Parkes Kendrick, Portland's No. 4 runner at regionals, will miss Saturday's NCAA meet for a Rhodes Scholarship interview, according to a report by Ken Goe in ​The Oregonian​. The Portland women are ranked No. 16 in the final pre-national Saucony Flo50. Kendrick was the Pilots' No. 2 runner at the West Coast Conference meet, helping her team win a conference title by two points. This is the first time ever that the Portland women have qualified for NCAAs.​

Portland coach Ian Solof was supportive, telling ​The Oregonian ​that getting a Rhodes interview "is a great accomplishment and opportunity for her. We are very supportive. It's one of those things where the timing is bad luck, but it's a very positive thing."​

Kendricks's talents are multiple. This is her first year running cross country; as a Portland soccer player for three years, she was apparently good enough to be considered a possible candidate for Canada's senior national team.

This situation is not unprecedented. In 2012, Stanford's Miles Unterreiner raced XC nationals at 1:15 PM Eastern and a private donor flew him to Seattle for a 4:00 PM Pacific Rhodes interview. That year, Unterreiner struggled with a hamstring injury at nationals and did not get the scholarship. But his story had a happy ending: he won the Rhodes Scholarship the next year. 

Despite being a candidate for the Canadian national soccer team at one point, Kendrick is American. She's interviewing in Seattle for the scholarship on Saturday, and the winners will be announced that day. 32 Americans are named Rhodes Scholars each year. Portland has never had a Rhodes Scholar.