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SATURDAY April 3 , 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels April 2, 2004 Distance runner setting the standard at SOU By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings When Brynn Cogdill was four years old, she discovered her passion for long distance running. Cogdill went with her family to a race on the Oregon coast. Plans were more designed around playing on the beach that breaking any records. But that one mile just wasn't enough for her. "I was just going to run the little kids run," Cogdill said. "I won that. I beat all the guys." After her victory in the fun run, Cogdill joined her dad and brother in the seven-mile beach Southern oregon university distance runner brynn cogdill practices Thursday at Raider Stadium. Cogdill and the rest of the SOU track and field team will host the SOU Invitational at 11:30 a.m. Saturday. Satsuki Doi | Ashland Daily Tidings run. The course had been set up in loops, so Cogdill could run another mile or so with her dad and brother before they dropped her off with mom. "The whole time they were trying to make me stop, but I wanted to keep going," said Cogdill. She finished the seven miles and was, quite possibly, the youngest competitor in the field. "I've been running ever since," she said. "I've been running every since I could run." Now a 20-year-old sophomore on the Southern Oregon University track team, Cogdill has transformed into one of the premiere female distance runners in Raider history. In March, Cogdill toppled the 27-year-old school record in the 1500-meters at the Duck Preview Meet in Eugene by almost two seconds. She clocked a 4:45.33, ninth-place finish in the field of 15 talented racers. In cross country last season, Cogdill won NAIA All-American honors with her 15th place performance at the national meet. She also earned Cascade Conference all-star accolades when she placed fifth at the conference championships. In the spring of 2003, after less than two months experience as a Raider trackster, Cogdill posted a provisional national qualifying time in the 800-meters that sent her to the NAIA championships. Remember, she's only a sophomore. Migrating south SOU has been Cogdill's home for just about a year now. Though Raider track and cross country coach Grier Gatlin had recruited Cogdill out of Estacada High near Portland, she started her collegiate career at Portland State University. But, after just two terms as a Viking, Cogdill needed a change. She didn't care much for the city and believed she could be more successful elsewhere. "A small-town girl went to a big-city school and didn't like it," Gatlin said. "I think she was a little overwhelmed being in downtown Portland." South seemed like the natural direction to look. "My senior year the only two schools I was looking at were Portland State and Southern," Cogdill said. "I immediately turned to here." Although Cogdill came with an impressive resume - she won the 3A state championships in the 1500 meters in 4:38.63 the spring before - she was nursing an injury, felt burnt-out and Gatlin became her third coach in a 10-month span when she arrived in Ashland last spring. "When she got here, she'd been running for two weeks," Gatlin said. "We were basically starting from scratch, if people are wondering where she came from. Changing schools and switching training philosophies right in the middle of the season is tough." But it worked out. "We took her with the logic being that, the more we extended her season, the fitter she'd be," Gatlin said. "It was great." After eight weeks of training, Cogdill made it to the semifinals of the 800-meter at the NAIA championships. The mark of 2:18.32 that provisionally qualified her to nationals made the fifth-fasted Raider woman of all-time in the 800. Taking flight "I think, really, the sky's the limit with her," Gatlin said. "She has that combo you never see. She has natural athletic ability and she does all the other things. She has the habits that make for a good endurance athlete." Years back, Cogdill hung a wipe-off board next to her bed where she listed what she wanted to accomplish as a distance runner. "When I first started high school, I had kind of a bummer freshmen year," Cogdill said. "I really wasn't that good." At the time, goals to break school records and win races littered the board, but state title ranked way up there. She had watched the state meet year after year, dreaming of being a part of it someday. After four years of dedication and hard work, Cogdill stood atop the podium to collect her gold medal for the 1,500 meters in 2002. "That was cool because of how far I've come," she said of the state title. "I set goals. Then I'm able to cross them off as I accomplish them." These days, Cogdill finds herself crossing a lot of items off the board. Earning All-American status, which she brought home from the cross country national meet, was one of the big ones on the list. The 1500-meter school record was up there. Qualifying for nationals made this list. But there's always more to do. Cogdill has her sights set on a top-three finish at the 2004 NAIA nationals in the 800-meter, 1,500-meter, 3,000-meter or any combination of the two. School records remain to be broken and she wants an individual national title before she graduates. "I set huge, big goals like that and then set smaller ones along the way to keep me motivated," said Cogdill, who has provisionally qualified in the 800 meters this season. A stride beyond The list on Cogdill's wipe-off board doesn't end when her collegiate career closes up in two years. "At the small-college level, you don't come across a lot of athletes who can talk about the 2007 world championships or the 2008 Olympics," Gatlin said. "She doesn't have the greatest, most unbelievable speed you'd ever want, but she's strong." That strength has carried Cogdill thus far. It could very well boost her into professional racing after she graduates, like Gatlin has talked about. "That really sparked something in when he said that," Cogdill said. "It was really neat. You have it in the back of your mind, but once someone says it, you're like 'oh.' I'll take the steps to get that, but I'm still concentrating on now." Now is Saturday, as Cogdill competes with the rest of the Raiders men's and women's squads at the Southern Oregon Invitational at Raider Stadium. The invite will be Southern's final home event of the season and marks the mid-point of the season for SOU. 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