Championship Season At Hand for Cross Country Squads
By Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
A program responsible for 23 of 24 NCAA championships won at Oregon, including three last year, finds itself back on familiar ground.
Championship season begins in cross country Friday, when the No. 2 Oregon men and No. 3 women join the field for the Pac-12 Championships in Oakland, Calif. “It’s the time of year we get excited about,” said Robert Johnson, UO head coach for cross country and track and field.
The last time Oregon’s distance runners competed in the postseason, Edward Cheserek, Eric Jenkins and the UO men’s distance crew helped the Ducks win the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field title. On Friday, the UO men find themselves in the unfamiliar position of playing underdog to defending NCAA cross country champion Colorado.
The top-ranked Buffaloes put five runners in the top 12 overall at the Pre-Nationals Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind., on Oct. 18. Cheserek won his sixth consecutive cross country race that day, and Jenkins took third, but they were unable to carry the Oregon team past Colorado.
“They’re good, no doubt about it,” Jenkins said. “They’re really good at running together. They go after it, and to be honest, everyone’s going to have to be on. No one can have a bad race, to be able to beat them.”
The Ducks weren’t so lucky two weeks ago, when Daniel Winn finished 19th, Tanguy Pepiot was 26th and Travis Neuman finished 42nd. Johnson said those finishes, which contributed to the Ducks falling 66 points behind Colorado in second place, belied the quality of Oregon’s recent training.
“I think the margin of victory is a little misleading there,” Johnson said. “We’re hoping that all those guys hit it. And if they hit it, we’ll have just as good a shot as anybody.”
Jenkins said a slower start might be preferable, allowing him and Cheserek to set a solid pace for the Oregon contingent early. But as they proved at Pre-Nationals, those two can also handle a quicker pace that requires them to separate from their teammates early.
Oregon’s women, who took second to Georgetown at Pre-Nationals, prefer to run as a pack as well. Two weeks ago, the Ducks’ top five finishers crossed the line within 10 seconds of each other.
The Ducks are the top-ranked team in the nation among Pac-12 competitors. Colorado is No. 7, Stanford is No. 11 and Washington is No. 17; Oregon has defeated all three this season, though not in the same race.
Molly Grabill, who missed Pre-Nationals but is entered in the Pac-12 meet Friday, seems comfortable with Oregon’s status as the favorite Friday on the women’s side. “I think we’re really well prepared,” Grabill said. “We’ve been able to improve every week, and I think we’re well set up for this competition.”
Senior Megan Patrignelli led the UO contingent at Pre-Nationals, where underclassmen Maggie Schmaedick, Frida Berge and Alli Cash also ran well. Not only will the Ducks have Grabill back this week, but transfer Waverly Neer will make her UO debut.
“It’s championship season, so the season’s really just starting, the meets that matter,” Grabill said. “We’re focusing one week at a time, and obviously our ultimate goal is NCAAs.”
