University of Oregon
NCAA West Regional
Duck Harriers Earn NCAA Bids
11/10/07 | Cross Country
EUGENE-SPRINGFIELD, Ore. ? The top-two ranked University of Oregon cross country teams shined on the Springfield Country Club golf course in front of thousands of fans Saturday, and scored automatic NCAA berths and top-two finishes in the NCAA West Regional Championships
(*Note: Links to final results, athlete quotes, race recaps and pictures are available by clicking here).
The No. 1-ranked Duck men opened the morning with a convincing team win and defended their regional title with 47 points. UO's sixth regional men's team victory came against a 24-team field that included seven top-30 ranked squads.
No. 20 Portland finished in second place with 76 points, ahead of No. 8 Stanford (third, 100), No. 10 California (fourth, 112), No. 28 Cal Poly (fifth, 116), No. 27 Arizona State (sixth, 141), No. 21 UCLA (seventh, 142), Washington State (eighth, 220), UC Santa Barbara (ninth, 233) and UC Davis (10th, 356).
On the individual front, Duck junior Galen Rupp won his first regional title and UO's seventh since 1982 and joined former Duck greats and past champions Steve Fein (1999), Karl Keska (1995, '96), Brad Hudson (1989) and Jim Hill (1982, '83).
“It's a lot of fun to run here at home, and that is why this is so special,” Rupp said. “I wanted to make sure I ran relaxed and am getting use to racing again. It's a really strong region this year so you never expect to pull away easily. Our main goal was to be among the top two qualifiers, and the team's obviously in really good shape. We have had fun getting here, and that's why we've been so successful, especially here at home. This place is so special.”
Rupp ran in a four- to five-man pack through most much of the middle 1/3 of the 10,000m race, then made a break from the field in the final 1/3 and won (29:36) by 10 seconds over Portland's David Kinsella (second, (29:46), while UO junior Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott finished third (30:04).
“I'm getting excited about going to nationals and finishing strong,” Kiptoo-Biwott said. “I tried to run with my teammates as much as I could for the first four miles. Once you get going, it doesn't matter (the difference in distance between 8,000m and 10,000m).”
Other runners in the overall top six included Portland's John Moore (fourth, 30:06) and Michael Kilburg (fifth, 30:07) and returning race champion Nef Araia of Stanford (sixth, 30:09).
Team-wise, UO featured its next four runners in the top 25 overall ? sophomore Kenny Klotz (12th, 30:27), redshirt freshman Daniel Mercado (15th, 30:33), redshirt sophomore Scott Wall (16th, 30:35), redshirt freshman A.J. Acosta (24th, 30:49), and the other Duck entry was graduate student Joaquin Chapa (47th, 31:22).
On the women's side, No. 2 ranked UO tallied 72 points to finish second overall ? its highest finish since 1997 when they also finished second.
No. 1 Stanford won its ninth straight regional crown after it put its top five runners in the top 14 overall and tallied 33 points. The Cardinal dominated the nation's top regional that featured four of the top-seven ranked teams in the nation.
No. 5 Arizona State followed in third place with 106 points, ahead of No. 7 Washington (fourth, 118), No. 27 UC Santa Barbara (fifth, 143), Washington State (sixth, 249), Portland State (seventh, 250), UC Riverside (eighth, 304), California (ninth, 328) and Long Beach State (10th, 334).
UO sophomore Nicole Blood finished second overall in the 6,000m event (20:06) and surged in the final mile to make up several seconds on champion Teresa McWalters (first, 19:58).
“Everybody got a great start today, and that helped,” Blood said. “At nationals, there's so many people, the start is really important. Its a new thing for us going out hard and not being so conservative. Every week we've gotten better, and it shows in our training and races.”
Oregon freshman Alexandra Kosinski followed in sixth place (20:37), and other UO scorers included sophomore Bria Wetsch (16th, 20:55), freshman Zoe Buckman (21st, 21:03) and senior Sarah Pearson (27th, 21:12). Other Duck entries included junior Zoe Nelson (33rd, 21:18) and freshman Elizabeth Bies (77th, 21:58).
UO's men's team win was the 10th in the carer for Lananna, the third-year Duck associate athletic director who had previously led Stanford to eight men's regional team titles from 1995-200, and seven women's team victories from 1994-02. In his 12-year stint as the Stanford mentor, he also guide Cardinal runners to three men's individual championships and three women's individual victories.
Since the Duck women began varsity competition in 1975, they have finished top-five in the regional/district action 29 of the past 33 years, including 13 team titles ? second-most of any team behind Stanford (14) ? along with six runner-up nods and three, third-place efforts. Individually, Milena Glusac's win in 1994 was the most recent of the Ducks' eight women's victories ? second-most behind Stanford (10), and ahead of Arizona (third, 5).
The Duck men's six regional team title since 1982 is third-best behind Stanford (first, 10) and Arizona (second, 9).
UO's top-two women's finish earned them their first NCAA team bid since 2000 and the Ducks' 18th appearance overall since the first NCAA women's finale was held in 1981.
“The Springfield Country Club did a fabulous job of hosting the meet,” UO director of track and field Vin Lananna said. “The weather was perfect, we had a great crowd, and the races came off great logistically.”
“For our men I was most impressed with how we ran in packs during the race. Our women's team, conversely, excelled in the last half of the race and closed really well. It's the first time our women have qualified for NCAA's in a while, so we're thrilled to get an automatic qualifying berth.”
Looking ahead, another 13 at-large teams and two at-large individuals will be added from across the nation to the 31-team, 255-runner M&W NCAA fields on the evening of Sun., Nov. 11. At-large team selection criteria is based on teams' head-to-head records against other actual and potential NCAA qualifiers.
The NCAA Championships races will be held on Monday, November 19 at Indiana State University's LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Ind. More NCAA Championships information is available at the www.NCAAsports.com website.
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REGIONAL HISTORY
Men's West Regional Winners
2007: 1. Oregon 47
2006: 1. Oregon 69
2005: 1. Arizona 33
2004: 1. Stanford 49
2003: 1. Stanford 18
2002: 1. Stanford 21
2001: 1. Stanford 37
2000: 1. Stanford 58
1999: 1. Stanford 40
1998: 1. Stanford 37
1997: 1. Stanford 50
1996: 1. Stanford 31
1995: 1. Stanford 53
1994: 1. Arizona 46
1993: 1. Portland 56
1992: 1. Arizona 27
1991: 1. Arizona 58
1990: 1. Arizona 50
1989: 1. Oregon 15
1988: 1. Oregon 38
1987: 1. Arizona 72
1986: 1. Arizona 58
1985: 1. Arizona 58
1984: 1. Arizona 40
1983: 1. Oregon 42
1982: 1. Oregon 53
Men's Regional Individual Champions
2007: Galen Rupp, Oregon, 29:36
2006: Nef Araia, Stanford, 30:06
2005: Robert Cheseret, Arizona, 30:04
2004: Ryan Hall, Stanford, 30:07
2003: Ryan Hall, Stanford, 29:33
2002: Donald Sage, Stanford, 30:13
2001: Donald Sage, Stanford, 30:43.4
2000: Jonathon Riley, Stanford, 30:40
1999: Steve Fein, Oregon, 30:30
1998: Abdi Abdirahman, Arizona, 30:06
1997: Meb Keflezighi, UCLA, 30:15.9
1996: Karl Keska, Oregon, 30:16
1995: Karl Keska, Oregon, 30:11.9
1994: Martin Keino, Arizona, 30:50
1993: Joe Kapkory, Wash. State , 29:20.5
1992: Joe Kapkory, Wash. State , 30:41.7
1991: Joe Kapkory, Washington State , 30:11
1990: Marc Davis, Arizona, 30:08.3
1989: Brad Hudson, Oregon, 30:06.5
1988: Marc Davis, Arizona, 30:08.1
1987: Matt Giusto, Arizona, 29:42.7
1986: Aaron Ramirez, Arizona, 30:21.6
1985: Marc Olesen, Stanford, 29:51
1984: Tom Ansberry, Arizona, 31:10.2
1983, Jim Hill, Oregon, 30:08.4
1982, Jim Hill, Oregon, 28:50
Women's West Regional/District Winners
2007: 1. Stanford 33
2006: 1. Stanford 42
2005: 1. Stanford 24
2004: 1. Stanford 29
2003: 1. Stanford 45
2002: 1. Stanford 24
2001: 1. Stanford 39
2000: 1. Stanford 58
1999: 1. Stanford 29
1998: 1. Arizona 78
1997: 1. Stanford 37
1996: 1. Stanford 51
1995: 1. Oregon 37
1994: 1. Stanford 55
1993: 1. Arizona 59
1992: 1. Washington 90
1991: 1. Oregon 56
1990: 1. Oregon 49
1989: 1. Washington 75
1988: 1. Oregon 36
1987: 1. Oregon 29
1986: 1. UCLA 69
1985: 1. Oregon 63
1984: 1. Stanford 26
1983: 1. Oregon 33
1982: 1. Stanford 33
1981: 1. Oregon 52
1980: 1. Oregon 28
1979: 1. Oregon 18
1978: 1. Oregon 15
1977: 1. Oregon 36
1976: 1. Oregon 30
Women's Regional/District Individual Champions
2007: Teresa McWalters, Stanford, 19:58
2006: Arianna Lambie, Stanford, 20:59
2005: Arianna Lambie, Stanford, 19:30
2004: Alicia Craig, Stanford, 20:03
2003: Alicia Craig, Stanford, 20:06
2002: Alicia Craig, Stanford, 20:39
2001: Tara Chaplin, Arizona, 20:41.1
2000: Lisa Aguilera, ASU, 20:25
1999: Julia Stamps, Stanford, 16:50
1998: Amy Skieresz, Arizona, 16:26
1997: Amy Skieresz, Arizona, 16:59
1996: Amy Skieresz, Arizona, 16:13
1995: Amy Skieresz, Arizona, 16:42.3
1994: Milena Glusac, Oregon, 17:26.1
1993: Karen Hecox, UCLA, 16:41.6
1992: Louise Watson, Stanford, 17:20.3
1991: Lucy Nusrala, Oregon, 16:48
1990: Buffy Rabbitt, UC Irvine, 16:44.6
1989: Buffy Rabbitt, UC Irvine, 16:53.7
1988: Penny Graves, Oregon, 16:36.2
1987: Annette Hand, Oregon, 16:19.0
1986: Penny Graves, Oregon, 16:41.9
1985: Regina Jacobs, Stanford, 16:41
1984: Regina Jacobs, Stanford, 17:05.3
1983: Kathy Hayes, Oregon, 16:55.3
1982: Ceci Hopp, Stanford, 16:03
1981: Monica Joyce, San Diego State, 16:28.9
1980: Regina Joyce, Washington, 17:38
1979: Molly Morton, Oregon, 17:36.8
1978: Robin Baker, Oregon, 17:46
1977: Debbie Quatier, Seattle Pacific, 17:52
1976: Debbie Quatier, Seattle Pacific, 17:04
1975: Maureen Crowley, Simon Fraser, 15:51
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Players Mentioned
