University of Portland Men's Cross Country

Rob Conner is in his 34th year as the head cross country and track & field coach at the University of Portland in the fall of 2023. 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 23 NCAA Cross Country Championships appearances, finished in the Top 10 a total of ten 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 history 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 legendary 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 Portland finished third as a team at the NCAA meet. That showing was the culmination of eight consecutive Top 14 finishes at the championship meet for the Pilots, a feat only accomplished by three other schools.   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.   Pilot cross country was put on the map during Conner’s fifth year at the helm. The historic 1993 season saw All-American Pete Julian lead Portland as it steamrolled through an undefeated regular season and finish 12th in the program’s first-ever NCAA Championship meet.   Prior to handing the coaching reins to former pupil and assistant coach Ian Solof in 2002, Conner also guided the Pilot women’s cross country team to 12 conference titles in 13 years. The 1993 Pilot women placed sixth at the NCAA West Regional and the 1994 team, led by All-American Nicole Karr, placed seventh at regionals.   Track success has also been a constant for Conner and the Pilots as at least one individual has qualified for the NCAA Track & Field Championships each season since 1992. Portland competitors have competed in 66 individual events at the NCAA meet with 40 All-America honors earned. In 2016, the Pilots reached their highest indoor ranking ever at No. 20.   Many former Pilots have gone on to successful professional running careers after graduating from The Bluff. Michael Kilburg and John Moore competed at the 2008 United States Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. Woody Kincaid and Scott Fauble competed in the 2016 United States Olympic Trials. Tayte Pollmann signed a professional trail and mountain-running contract with Nike in 2017 and competed in numerous international events, while track graduates Derek Mandell and Josh Ilustre competed in the 800-meter for Guam at the 2008 and 2016 Summer Olympics, respectively.   WCC Coach of the Year (8): 1998, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2014   West Region Coach of the Year (7): 1993, 2007, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019   Top Men’s Individual NCAA Cross Country Performances Place Name Year Note 4th Davis Kinsella 2008 All-American 8th David Kinsella 2007 All-American 11th Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse 2017 All-American 12th Scott Fauble 2014 All-American 13th Scott Fauble 2013 All-American 14th Alfred Kipchumba 2009 All American 14th Jeff Thies 2017 All-American 16th Uli Steidl 1996 All-American 18th Alfred Kipchumba 2008 All-American 21st Alfred Kipchumba 2011 All-American 21st Emmanuel Roudolf-Levisse 2018 All-American 23rd Joe Driscoll 2001 All-American 25th Trevor Dunbar 2010 All-American 25th Logan Orndorf 2018 All-American 26th Scott Fauble 2012 All-American 26th Nick Hauger 2017 All-American 28th Reid Buchanan 2014 All-American 30th John Moore 2005 All-American 31st Caleb Webb 2019 All-American 35th Uli Steidl 1995 All-American 35th Trevor Dunbar 2011 All-American 36th Pete Julian 1993 All-American 40th Nick Hauger 2018 All-American 42nd Carsten Arndt 1993 44th Pete Julian 1991 44th Timo Goehler 2014 45th Alfred Kipchumba 2010 46th Ryan Grote 1996 46th Matt Welch 2017 48th Stuart McCallum 2018 49th Uli Steidl 1993 49th Emmanuel Roudolf-Levisse 2019   NCAA Cross Country Championships Men’s Team Qualifiers (22) Year Finish 1993 12th 1996 10th 1998 28th 1999 26th 2001 7th 2003 27th 2005 9th 2006 18th 2007 14th 2008 7th 2009 13th 2010 13th 2011 8th 2012 12th 2013 7th 2014 3rd 2016 13th 2017 2nd 2018 3rd 2019 10th 2020 21st 2021 16th 2023 23rd NCAA Cross Country Men’s Individual Qualifiers (4) Year Runner (Finish) 1991 Pete Julian (44th) 1995 Uli Steidl (35th) 2002 Matt Harriman (101st) 2004 John Moore (86th) NCAA Cross Country Men’s All-Americans (22) Year Runner 1993 Pete Julian 1996 Uli Steidl 2001 Joe Driscoll 2005 John Moore 2007 David Kinsella 2008 David Kinsella 2008 Alfred Kipchumba 2009 Alfred Kipchumba 2010 Trevor Dunbar 2011 Alfred Kipchumba 2011 Trevor Dunbar 2012 Scott Fauble 2013 Scott Fauble 2014 Scott Fauble 2014 Reid Buchanan 2017 Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse 2017 Jeff Thies 2017 Nick Hauger 2018  Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse 2018 Logan Orndorf 2018 Nick Hauger 2019 Caleb Webb NCAA Track & Field Men’s Individual Qualifiers (48) Year Runner Event Finish 1992 Kirk Nichols 1,500m --- 1993 Pete Julian 5,000m 11th 1993 Pete Julian 10,000m 13th 1993 Dick Loesel Steeplechase 10th 1994 Pete Julian 10,000m 6th 1994 Uli Steidl 10,000m 12th 1995 Uli Steidl 10,000m 9th 1995 Oliver Wirz 5,000m --- 1996 Uli Steidl 10,000m 10th 1996 Ryan Grote 10,000m 15th 1996 Todd Davis Steeplechase 8th 1997 Bryan Bothwell Steeplechase 8th 1998 Bryan Bothwell Steeplechase 5th 1998 Todd Davis Indoor Mile 8th 1998 Todd Davis Steeplechase DNF 1999 Todd Davis Steeplechase 10th 2000 Bryan Bothwell Indoor 5,000m 11th 2001 Joe Driscoll 10,000m 9th 2001 Eric Kiauka Steeplechase 7th in Semifinals Heat 2002 Joe Driscoll Indoor 5,000m 10th 2002 Joe Driscoll 10,000m DNF 2003 Ryan Craig 10,000m 21st 2005 John Moore 10,000m 10th 2006 John Moore 10,000m 19th 2007 David Kinsella 10,000m 12th 2007 John Moore 10,000m 18th 2007 Michael Kilburg 10,000m 24th 2008 Michael Kilburg Indoor 5,000m 6th 2008 Michael Kilburg 10,000m 12th 2008 John Moore 10,000m 22nd 2009 Alfred Kipchumba 5,000m 12th 2010 Alfred Kipchumba 10,000m 8th 2011 Jared Bassett Steeplechase 7th in Semifinals Heat 2012 Scott Fauble 10,000m 11th 2013 Jared Bassett Steeplechase 10th 2015 Woody Kincaid 5,000m 5th 2015 Korey Thieleke 400m 23rd 2015 Scott Fauble 10,000m DNF 2016 Reid Buchanan Indoor 3,000m 15th 2016 Reid Buchanan 10000m 5th 2016 Reid Buchanan 3000m 15th 2016 Woody Kincaid 5000m 9th 2017 Jeff Thies 1,500m 7th 2017 Noah Schutte Steeplechase 12th 2018 Riley Osen Steeplechase 8th 2018 Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse 10,000m 17th 2018 Matt Welch 10,000m 20th 2021     Cathal Doyle 1500m 11th in Semifinals Heat 2022 Cathal Doyle 1,500m 19th in Semifinals Heat 2023 Matt Strangio 5,000 22nd   NCAA Track & Field Men’s All-Americans (29) Year Runner Event Honor 1993 Pete Julian 5,000m 2nd Team 1993 Pete Julian 10,000m 2nd Team 1994 Pete Julian 10,000m 1st Team 1996 Todd Davis Steeplechase 1st Team 1996 Ryan Grote 10,000m 2nd Team 1997 Bryan Bothwell Steeplechase 1st Team 1998 Todd Davis Indoor Mile 1st Team 1998 Bryan Bothwell Steeplechase 1st Team 1999 Todd Davis Steeplechase 2nd Team 2001 Joe Driscoll 10,000m 2nd Team 2002 Joe Driscoll Indoor 5,000m 2nd Team 2005 John Moore 10,000m 1st Team 2007 David Kinsella 10,000m 1st Team 2008 Michael Kilburg Indoor 5,000m 1st Team 2008 Michael Kilburg 10,000m 1st Team 2010 Alfred Kipchumba 10,000m 1st Team 2011 Jared Bassett Steeplechase 2nd Team 2012 Scott Fauble 10,000m 2nd Team 2015 Woody Kincaid 5,000m 1st Team 2015 Korey Thieleke 400m Honorable Mention 2015 Scott Fauble 10,000m Honorable Mention 2016 Reid Buchanan Indoor 3,000m 2nd Team 2016 Reid Buchanan 5,000m 1st Team 2016 Woody Kincaid 5,000m 2nd Team 2017 Jeff Thies 1,500m 1st Team 2017 Noah Schutte Steeplechase 2nd Team 2018 Riley Osen Steeplechase 1st Team 2018 Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse 10,000m Honorable Mention 2018 Matt Welch 10,000m Honorable Mention  

Colwell guided the program to one of the best seasons in program history. In his first year competing in the 400, Colwell coached Portland record holder Korey Thieleke to the NCAA and USA National Championships. Thieleke was the first Pilot sprinter in over 30 years to qualify for the NCAA National Championship. Two other student-athletes made it to the West Regional. Kaylie Van Loo qualified in the javelin, while Katherine Maus finished her record breaking year in the triple jump. In her senior season, Maus topped the UP record books in the indoor 60 meter dash, long jump, and triple jump; and in the outdoor triple jump and 100 meter dash. Colwell came to Portland after serving one year as the Head Track & Field and Cross Country Coach at St. Martin's University. In his first season at Saint Martin's he helped guide Laura Tesch to the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships becoming the first female to qualify for the indoor championships and the third female ever to qualify for the NCAA Championships in track & field. Tesch went on to finish 15th equaling the best-ever finish by a female at the NCAA track & field championshipis. The Saints had four conference champions in Colwell's first season as Sam Washington won the weight throw (indoor) and shot put (outdoor). Mike Davis claimed the conference outdoor crown in the triple jump and Joey Keeton in the pole vault.   Prior to his arrival at SMU, Colwell coached at the Division I, Division II and NAIA levels at the likes of University of Great Falls, the University of Portland, Duke University, Cal Poly Pomona and Eastern Oregon University.   At Great Falls, Colwell served as both the head cross country and track & field coach. He coached Travis Price (600m) and the Mens 4x800m Relay Team both to All-American honors during the 2011-12 season. During that season, the Argos established 29 indoor school records to go along with 25 outdoor school records lead by Travis Price (400m 48.95) and Ryan ONeil (100m -10.92 / 200m 21.85). The 2011 Argo men's cross country team placed second at the Frontier Conference Championships and ranked 26 th in the nation. During the 2010-11 season, Colwell coached sprints, hurdles, 800 m and 3,000m steeplechase at the University of Portland. While at Portland, Colwell helped mentor Jared Basset who earned All-American honors in the steeplechase.   From 2008 to 2010, Colwell was an assistant coach for cross country and track & field at Duke University working with the sprints, hurdles, relays and jumps. He coached the womens 4x400m relay team, 2 nd on the all time Duke Indoor performance list (3:48.33), and mentored Brittany Whitehead (57.12 400m) and ACC Triple Jump 2 nd place finisher Jade Ellis (5111.75).   Colwell also served as an assistant coach at California State Polytechnic University Pomona in 2007-08. While at Cal Poly Pomona, Colwell assisted in hosting the 2008 NCAA DII Track & Field National Championships, along with coaching the multi-events, jumps and javelin.   He began his collegiate coaching career at Eastern Oregon University (2004-06) where he was responsible for the sprinters, jumpers, and multi-event athletes and coached seven school record holders, including Matt Lane (400m 48.46 outdoor and 48.91 indoor) and Whitney Haltiner (Triple Jump 375.25) along with five NAIA national qualifiers.   Colwell earned his Master's Degree from Duke University in International Development and a Bachelor's Degree from Eastern Oregon University. He is a USA Track & Field Level 1 certified coach.