University of Oregon
Pre-Nationals Invitational
Women of Oregon Impress with Pre-Nationals Win
10/14/17 | Cross Country
Oregon women's cross country continued its strong start to defending last year's NCAA title on Saturday, winning the women's seeded 6K at the Pre-Nationals Invitational on this year's NCAA Championships course
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Oregon women's cross country team continued its strong start to defending last year's NCAA title on Saturday, winning the women's seeded 6,000-meter race in the Pre-Nationals Invitational at E.P. 'Tom' Sawyer State Park.
The UO women came away with both the win and valuable experience on the course that will be site of next month's NCAA Championships. The Men of Oregon also showed well on the men's 8,000-meter course, placing third in both the seeded and unseeded races.
How it Happened - Women: After shattering the Bill Dellinger Meet record a couple weeks ago to open the year with a win, stellar sophomore Katie Rainsberger led the Ducks in 19:42.02 to finish fourth overall, the same spot she took at NCAAs last year as a freshman. Redshirt freshman Lilli Burdon continued her strong start to her cross country career in seventh place (20:00.56), and junior transfer Carmela Cardama Baez (20:09.06) enjoyed a great race in 15th to give Oregon three runners in the top 15. Junior Jessica Hull (20:09.92) was one spot behind Cardama Baez in 16th, and senior Emma Abrahamson (20:26.55) closed out the scoring and the win for the Ducks in 30th. The second-ranked Ducks won the race with 63 points, finishing 28 points ahead of top-ranked Colorado.
How it Happened - Men: The Men of Oregon have been focusing on pack running this fall, and that was evident Saturday in the seeded 8K as six runners finished inside the top 35 to fuel the Ducks to a third-place finish with 124 points. Junior Tanner Anderson was the top Duck across the line in 17th (23:26.70), followed by redshirt senior Sam Prakel in 24th (23:33.29). Blake Haney was 29th in 23:43.51, and freshmen Cooper Teare (23:44.56) and Reed Brown (23:45.57) rounded out the scorers for the Ducks in 30th and 32nd, respectively. Redshirt senior Travis Neuman gave the Ducks a sixth runner in the top 35 in 34th (23:46.23).
Six more UO men were in action in the men's unseeded 8,000-meter race, with three finishing in the top 10 for another third-place finish (118 points). Sophomore Austin Tamagno was the top Duck in second overall, crossing in 24:03.39, and Connor Clark (24:09.69) and Jackson Mestler (24:12.76) finished sixth and ninth, respectively.
Who Stood Out: Rainsberger has proven herself as a front-of-the-pack finisher each time out, but the emergence of Burdon gives the UO women another threat to consistently reel in top-10 finishes, with Cardama Baez and Hull both also showing the ability to come across in the top 20. On the men's side, the Ducks have to be encouraged with the improved pack running, and Anderson appears to be picking up where he left off from a breakout track season last spring.
What it Means: The experience and information gained on the NCAA course is perhaps more important for the Ducks than a win, but both teams showed that they have the pieces to make some noise on the national stage.
Quotable: Assistant Coach Maurica Powell (in post-meet interview with Taylor Dutch of FloTrack.org)
On the performance by the women's team...
"I was pleased. We didn't pay too close attention to the score, but just the effort I thought was really good. They were really aggressive and they were really tough, I thought. We left them a little tired this week, we've been training them pretty hard, so just to come away with good, gritty performances while probably feeling pretty fatigued was a good thing."
Her thoughts on the women's top finish despite feeling fatigued entering the meet...
"This is always the pinnacle of tired, is always this week, and we knew that going in. So I think they prepared themselves well and just gave a really hard effort regardless of how they felt. That was kind of the mantra today, so we're pleased we were able to get that done."
Notable: The BYU men won the seeded 8K with 41 points, and Ohio State won the men's unseeded 8K with 103 points.
Up Next: With two meets under their belt, the Men and Women of Oregon will return to Eugene to prepare for next Friday's Pac-12 Championships (Oct. 27). Oregon is hosting the conference championship meet this year at Springfield Country Club, with the meet set to begin at 11 a.m. PT with the women's 6,000-meter race followed by the men's 8,000-meter race at 12 p.m., with an an awards ceremony to follow. For the first time in history, the Pac-12 Cross Country Championships will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks.
For meet and spectator information for the Pac-12 Cross Country Championships, click here to access the meet central page.
Oregon Results - Women's Seeded 6K:
1. Oregon - 63 points
4. Katie Rainberger - 19:42.02
7. Lilli Burdon - 20:00.56
15. Carmela Cardama Baez - 20:09.06
16. Jessica Hull - 20:09.92
30. Emma Abrahamson - 20:26.55
138. Judy Pendergast - 21:33.6
Men's Seeded 8K:
3. Oregon - 132 points
17. Tanner Anderson - 23:26.70
24. Sam Prakel - 23:33.29
29. Blake Haney - 23:43.51
30. Cooper Teare - 23:44.56
32. Reed Brown - 23:45.57
34. Travis Neuman - 23:46.23
127. James West - 24:43.60
Men's Unseeded 8K:
2. Austin Tamagno - 24:03.39
6. Connor Clark - 24:09.69
9. Jackson Mestler - 24:12.76
35. Jack Yearian - 25:01.82
92. Bryan Fernandez - 25:44.81
115. Mick Stanovsek - 26:07.00
Players Mentioned
