University of Oregon
NCAA Championships
UO Women Finish Fifth, Men Place Sixth at NCAA Championships
11/18/17 | Cross Country
The Oregon women’s cross country team came away with a national fifth-place finish on Saturday morning at the 2017 NCAA Championships, while the Men of Oregon used a great push in the second half of their race to place sixth overall
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Oregon women's cross country team came away with a national fifth-place finish on Saturday morning at the 2017 NCAA Championships, while the Men of Oregon used a great push in the second half of their race to place sixth overall at E.P. 'Tom' Sawyer State Park.
"I think anytime you can come out and be top 10, it's a good thing," said head coach Robert Johnson. "Maybe not quite our expectation here as we came up a little short of earning trophies, but I'm proud of how our kids competed and hung in there today. I thought the men came away with the best race they've run all year in cross country, and kudos to coach (Andy) Powell on getting those guys to rise up at the right time. We were a little snake-bitten on the women's side and maybe weren't quite full strength, but I'm proud of them for pulling together and giving it all they had."
How it Happened - Women: The Women of Oregon finished fifth overall in the women's 6,000-meter NCAA title race with 203 points, missing the podium by just one spot. Katie Rainsberger capped a tremendous sophomore season in 16th place overall (19:50.6), and Lilli Burdon finished off a really strong redshirt freshman campaign in 21st (19:57.6). Carmela Cardama Baez completed her first season as a Duck in 34th (20:09.3) to give UO three all-Americans, and Jessica Hull placed 93rd (20:39.5) with Emma Abrahamson in 108th (20:46.5) to complete the scoring for the Ducks.
How it Happened - Men: After focusing on pack running throughout the season, the UO men did a great job of running together on Saturday, especially in the second half of the men's 10K. Oregon was in 22nd midway through the race, but moved up 16 spots over the final 5K to finish sixth overall in its most complete race of the season. Tanner Anderson was the low stick for the Ducks in 41st overall (30:01.4), missing all-American honors by just one spot, and freshman Cooper Teare was right with him in 44th (30:06.8). Three more Ducks were bunched together to help UO move up the standings, with Reed Brown (78th, 30:30.0), Austin Tamagno (81st, 30:30.5) and Blake Haney (84th, 30:31.7) all finishing within six spots of each other to round out the scoring for the Ducks. With their sixth-place finish, the Men of Oregon continued their success on the national stage with their fifth straight top-10 finish and 10th in last 11 years.
What it Means: Both the Oregon men and women came into the NCAA Championships a little banged up and shorthanded, and both came away with positive results on the national stage. The Women of Oregon end a great season in which they placed in the top five in all of their meets, while the Men of Oregon conclude the cross country season on a high note with a tremendous showing of pack running and a great push over the second half of the race.
Quotable: Maurica Powell, Assistant Coach
On the women's performance...
"We knew there were five or six really good teams, and we come away with three all-Americans, which is great. Jess (Hull) was in the hospital last week with bronchitis, so we knew it was going to be tough for her, and that was probably the difference between us earning a trophy. But we were aggressive and we did everything we could. I'm proud of the way they competed, I'm proud of how tough we were and I'm proud of our attitude."
Andy Powell, Associate Head Coach
On the men's performance…
"I think the guys executed a perfect race strategy and I think to save their best race of the year for the last one was great. Sixth place, we're thrilled with that. I was really, really happy with how they ran, they packed well together and moved up well, just couldn't be happier for these guys."
Notable: The Ducks were one of just four teams to place both their men and women in the top 10, along with Stanford, Michigan and Colorado … Rainsberger earned her fifth career all-American honor, Burdon notched her fourth and Cardama Baez recorded her first … New Mexico came away with both the team and the individual national titles on the women's side, while Northern Arizona won the men's team title and Syracuse's Justyn Knight won the individual championship ... The Pac-12 finished with a conference-record 14 all-Americans on the women's side.
Up Next: With the 2017 cross country season in the books, Oregon's attention moves to the indoor track and field season, which begins Jan. 13 at the UW Preview in Seattle.
Full Results - Oregon Women:
Oregon - Fifth (203 points)
16. Katie Rainsberger (19:50.6)
21. Lilli Burdon (19:57.6)
34. Carmela Cardama Baez (20:09.3)
93. Jessica Hull (20:39.5)
108. Emma Abrahamson (20;46.5)
159. Judy Pendergast (21:09.3)
166. Alli Cash (21:12.4)
Full Results - Oregon Men:
Oregon - Sixth (274 points)
41. Tanner Anderson (30:01.4)
44. Cooper Teare (30:06.77)
78. Reed Brown (30:30.0)
81. Austin Tamagno (30:30.47)
84. Blake Haney (30:31.7)
117. Sam Prakel (30:52.8)
DNF. James West
