Oregon Men & Arkansas Women Cruise to Dellinger Team Wins

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EUGENE ? The University of Oregon men and University of Arkansas women's cross country squads handily won Friday's inaugural Bill Dellinger Invitational, held Friday afternoon at Alton Baker Park.

The No. 17 ranked Duck men, who placed three runners in the top seven overall and all five scorers in the top 20, won with 47 points and edged No. 8 Portland (second, 89), No. 10 BYU (third, 102) and No. 20 Alabama (fourth, 135).

Other teams in the men's field included Cal Poly (fifth, 144), UCLA (sixth, 163), Washington (seventh, 183), No. 25 Butler (seventh, 183), No. 6 Texas (ninth, 189), Duke (10th, 243), Utah State (11th, 270), American (12th, 325) and Wake Forest (13th, 356).

BYU's two-time All-American Josh Rohatinsky won the men's race (22:58.37), and escaped in the final mile from Oregon redshirt sophomore Galen Rupp who followed in second place (23:09.03). Portland's John Moore (third, 23:19.09) and Duck redshirt sophomore Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott (fourth, 23:28.18) rounded out the top four.

UO's other scorers included a pair of Duck newcomers - freshman Diego Mercado (seventh, 23:35.01) and graduate student transfer Ben Stern (15th, 23:47.34) - and redshirt junior Carlos Trujillo (19th, 23:50.65).

Other Oregon entries included senior Patrick Werhane (21st, 23:53.22), junior Chris Winter (33rd, 24:09.42), freshman Isaac Stoutenburgh (35th, 24:10.72), sophomores Scott Wall (60th, 24:30.89) and Duke Wasteney (61st, 24:34.11), freshman Kenny Klotz (66th, 24:38.39) and junior James Withers (72nd, 24:43.13).

On the women's side, No. 8-ranked Arkansas took five of the top 10 places overall to win with 35 points and was led by freshman Dani Parry (fourth, 20:39.99).

No. 6 BYU followed in second place (55), and was trailed by Wake Forest (third, 117), No. 10 Washington (fourth, 119), No. 5 Duke (fifth, 132), No. 30 Butler (sixth, 158), No. 26 Indiana (seventh, 170), UCLA (eighth, 179), Portland (ninth, 231), No. 28 Oregon (10th, 247) and Utah State (11th, 264).

On the individual side, BYU's Kassi Anderson battled with Wake Forest's Michelle Sikes the last half of the 6,000-meter race, before the Cougar senior pushed ahead in the final mile to win (19:54.09) by more than 15 seconds over Sikes (second, 20:10.91). Early race leader and Duke senior Emily McCabe followed in third place (20:31.68), ahead of the Arkansas frosh Parry (fourth, 20:39.99).

Oregon's top runner was senior Dana Buchanan (31st, 21:34.21), and fellow Duck scorers included sophomore Zoe Nelson (42nd, 21:53.34), junior Sarah Pearson (50th, 22:15.39), freshman Amanda Stopa (67th, 22:37.65) and junior Liisa Heinonen (79th, 23:05.89). Redshirt freshman Berkeley Aldinger-Gibson rounded out UO's contingent (89th, 23:49.85).

Oregon's first home cross country event since 1998 showcased impressive race fields, including 24 collegiate teams from seven of the nation's nine regions and 10 top conferences.

The Invitational's 13-team men's field featured seven teams that placed top-30 in the 2005 NCAA Cross Country Championships ? Texas (seventh), Portland (ninth), BYU (13th), Alabama (21st), Butler (25th), Washington (27th) and American (30th). The 11-team women's field featured five top-25 NCAA team finishers from 2005 ? Duke (third), BYU (eighth), Wake Forest (17th), Arkansas (19th) and Butler (24th).

UO's last cross country regular season home meet was the Oregon Invitational, formerly known as the Jeff Drenth Invitational, and was held at Alton Baker Park through 1998. That same season, the Ducks hosted the Pacific-10 Cross Country Championships at Alton Baker Park, and the UO men claimed seven, top-20 finishes and placed second as a team by two points behind Stanford, 48-50. That same season, Marie Davis finished fifth on the women's side to help the Ducks to fifth place in a field that featured five, top-20 teams.

Looking ahead, the Ducks may send several runners Saturday, Sept. 30 to the Willamette Invitational at Bush Park in Salem, Ore. The varsity unit's next scheduled contest is the Pre-NCAA Invitational, Sat., Oct. 14, hosted by Indiana State University on the LaVern Gibson Championships Course in Terre Haute, Ind.

FINAL RESULTS

Bill Dellinger Invitational
Alton Baker Park
Eugene, Ore.
Fri., Sept. 29, 2006
Conditions: 58-62 degrees, Sunny, Dry Course, Flat, 50-50 Grass/Bark Dust & Woodchips

Men's Teams ? 1, Oregon, 47. 2, Portland, 89. 3, BYU, 102. 4, Alabama, 135. 5, Cal Poly, 144. 6, UCLA, 163. 7t, Washington, 183. 7t, Butler, 183. 9, Texas, 189. 10, Duke, 243. 11, Utah State, 270. 12, American, 325. 13, Wake Forest, 356.

Men's Individuals ? 1, Josh Rohatinsky, BYU, 22:59. 3, Galen Rupp, Oregon, 23:10. 3, John Moore, Portland, 23:20. 4, Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott, Oregon, 23:29. 5, Scott Overall, Butler, 23:32. 6, Emmanuel Bor, Alabama, 23:31.70. 7, Diego Mercado, Oregon, 23:36. 8, Abraham Kutingala, Alabama, 23:37. 9, Jeremy Mineau, Washington, 23:38. 10, Joe Thorne, Texas, 23:38. 11, Kyle Shackleton, UCLA, 23:42. 12, Chandler Goodwin, BYU, 23:42. 13, Augustus Maiyo, Alabama, 23:43. 14, Phillip Reid, Cal Poly, 23:47. 15, Ben Stern, Oregon, 23:48. 16, Matt Johnsrud, Cal Poly, 23:50. 17, Mike Sayenko, Washington, 23:50. 18, Chuck McKenzie, Portland, 23:50. 19, Carlos Trujillo, Oregon, 23:51. 20, Michael Kilburg, Portland, 23:52.

Other Oregon Men's Finishers ? 21, Pat Werhane, 23:54. 33, Chris Winter, 24:10. 35, Isaac Stoutenburgh, 24:11. 60, Scott Wall, 24:31. 61, Duke Wasteney, 24:35. 66, Kenny Klotz, 24:39. 72, James Withers, 24:44.

Women's Teams ? 1, Arkansas, 35. 2, BYU, 55. 3, Wake Forest, 117. 4, Washington, 119. 5, Duke, 132. 6, Butler, 158. 7, Indiana, 170. 8, UCLA, 179. 9, Portland, 231. 10, Oregon, 247. 11, Utah State, 264.

Women's Individuals ? 1, Kassi Anderson, BYU, 19:55. 2, Michelle Sikes, Wake Forest, 20:11. 3, Emily McCabe, Duke, 20:32. 4, Dani Parry, Arkansas, 20:40. 5, Amy Fowler, BYU, 20:44. 6, Brooke Upshaw, Arkansas, 20:47. 7, Dacia Barr, Arkansas, 20:49. 8, Denise Bargiachi, Arkansas, 20:50. 9, Amber Duffin, BYU, 20:51. 10, Christine Kalmer, Arkansas, 20:55. 11, Jessica Gall, Indiana, 20:55. 12, Miranda Walker, Arkansas, 20:57. 13, Ashley Caldwell, UCLA, 20:59. 14, Breanne Sandberg, BYU, 20:59. 15, Anita Campbell, Washington, 21:00.00 16, Amy Lia, Washington, 21:01. 17, Caitlin Chrisman, Wake Forest, 21:06. 18, Claire Holme, Butler, 21:06. 19, Maddie McKeever, Duke, 21:10. 20, Erin Franklin, Wake Forest, 21:06.

Other Oregon Women's Finishers ? 42, Zoe Nelson, 21:54. 50, Sarah Pearson, 22:16. 67, Amanda Stopa, 22:38. 79, Liisa Heinonen, 23:06. 82, Lauren Zaludek, 23:11. 89, Berkeley Aldinger-Gibson, 23:50.

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