Men of Oregon Win Dellinger Team Title

Saturday, September 28

Springfield, OR

10:30 AM

University of Oregon

Bill Dellinger Invitational

Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

09/28/19 | Cross Country

By: Zach Lawson

EUGENE, Ore. – The 11^th-ranked Men of Oregon placed three inside the top 10 to capture the team title Saturday morning at the Bill Dellinger Invitational. James West and Cooper Teare led the way for the Ducks in third and fourth, respectively. On the women's side, Susan Ejore turned in a third-place individual finish and Oregon finished fourth in the team race.

With their victory, the UO men finished atop the 14-team field that also included No. 2 BYU and No. 7 Portland. The Ducks' scoring lineup all finish within the top 25 with their top seven all in the top 40.

"It's fun to be at home and win," associate head coach Ben Thomas said. "We're lucky to have a good crowd out here. It means nothing if we don't build off of it going forward though. The training has been really consistent and we're happy to get almost everyone healthy and to the line today.

"We have three weeks now until Wisconsin so it's definitely a confidence booster going into that but we have to keep building. The end of the season is a 10K. This was an 8K so it only tells part of the story."

In his collegiate debut, freshman Cole Hocker finished ninth overall and was the third Oregon runner across the finish line. Junior transfer Noah Affolder in 14^th and Eugene native Jackson Mestler in 24^th rounded out the men's top five.

Men's 8K | Full Results
1. Oregon – 54 points
                3. James West – 23:32.8
                4. Cooper Teare – 23:34.1
                9. Cole Hocker – 23:42.8
                14. Noah Affolder – 23:54.8
                24. Jackson Mestler – 24:04.3
                29. Reed Brown – 24:11.3 (27)
                36. Carter Christman – 24:18.2 (33)

Ejore was strong down the final stretch Saturday to finish as Oregon's top runner for the second time in as many races this season. With her performance, she finished ahead of three All-Americans from last season. Taylor Chiotti, in 11^th place overall, finished ahead of one of the four All-America performers in the field.

"We were looking for a top-three finish but we were definitely a little rusty today," associate head coach Helen Lehman-Winters said. "We didn't do a good job of running collectively but we're missing a few people from the lineup…it's back to work for the next few weeks.

"There were some bright points for sure with Susan Ejore up front and Taylor Chiotti was phenomenal from the second position but overall we were a little bit scattered."

Amanda Gehrich posted a top-25 effort and was the Ducks' third runner across the line. The Women of Oregon's top five also included sophomore transfer Moira O'Shea and senior Phily Bowden. Sixth-ranked BYU came away with the Dellinger team title.

Women's 6K | Full Results
4. Oregon – 143 points
                3. Susan Ejore – 19:41.7
                11. Taylor Chiotti – 20:06.9 (10)
                25. Amanda Gehrich – 20:32.6 (24)
                54. Moira O'Shea – 20:56.6 (44)
                74. Phily Bowden – 21:12.5 (62)
                85. Carly Kleefeld – 21:21.1 (70)
                102. Caramia Mestler – 21:42.7 (82)

Up Next
Both teams will return to action Friday, Oct. 18, for the Nuttycombe Invitational in Madison, Wis. It is the Ducks' last remaining race before the postseason. The championship season begins Friday, Nov. 1, with the Pac-12 Championships in Monmouth, Ore.

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