It’s kind of funny to talk about a recap, when really it feels like things are just beginning for the club. If you’re reading this, that means that our website is up, and with that, so does our continued effort to compete at a high level.
Last January Tyler Van Dyke started the year off for the club running the Rock n Roll Half-Marathon. Tyler finished 7th, running 1:11:30. Later that spring Tyler ran two 5k’s. One at the SFSU Distance Carnival, where he ran 14:59.6 and the OSU High Performance meet, where he ran 15:00.98. Tyler faced some calve issues after OSU, and shut things down for the season. Most recently, Tyler ran 42:51 for 8 miles at the Southern Oregon Turkey Trot, which narrowly held off Brian Livingston, for the victory.
He’s currently fit, and will run a versatile schedule this spring, ultimately looking to run a fast late spring/early summer Marathon.
Asher Catterall won three large races over the year, including two where he set course records. Asher won the 2018 Learn Horse 20 miler in a time of 2:38:05 (CR). He also won the Mickelson Trail Half Marathon in 1:12:09 and the Crazy Horse Trail Marathon in 2:42:17 (CR). Asher is currently back in Oregon, training for the USATF 50km trail championship this February.
Aki Kitagawa finished 42nd at the British University Championships while representing University of Nottingham, and the Ultimook track Club. Aki has currently hung up his spikes as he’s concentrating on his Phd program, but we are proud of his achievement from last winter, and look forward to the day he dawns a Sasquatch on his singlet again.
After narrowly missing the 15:00 barrier at OSU High Performance meet, Jackson Baker set a personal best and club record in the 5000m, running a time of 14:56.47 at the Portland Track Festival. After an inconsistent fall and winter, it took an exceedingly gritty race to set a new best. During the summer, Jackson finished 11th at the Bowerman 5k, running 15:31 for the road 5k. Jackson also took part in the “Uphill Challenge” at Meadows, a 1.2 mile race with 621 feet of elevation. Jackson broke the course record, but unfortunately so did two other people who ran faster than him that day.
Danny Robertson regained fitness to run (what I just realized is an unofficial club record) for the mile in 4:26.31, placing 5th at the inaugural Rose City Mile. This is an awesome event, and we suggest that everyone comes and runs this fun – rare true mile – summer race. https://rosecitymile.com/
The Elite club has picked up two new athletes in Yonny Castillo and Christian Parr. Yonny will be a huge impact as the team looks to compete on the XC circuit next fall. Yonny has unfinished business in the longer events in track, and will look to regain old form this spring. Christian is unlike any athlete that Ultimook has had so far. Looking to continue to develop at the middle distance events, Christian will certainly pull the team a long on the quick stuff. Look for both of these athletes to debut sometime early this spring.
Moving on to 2019, we are exciting to announce both our youth and community teams. Ultimook is expanding, and we are exciting to welcome everyone to the family.
Drew
