The Beavers will be bolstered by the addition of NAIA All-American Greta Van Calcar.
Photo by: Scobel Wiggins/Oregon State Athletics
Greta Van Calcar transferring to Oregon State
May 08, 2017 | Women's Cross Country, Women's Track & Field
CORVALLIS, Ore. - The Van Calcar legacy will live on at Oregon State.
OSU track and cross country coach Kelly Sullivan announced Monday that Greta Van Calcar has signed a national letter of intent to run for the Beavers next season following her transfer from the Savannah College of Art and Design-Atlanta.
She is the daughter of Karl Van Calcar, the 1988 NCAA steeplechase champion and a five-time All-American for the Beavers from 1985-88, and Heidi Van Calcar, also an OSU graduate.
"I'm ecstatic," she said. "Meeting Kelly and the team on my recruiting trip was so awesome. I'm so excited to be carrying on my mom and dad's legacy and keeping the family tradition going."
Greta earned NAIA All-American honors in cross country last fall when she took 12th place at the national championships in Elsa, Ill. She ran 17:34 over a hilly, 5,000-meter course and was the lone freshman in the top 30.
She was named the Appalachian Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year in cross country, and placed second in the voting for AAC Runner of the Year. She also earned indoor track & field NAIA All-American honors by placing seventh in the 5,000 meters in 17:31.95 at the national indoor championships.
She did not run outdoor track this spring. She will have four years of eligibility in outdoor track, and three years of eligibility in cross country and indoor track.
"I was very happy with my freshman year," even though the training conditions at an urban campus were not ideal because the team did a lot of training on pavement, she said.
"There wasn't a lot of competition within the team. I'm not anywhere near where I want to be, but I had a good season," and she is eager to run at a higher level, where her teammates and opponents can push her to faster times.
Greta is a graduate of Palisade High School in Palisade, Colo., a city of about 2,600 people near Grand Junction. She hopes to major in civil engineering.
She placed fourth in the 3200 meters (11:08.20) and seventh in the 1600 (5:15.15) at the 2016 Colorado 4A state track meet. She was seventh in the 3200, and 11th in the 1600, as a junior. Her high school PRs are 5:11.82 in the 1600 and 10:48Â in the 3200.
She placed 69th at the 2015 Colorado 4A state cross country meet after being injured midway through the race. She took fifth place in 2013 and eighth place in 2014. Coincidentally, current OSU freshman Lexi Reed, who ran for D 'Evelyn High School in Denver, finished just in front of her at the 2014 and 2015 races.
"I remember talking to her" before those races in an attempt to calm her nerves, Greta said. "My dad told me there was another girl from those races going to Oregon State."Â
Karl Van Calcar won the 1988 NCAA steeplechase title at Hayward Field, several months after OSU had announced it was dropping the men's and women's track programs for monetary reasons.
He was a five-time All-American in track/cross country, won Pac-10 championships in the steeplechase (1988) and 5,000 meters (1985), and graduated with a degree in electrical engineering. He also competed at the 1988, 1992 and 1996 Olympic Trials before retiring from competitive running.
Greta said her father did not try to influence her one way or another in her original choice of schools out of high school, or when she decided to transfer.
"He didn't want to say anything to sway my decision," she said. "But after I told him I was going to Oregon State, he was pretty excited. He said he's glad to be able to say 'Go Beavs!' again."
Greta joins sprinters/jumpers Danelle Woodcock and Alissa Melvin in the 2017 track/cross country recruiting class. Woodcock and Melvin signed in Nov., 2016.
Woodcock, from Barlow High School in Gresham, is a sophomore at Mt. Hood Community College and was The Oregonian's 6A girls track & field Athlete of the Year. Melvin is a senior at St. David High School in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Other signees will be announced at a later date.
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For more information on the Oregon State track and field program, follow the Beavers on Facebook at Facebook.com/OSUTrackCrossCountry, or on Twitter at twitter.com/@BeaverTFXC
OREGON STATE ATHLETICS' EVERYDAY CHAMPIONS CULTURE
Through the power of sport, we help people discover and pursue their passions, talents and purpose in order to live a life of balance and positive contribution.
Â
OSU track and cross country coach Kelly Sullivan announced Monday that Greta Van Calcar has signed a national letter of intent to run for the Beavers next season following her transfer from the Savannah College of Art and Design-Atlanta.
She is the daughter of Karl Van Calcar, the 1988 NCAA steeplechase champion and a five-time All-American for the Beavers from 1985-88, and Heidi Van Calcar, also an OSU graduate.
"I'm ecstatic," she said. "Meeting Kelly and the team on my recruiting trip was so awesome. I'm so excited to be carrying on my mom and dad's legacy and keeping the family tradition going."
Greta earned NAIA All-American honors in cross country last fall when she took 12th place at the national championships in Elsa, Ill. She ran 17:34 over a hilly, 5,000-meter course and was the lone freshman in the top 30.
She was named the Appalachian Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year in cross country, and placed second in the voting for AAC Runner of the Year. She also earned indoor track & field NAIA All-American honors by placing seventh in the 5,000 meters in 17:31.95 at the national indoor championships.
She did not run outdoor track this spring. She will have four years of eligibility in outdoor track, and three years of eligibility in cross country and indoor track.
"I was very happy with my freshman year," even though the training conditions at an urban campus were not ideal because the team did a lot of training on pavement, she said.
"There wasn't a lot of competition within the team. I'm not anywhere near where I want to be, but I had a good season," and she is eager to run at a higher level, where her teammates and opponents can push her to faster times.
Greta is a graduate of Palisade High School in Palisade, Colo., a city of about 2,600 people near Grand Junction. She hopes to major in civil engineering.
She placed fourth in the 3200 meters (11:08.20) and seventh in the 1600 (5:15.15) at the 2016 Colorado 4A state track meet. She was seventh in the 3200, and 11th in the 1600, as a junior. Her high school PRs are 5:11.82 in the 1600 and 10:48Â in the 3200.
She placed 69th at the 2015 Colorado 4A state cross country meet after being injured midway through the race. She took fifth place in 2013 and eighth place in 2014. Coincidentally, current OSU freshman Lexi Reed, who ran for D 'Evelyn High School in Denver, finished just in front of her at the 2014 and 2015 races.
"I remember talking to her" before those races in an attempt to calm her nerves, Greta said. "My dad told me there was another girl from those races going to Oregon State."Â
Karl Van Calcar won the 1988 NCAA steeplechase title at Hayward Field, several months after OSU had announced it was dropping the men's and women's track programs for monetary reasons.
He was a five-time All-American in track/cross country, won Pac-10 championships in the steeplechase (1988) and 5,000 meters (1985), and graduated with a degree in electrical engineering. He also competed at the 1988, 1992 and 1996 Olympic Trials before retiring from competitive running.
Greta said her father did not try to influence her one way or another in her original choice of schools out of high school, or when she decided to transfer.
"He didn't want to say anything to sway my decision," she said. "But after I told him I was going to Oregon State, he was pretty excited. He said he's glad to be able to say 'Go Beavs!' again."
Greta joins sprinters/jumpers Danelle Woodcock and Alissa Melvin in the 2017 track/cross country recruiting class. Woodcock and Melvin signed in Nov., 2016.
Woodcock, from Barlow High School in Gresham, is a sophomore at Mt. Hood Community College and was The Oregonian's 6A girls track & field Athlete of the Year. Melvin is a senior at St. David High School in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Other signees will be announced at a later date.
 Â
For more information on the Oregon State track and field program, follow the Beavers on Facebook at Facebook.com/OSUTrackCrossCountry, or on Twitter at twitter.com/@BeaverTFXC
OREGON STATE ATHLETICS' EVERYDAY CHAMPIONS CULTURE
Through the power of sport, we help people discover and pursue their passions, talents and purpose in order to live a life of balance and positive contribution.
Â
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