bests across the board, posting times of 4:19 (1500), 15:50 (5k) and 32:28 (10k).
That latter mark was monumental as it ended up being the second-fastest 10k time in the country this past spring. And historically, that should make her an All-American lock.
However, Zarbo's outdoor track season didn’t end the way that she wanted it to as she failed to qualify for the national meet in both the 5k and the 10k. That consistency, admittedly, is a minor concern that will need to be addressed...but it's clear that Zarbo will still be a top distance runner in the country this fall.
A potential wildcard in this Oregon lineup is Malia Pivec. However, her current resume and lack of accolades might leave some scratching their heads as to why that is...but bare with us.
Pivec, in only her first year as a Duck after transferring from Boise State, saw significant improvements by the end of the 2021-2022 academic year. She was a key contributor in large invitationals last fall by finishing in the middle of Oregon's pack, something that a 142nd place finish at the cross country national meet supported.
Things improved for Pivec on the oval as she dropped time in all of the events that she contested. She even came oh-so-close to breaking 10:00 in the steeplechase! Her 10:01 steeplechase mark shows us that she has newfound strength and rising confidence.
In theory, that should be reflected on the grass over the next few months.
But behind Zarbo and Pivec are the key Oregon returners who could make or break this team in 2022. They are Emilie Girard, Harper McClain and Nicole Louw.
Girard will be a senior this upcoming fall, entering her second year in the NCAA after arriving in Eugene from France.
She had some respectable performances during the 2021 cross country season, namely finishing 22nd at the PAC-12 XC Championships and 23rd at the West Regional XC Championships.
As the fourth runner across the line at the NCAA XC Championships, Girard aided in a mere 10 second time spread between their 2-3-4-5-6 runners. While she doesn't have to be a superstar, Girard's reliability and backend support will be pivotal for the Ducks' season-long success.
We then come to McClain and Louw, two women who both bring strong aerobic backgrounds which could be added to Oregon's scoring toolbox this fall.
McClain’s first collegiate seasons saw her make the top-five for the Ducks on the cross country course and later earn national-level experience by finishing 166th in Tallahassee. However, the more encouraging results were seeing McClain run 10:20 in the steeplechase, winning the USATF U20 title in the event and advancing to the finals of the U20 World Championships.
As far as high-upside youngsters go, McClain is up there with the best of them.
We then come to redshirt sophomore Nicole Louw, a middle distance runner who the Ducks may need as a reinforcement in the back-half of their lineup. A 4:20 (1500) PR this past spring doesn't jump off the page, but it's a clear improvement in Louw's fitness.
Of course, how much better that result will actually make her this fall is yet to be determined.
On paper, Oregon has a fairly solid core of strong runners. Zarbo is likely going to be a true low-stick, the youth on this team provides tremendous upside and the veterans who do return have proven to be fairly reliable as far as consistency is concerned.
However, if that was all that we had to say about this team, then the Ducks likely wouldn't be ranked in our preseason list.
We would be remiss if we didn’t mention Izzy Thornton-Bott or Klaudia Kazimierska.
Thornton-Bott, an Australian native who thrived in the 800 meters and the 1500 meters during the 2022 outdoor track season, didn't compete for the Ducks in cross country. However, she did race unattached at the Bill Dellinger Invite.
The result? A pleasantly surprising WIN at Oregon’s home meet, giving her a two-second victory over Arkansas veteran Lauren Gregory. Thornton-Bott was expected to race later in the season attached, but for other reasons was held her out.
When she turned to the oval and was able to compete in the middle distance events, Thornton-Bott dropped massive times of 2:04 (800) and 4:13 (1500). If she can translate that speed to the grass this fall, then big things could be on the horizon for both her and this team.
In fact, if her Dellinger Invite result is any indication, then Oregon might have a legitimate 1-2 punch between her and Zarbo!
Still, our understanding of Thornton-Bott's fitness is far more speculative at the moment than it is definitive. But if she's just as good as Aneta Konieczek, then that would be huge.
And then there's Klaudia Kazimierska, a Polish native who is a true star on the track. This will be her first year in the NCAA, but it would be shocking if this overseas ace wasn't a contributor for the Ducks in some capacity this fall.
The 20-year old has run incredible times of 2:04 (800), 2:49 (1k), 4:07 (1500), 4:34 (mile), 9:14 (3k) and 16:37 (5k) on the track. And while it's clear that Kazimierska favors the middle distances, her 3k time is good enough to the point where we believe she could have some kind of impact on the grass.
And at the absolute least, Kazimierska could potentially act as a backend scorer for an Oregon team that suddenly has some sneaky-good depth.
This fall, Oregon’s success will depend on numerous factors: How well they acclimate to Coach Schumacher’s training program, Zarbo’s possible emergence as a consistent low-stick, the improvement of their younger runners and seeing how Thornton-Bott and Kazimierska settle into this lineup.
Admittedly, those are a lot of unknown factors, many of which are relying on potential rather than proven results on the grass. For that reason, we opted to pull Oregon back to TSR #21, especially after a less-than-exciting 2021 cross country season.
But there are simply too many positives surrounding this team as we look at their lineup structure this fall. Their weapons are plentiful, their floor is limited and their program as a whole is hitting refresh.
From our perspective, those are all things that we can get behind.