Cross Country Teams Get Preview of NCAA Course

Saturday, October 15

Terre Haute, Ind.

TBD

University of Oregon

Pre-Nationals Invitational

10/12/16 | Cross Country

XC Notes: Pre-National Invitational Pre-National Invitational Meet Central

EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon's men's and women's cross country teams enter the next phase of the schedule with the Pre-Nationals Invitational Saturday at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Ind.

The women's 6,000-meter race begins at 8 a.m. Pacific with the men's 8,000 meters set to start at 8:35 a.m.

Four of the nation's top men's teams will be running in Terre Haute on Saturday, while the women have four ranked teams from the West Coast racing in addition to four other Pac-12 schools.

Duck senior Edward Cheserek won this race in 2014 and also won the first two of his three NCAA individual titles on this course in 2013 and 2014.

The men have entered pretty close to the same lineup that won the Washington Invitational two weeks ago, with Sam Prakel, Matthew Maton, Tanner Anderson, Blake Haney and Brian Fernandez backing Cheserek. Freshmen Austin Tamagno and Levi Thomet could also debut for the Ducks on Saturday.

The women could add all-American Alli Cash to the core group that includes Katie Rainsberger, Jessica Hull, Ashley Maton, Emma Abrahamson, Maggie Schmaedick and Sam Nadel.

The LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course located at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center, is where the 2016 NCAA Championships will be contested next month.

WHAT TO WATCH
The men's race features four of the nation's top-10 teams, while the women's race will have a distinctive West Coast flavor to it. The Men of Oregon lead the men's entries as the No. 4 team in the nation, but also in the field are No. 5 Arkansas, No. 6 Colorado and No. 7 Portland. The Ducks defeated the Pilots by a single point in the season-opening Bill Dellinger Invitational. Also in the men's field are No. 12 Texas-El Paso, No. 13 Indiana, No. 15 Eastern Kentucky and No. 20 Michigan. All four of the top 10 teams in the women's race are from the West Coast - No. 2 Colorado, No. 5 Portland, No. 7 Stanford and No. 9 Oregon. Additionally, the de facto Pac-12 Championships preview includes Arizona, Arizona State, California and Oregon State. Other ranked women's teams in competition include No. 12 Arkansas, No. 13 Michigan, No. 16 Eastern Michigan and No. 22 Virginia.

DUCKS AT PRE-NATIONALS IN TERRE HAUTE
The Pre-National Invitational is designed to give teams a chance to preview the course where the NCAA Championships will be conducted this season. The Duck men have one previous win at the Pre-Nats in Terre Haute. That came in 2009 when Luke Puskedra's individual win propelled the Ducks to the team title. The last time Oregon raced the Pre-Nationals meet in Terre Haute in 2014, Edward Cheserek was the individual medalist as the Ducks finished second overall. The UO women have never won the Pre-Nationals held in Terre Haute, but did finish second in 2014.

ENTRIES
Among the entries for the Ducks are three runners who could debut on Saturday - freshmen Austin Tamagno and Levi Thomet for the men and junior Alli Cash for the women. Other than that, the Ducks' lineups will be similar to the last time out at the Washington Invitational. Look for Edward Cheserek, Tanner Anderson, Matthew Maton, Sam Prakel, Bryan Fernandez, Blake Haney, Travis Neuman and Tom Gorman along with the freshmen for the men. For the women, Katie Rainsberger, Emma Abrahamson, Sam Nadal, Ashley Maton, Maggie Schmaedick, Frida Berge, Jessica Hull and Perrin Xthona will join Cash.

PRE-NATIONAL INVITATIONAL WOMEN'S RACE
Time: 8 a.m. PDT
Length: 6,000 Meters
6K Course Record: 19:28.1, Sally Kipyego, Texas Tech, 2008
Twitter: @OregonTF / @IndStTrackField / @XCTownUSA
Live Stream: http://bit.ly/2dpy86W (FloTrack subscription required)
Results: http://www.rtspt.com/events/ncaa/prenats16/?DB_OEM_ID=15200 / www.goducks.com
Teams (41): Air Force, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Brown, Butler, California, Cal Poly, Coastal Carolina, Colorado, Colorado State, Dartmouth, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, Elon, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, James Madison, Kansas, Louisville, Marquette, Massachusetts-Lowell, Michigan, Mississippi State, Missouri, Montana State, New Hampshire, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Oregon State, Portland, Purdue, Rice, Stanford, Toledo, Tulane, Utah State, Virginia
Rankings: No. 2, Colorado, No. 5 Portland, No. 7 Stanford, No. 9 Oregon, No. 12 Arkansas, No. 13 Michigan, No. 16 Eastern Michigan, No. 22 Virginia
Oregon Entries: Seniors Ashley Maton, Samantha Nadel and Maggie Schmaedick, juniors Emma Abrahamson, Frida Berge and Alli Cash, sophomore Jessica Hull, and freshmen Katie Rainsberger and Perrin Xthona.

PRE-NATIONAL INVITATIONAL MEN'S RACE
Time: 8:35 a.m. PDT
Length: 8,000 Meters
8K Course Record: 22:51.3, Sam Chelenga, Liberty, 2008
Twitter: @OregonTF / @IndStTrackField / @XCTownUSA
Live Stream: http://bit.ly/2dpy86W (FloTrack subscription required)
Results: http://www.rtspt.com/events/ncaa/prenats16/?DB_OEM_ID=15200 / www.goducks.com
Teams (41): Air Force, Arizona State, Arkansas, Bowling Green, Bradley, Butler, California, Cal Poly, Campbell, Colorado, Cornell, Dartmouth, Dayton, Eastern Kentucky, Florida, Furman, Gonzaga, Harvard, Indiana, Indiana State, IUPUI, Iowa, Kansas, Lehigh, Louisville, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, North Texas, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Portland, Purdue, San Francisco, Texas-El Paso, Utah State, Utah Valley, Wichita State, Wyoming, Youngstown State
Rankings: No. 4 Oregon, No. 5 Arkansas, No. 6 Colorado, No. 7 Portland, No. 12 Texas-El Paso, No. 13 Indiana, No. 15 Eastern Kentucky, No. 20 Michigan
Oregon Entries: Seniors Edward Cheserek, Tim Gorman and Jake Leingang, juniors Bryan Fernandez, Blake Haney, Travis Neuman and Sam Prakel, sophomores Tanner Anderson and Matthew Maton, and freshman Mick Stanovsek.

SCORING
The place of the first five finishers counts toward the team score. The next two runners may displace runners from opposing teams. First place is worth one point, second place two points, etc. Low score wins.

KING CHESEREK
Senior Edward Cheserek has won three straight NCAA individual cross country titles. He is the first man in NCAA history to accomplish that feat. No man has ever won four NCAA cross country titles (consecutive or otherwise). With his third career victory last fall, Cheserek joined a trio of collegiate distance running's all-time legends with three career NCAA cross country titles: Gerry Lindgren of Washington State (1966, 1967, 1969), Steve Prefontaine of Oregon (1970, 1971, 1973) and Henry Rono of Washington State (1976, 1977, 1979).
Cheserek quick facts:
   * Has won 14 of his last 16 cross country races, and 15 of 19 in his career
   * Has never finished lower than fourth in a collegiate cross country race
   * Is the first man to win three consecutive NCAA Championships
   * Is the first man to win three consecutive Pac-12 titles
   * Won the NCAA West Region meet in 2013 and 2015 (finished second in 2014 to Stanford's Maxim Korolev)
   * Was the first Oregon freshman to win the NCAA Cross Country championship.
   * Has won a combined 15 career NCAA individual titles between cross country, indoor, and outdoor track, a mark that is tied for the all-time NCAA record with Texas-El Paso's Suleiman Nyambui.

NCAA CAREER INDIVIDUAL TRACK & FIELD/CROSS COUNTRY TITLES
   NAME       SCHOOL       NCAA TITLES
1.   Suleiman Nyambui   Texas-El Paso   15
   Edward Cheserek   Oregon       15
3.   Gerry Lindgren       Washington State   11
4.   Erick Walder       Arkansas       10
5.   Mike Conley       Arkansas       9
   Robert Howard       Arkansas       9

WASHINGTON INVITATIONAL RECAP
In his 2016 debut, Edward Cheserek broke from the pack with 1,000 meters remaining to lead No. 3 Oregon to the Washington Invitational men's team title Oct. 1 at Seattle's Jefferson Park Golf Course. The Ducks had four runners in the top six to win with 26 points. No. 29 Colorado State was second with 39 points, while No. 21 Washington was third (64) and No. 24 Washington State was fourth (127). In the women's race, No. 12 Washington won with 24 points. The fourth-ranked Ducks were second with 57 points, Harvard was third (78) and Colorado State took fourth (115). While Cheserek led the way, it took a solid effort by a number of the Duck men in the lead pack to earn the win. Sam Prakel, coming off his win at the Dellinger Invitational two weeks earlier, finished third in 23:27.30, Matthew Maton was fourth in 23:28.10 in his 2016 debut and Tanner Anderson was sixth in 23:31.10. Oregon also had solid depth backing the top four runners with Blake Haney 12th in 23:46.30, Bryan Fernandez 13th in 23:48.30 and Tim Gorman 17th in 24:00.50. For the women, freshman Katie Rainsberger led the Ducks with a second-place finish in her Oregon debut. The 2015 Gatorade national runner of the year finished in 19:42.90, six seconds off the pace of Washington's Charlotte Prouse, who won in 19:36.80. The Ducks' next four runners all finished within 10 second of each other. Jessica Hull was 12th in 20:22.40, Ashley Maton was 13th in 20:26.10, Emma Abrahamson was 14th in 20:27.80 and Maggie Schmaedick was 16th in 20:32.20. Washington had six runners finish in the top nine to secure the team title.

BILL DELLINGER INVITATIONAL RECAP
A courageous run by Bryan Fernandez and a solid pack finish by the Women of Oregon helped the Ducks sweep the 2016 Bill Dellinger Invitational on Sept. 16 at Springfield Country Club. Oregon's second-ranked men won their season opener by a point over No. 22 Portland, 28-29. UC Davis was third with 101 points, while North Dakota State was fourth with 113. In the women's race, the fourth-ranked Ducks won with 39 points, followed by a spirted effort from defending NAIA national champion Northwest Christian, which had 51 points. UC Davis was third with 75 while Oregon State placed fourth with 84. In the men's race, it was a late charge by Bryan Fernandez to pass the Pilots' Fabian Tomas that gave Oregon the one-point victory. Junior Sam Prakel won the race for the Ducks in 24:36.8 with sophomore Tanner Anderson just a hair behind in second. Fernandez, a junior from Santa Barbara, Calif., was a career-best fourth in 24:45.8, with junior Blake Haney 10th (25:05.7), senior Jake Leingang 11th (25:07.4) and freshman Mick Stanovsek 12th (25:21.0). The Women of Oregon placed five runners in the top 11 who all finished within nine seconds of each other to claim the 2016 Dellinger title. Junior Emma Abrahamson led the way by finishing fourth in 17:34.2. Senior Sam Nadel, making her first appearance as a Duck after transferring from Georgetown, took sixth in 17:36.4, while senior Maggie Schamedick was eighth in 17:39.1. Senior Ashley Maton was ninth (17:42.8) and sophomore Jessica Hull was 11th in 17:43.0. Oregon State's Emily Weber became the first Beaver to win the Dellinger after she crossed the line in 17:26.2. It was the men's fourth straight Dellinger title, and eighth overall. The Duck women won for the second year in a row and seventh overall.

LOOKING AHEAD
The championship season begins for the Ducks with the Pac-12 meet Oct. 28 in Tucson, Ariz.