UNIVERSITY OF OREGON ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS Andy McNamara — Assistant Athletic Director, Communications www.GoDucks.com David Williford — Executive Assistant Athletic Director, Football Communications twitter.com/GoDucks Todd Miles, Greg Walker — Associate Directors • Joe Waltasti — Assistant Director 541-346-5488 (P) Cross Country Contact: Greg Walker (O: 541-346-2252; C: 541-954-8775; email: [email protected]) FOR IMMEDIATE USE September 28, 2016 Ducks Look to Take Next Step at Washington Invitational Oregon swept this meet in 2015. EUGENE, Ore. – Th e Ducks break fall camp with the Washington Invitational on Saturday at Jeff erson Park Golf Course in Seattle, Wash. Th e women’s race is at 11 a.m., while the men go at 11:45 a.m. Both the men’s and women’s races will be early-season contests between the Ducks, Huskies and other rivals. Th e Duck women are fourth nationally, while the Huskies check in at No. 12. On the men’s side Oregon is No. 3 with Washington at No. 21. Th e men’s race also has No. 24 Washington State and No. 29 Colorado State, while Harvard (also receiving votes) is in the women’s fi eld. Th e Washington Invitational will mark the 2016 debut of three-time defending NCAA champion Edward Cheserek, who won this event for Oregon last season (23:15.4). Sophomore Matthew Maton could open the 2016 season in Seattle as well; he was eighth in this race in 2015. For the women, look for 2015 Gatorade national high school runner of the year Katie Rainsberger, a freshman from Colorado Springs, Colo., in her fi rst race as a Duck. Oregon swept the Washington Invitational in 2015. Th e women held off Washington 36-59 with Alli Cash fi nishing second. Cheserek led the men to a victory over Stanford 52-69. WHAT TO WATCH While there will be plenty of attention on the Ducks debuting this weekend - namely Cheserek, Maton and Rainsberger - it would be a mistake to overlook the importance of the depth Oregon is trying to develop this season. Oregon would certainly like to continue the outstanding performances of Sam Prakel (fi rst), Tanner Anderson (second) and Bryan Fernandez (fourth) from the Bill Dellinger Invitational men’s race. For the women, Emma Abrahamson was the low stick for the Ducks for the fi rst time in her career (fourth) and was backed by solid runs from Georgetown transfer Sam Nadel (sixth) and Maggie Schmaedick (eighth). Th e Duck women had just a :09 spread from their fi rst to fi ft h runners; that ability to fi nish in a pack was a hallmark of the Ducks’ NCAA bronze medal team of 2015. ENTRIES With a couple of notable additions, the Ducks will primarily go with the same runners who appeared in the Dellinger meet. For the men, senior Edward Cheserek and sophomore Matthew Maton join Sam Prakel, Tanner Anderson, Bryan Fernandez, Blake Haney, Travis Neuman, Jake Leingang, Tom Gorman and Mick Stanovsek. For the women, Katie Rainsberger and Alli Cash join the group that ran at the Dellinger - Emma Abrahamson, Sam Nadal, Ashley Maton, Maggie Schmaedick, Frida Berge, Jessica Hull and Perrin Xthona. WASHINGTON INVITATIONAL WOMEN’S RACE Time: 11 a.m. PDT Length: 6,000 Meters 6K Course Record: 19:15.6, Jordan Hasay, Oregon, 2012 Twitter: @OregonTF / @UWTrack Results: http://www.rtspt.com/events/uw/wa_inv16/ / www.goducks.com Teams (9): Colorado State, Eastern Washington, Grand Canyon, Harvard, Idaho, Oregon, Seattle U., Washington, Washington State Rankings: No. 4 Oregon, No. 12 Washington, Harvard (receiving votes) Oregon Entries: Seniors Ashley Maton, Samantha Nadel and Maggie Schmaedick, juniors Emma Abrahamson, Frida Berge and Alli Cash, sophomore Jessica Hull, and freshmen Katie Rainsberger and Perrin Xthona. WASHINGTON INVITATIONAL MEN’S RACE Time: 11:45 a.m. PDT Length: 8,000 Meters 8K Course Record: 22:59.8, Patrick Tiernan, Villanova, 2014 Twitter: @OregonTF / @UWTrack Results: http://www.rtspt.com/events/uw/wa_inv16/ / www.goducks.com Teams (8): Colorado State, Eastern Washington, Grand Canyon, Idaho, Oregon, Seattle U., Washington, Washington State Rankings: No. 3 Oregon, No. 21 Washington, No. 24 Washington State, No. 29 Colorado State Oregon Entries: Seniors Edward Cheserek, Tim Gorman and Jake Leingang, juniors Bryan Fernandez, Blake Haney, Travis Neuman and Sam Prakel, sophomores Tanner Anderson and Matthew Maton, and freshman Mick Stanovsek. SCORING Th e place of the fi rst fi ve fi nishers counts toward the team score. The next two runners may displace runners from opposing teams. First place is worth one point, second place two points, etc. Low score wins. Len Casanova Athletic Center • 2727 Leo Harris Parkway • Eugene, Oregon 97401 • (541) 346-4481 • Fax (541) 346-5031 An equal-opportunity, affi rmative-action institution committed to cultural diversity and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. 2016 OREGON CROSS COUNTRY THE COURSE 2016 Men’s Rankings 1 Northern Arizona (7) Th e Jeff erson Park Course consists of multiple two kilometer loops on fl at fairways crossing some cart paths. Th e 2 Syracuse (1) course was the site of the 2010 Pac-10 Championships, the USATF Club Nationals, and the NCAA West Regional 3 Oregon (2) Championships in 2012 and 2015. 4 Brigham Young (1) t5 Colorado (1) BILL DELLINGER INVITATIONAL RECAP t5 Arkansas A courageous run by Bryan Fernandez and a solid pack fi nish by the Women of Oregon helped the Ducks sweep 7 Portland the 2016 Bill Dellinger Invitational on Sept. 16 at Springfi eld Country Club. Oregon’s second-ranked men won 8 Georgetown their season opener by a point over No. 22 Portland, 28-29. UC Davis was third with 101 points, while North 9 Eastern Kentucky 10 Oklahoma State Dakota State was fourth with 113. In the women’s race, the fourth-ranked Ducks won with 39 points, followed 11 Stanford by a spirted eff ort from defending NAIA national champion Northwest Christian, which had 51 points. UC 12 Wisconsin Davis was third with 75 while Oregon State placed fourth with 84. In the men’s race, it was a late charge by Bryan 13 Virginia Fernandez to pass the Pilots’ Fabian Tomas that gave Oregon the one-point victory. Junior Sam Prakel won the 14 Indiana race for the Ducks in 24:36.8 with sophomore Tanner Anderson just a hair behind in second. Fernandez, a junior 15 Iowa State from Santa Barbara, Calif., was a career-best fourth in 24:45.8, with junior Blake Haney 10th (25:05.7), senior Jake 16 Iona Leingang 11th (25:07.4) and freshman Mick Stanovsek 12th (25:21.0). Th e Women of Oregon placed fi ve runners 17 Boise State in the top 11 who all fi nished within nine seconds of each other to claim the 2016 Dellinger title. Junior Emma 18 Texas-El Paso 19 Michigan Abrahamson led the way by fi nishing fourth in 17:34.2. Senior Sam Nadel, making her fi rst appearance as a Duck 20 Mississippi aft er transferring from Georgetown, took sixth in 17:36.4, while senior Maggie Schamedick was eighth in 17:39.1. 21 Washington Senior Ashley Maton was ninth (17:42.8) and sophomore Jessica Hull was 11th in 17:43.0. Oregon State’s Emily 22 Michigan State Weber became the fi rst Beaver to win the Dellinger aft er she crossed the line in 17:26.2. It was the men’s fourth 23 North Carolina State straight Dellinger title, and eighth overall. Th e Duck women won for the second year in a row and seventh overall. 24 Washington State 25 Columbia LOOKING AHEAD 26 Penn Th e Ducks travel to Terre Haute, Ind., for the Pre-National Invitational on Oct. 15. 27 UCLA 28 Tulsa 29 Colorado State PAC-12 DOMINANCE t30 Florida State Since 1958, no other conference can match the league’s combined 22 NCAA men’s and women’s team championships t30 Texas in cross country. Others Receiving Votes Dartmouth, Providence, Combined NCAA Team Titles by Conference, 1958-present Virginia Tech, Louisville, 22 Pacifi c-12 Conference Middle Tennessee, 16 Big East Conference Princeton, Southern Utah... 13 Southeastern Conference 2016 Women’s Rankings 11 Big XII 1 Providence (4) 10 Big Ten 2 Colorado (3) 3 New Mexico (5) 9 Conference USA 4 Oregon 5 North Carolina State AN OVERVIEW OF THE TEAMS 6 Stanford WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY PREVIEW 7 Portland If the Women of Oregon are to return to the trophy podium for a second consecutive season, it will take 8 Michigan State 9 Boise State a blend of veterans and newcomers, as the Ducks look to replace three of their top six runners from the squad 10 Arkansas that took third at the 2015 NCAA Championships. 11 Penn State Junior Alli Cash is the lone returning all-American from 2015. She was 31st at the NCAA Championships 12 Washington and was Oregon’s No. 2 runner at all three postseason events last fall. 13 Oklahoma State Junior Frida Berge was also one of Oregon’s more consistent runners as she scored in the Pac-12, NCAA 14 Michigan 15 Brigham Young West Regional and NCAA championship races. 16 Notre Dame Like Cash and Berge, seniors Ashley Maton and Maggie Schmaedick also ran in all three championship 17 Syracuse races for the Ducks. 18 San Francisco Th ere is more experience down the roster with junior Emma Abrahamson, and sophomores Sarah Baxter 19 Georgetown and Jessica Hull all having Pac-12 championship appearances to their credit. 20 Virginia 21 Southern Methodist Th e intriguing part of 2016 for head coach Robert Johnson and assistant coach Maurica Powell will be the 22 Penn development of fi ve of newcomers.