Postseason Begins Friday in Riverside

EUGENE, Ore. – Carrying a pair of top-15 national rankings, the Oregon cross country team opens the postseason Friday with the 2022 Pac-12 Championships in Riverside, Calif. The conference meet will be televised on the Pac-12 Network beginning at 8:30 a.m. (PT).

The women's 6K is set for 8:40 a.m. followed by the men's 8,000 meters at 9:40 a.m.

How to Follow
2022 Pac-12 Championships
UC Riverside Ag Ops Course (Riverside, Calif.)
TV: Pac-12 Network | Watch Online | Live Results

All-conference accolades are determined by individual finish at the Pac-12 Championships. Places one through seven will collect first-team honors with places eight through 14 earning spots on the second team.

For the Men of Oregon, Aaron Bienenfeld is the top returning performer from last year's meet. He was fifth overall and second in the UO lineup behind Cooper Teare. On the women's side, Harper McClain is the highest-finishing Duck—20^th place overall; third in UO lineup—from a season ago. Colorado swept the team titles last year in Salt Lake City.

Last Time Out
At the Nuttycombe Invitational (Oct. 14) in Madison, Wis., the UO women ran to an 11^th-place effort and the UO men were 12^th overall, just two points out of a top-10 finish. Collectively, the Ducks had head-to-head wins over 13 teams ranked ahead of them in the Oct. 4 poll. Bienenfeld and Izzy Thornton-Bott led Oregon, each finishing 24^th individually in the loaded fields.

In the Rankings
Including the Ducks, the men's race will feature four top-20 teams from the latest USTFCCCA national rankings. The UO men check in at No. 15, a season-high position. The Women of Oregon, ranked 12^th this week, are one of six top-30 teams set to compete Friday.

Ranked Teams in the Pac-12
Men: 1. Stanford; 10. Colorado; 15. Oregon; 20 Washington
Women: 9. Stanford; 10. Utah; 11. Colorado; 12. Oregon; 19. Washington; 30. Oregon State

UO and the Pac-12 Championships
Collectively, the Ducks have won 26 conference titles—16 men, 10 women—in program history. The Men of Oregon are looking for their first league title since 2008. The team has five runner-up outings during that time, most recently in 2019. The most recent of the women's titles came in 2018.

Titles by the Years
Men (16): 1969-70, '73, '76-79, '82, '88-90, '92, '95, 2006-08
Women (10): 1986-88, '90-92, '95, 2012, '14, '18

Individually, the Ducks have collected 24 conference titles—16 men, eight women—spread among 16 runners. Edward Cheserek is the most recent UO man to win a league title, a four-time Pac-12 champ between 2013-16. The UO women last won an individual crown in 2010 with Jordan Hasay.

The Pac-12 meet is returning to Southern California for the first time since UCLA in 2012. USC is the host team for this year's championships.

Up Next
The postseason continues with the NCAA West Regional Championships on Friday, Nov. 11, in Tacoma, Wash. The top-two teams in each race earn automatic placement into the NCAA Championships (Nov. 19) in Stillwater, Okla. Click HERE for the Ducks' full schedule.

For more news and information about Oregon cross country and track and field, follow @OregonTF on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.