NCAA Regionals Next for Cross Country Teams
11/11/2008 - GoDucks.com Print Email E-News RSS
EUGENE, Ore. -- The Oregon men’s and women’s cross country teams return to action for the NCAA West Regional on Saturday, Nov. 15 at Stanford, Calif. The women’s race begins at 11 a.m., with the men’s race at noon. The top two men’s and women’s teams from each of nine regionals being conducted around the country on Saturday will automatically advance to the NCAA Championships Nov. 24 in Terre Haute, Ind. There are an additional 13 at-large bids available. The West Regional will be contested on the Stanford Golf Course. It is a 6,000-meter race for the women and 10,000 meters for the men.
MEET DETAILS
THE WOMEN’S RACE
Time: 11 a.m.
Length: 6,000 Meters
Results: www.gostanford.com and www.ncaa.org.
Teams: The NCAA West Region covers teams from the states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. The three exceptions are Nevada, Northern Arizona and Northern Idaho, which are in the Mountain Region.
Entries: Each team is allowed seven runners. Of those, the top five account for the team score and the next two may displace runners from opposing teams.
At a Glance: The 2008 NCAA West Regional could very well be a replay of the 2008 Pac-10 Championships, which were held at Springfield Country Club on Oct. 31. All the nationally ranked teams in the region come from the Pac-10, including No. 1 Washington, No. 2 Oregon, No. 11 Stanford and No. 16 Arizona State. In the latest USTFCCCA West Region rankings, Washington is first, followed by Oregon, Stanford, Arizona State, Washington State, UC Riverside, Oregon State, Portland and Arizona. Last year, five teams from the West (two automatic, three at-large) earned bids to the NCAA Championships: Stanford, Oregon, Arizona State, Washington and UC Santa Barbara. The West produced four of the nation’s top eight teams, including 2007 champion Stanford and runner-up Oregon. Arizona State finished fourth, Washington was eighth and UCSB took 19th. Oregon’s Nicole Blood is the top returning individual runner. She was second at the NCAA West Regional in 2007. Teammate Alexandra Kosinski ran fifth for the Ducks, while transfer Mattie Bridgmon, then running for Eastern Washington, took 20th.
THE MEN’S RACE
Time: Noon
Length: 10,000 Meters
Results: www.gostanford.com and www.ncaa.org.
Teams: The NCAA West Region covers teams from the states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. The three exceptions are Nevada, Northern Arizona and Northern Idaho, which are in the Mountain Region.
Entries: Each team is allowed seven runners. Of those, the top five account for the team score and the next two may displace runners from opposing teams.
At a Glance: The NCAA West Region may arguably be the toughest of all nine regions and is certainly the most top-heavy with No. 1 Oregon, No. 3 Stanford and No. 4 Portland the favorites for the two automatic bids. Oregon is the two-time defending champion of this event and is led by 2007 individual winner Galen Rupp, who won the 2008 Pac-10 title Oct. 31 at Springfield Country Club. The Ducks also have Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott, who was third in the Region last season. Stanford, which will be running on its home course, was second to Oregon at the Pac-10 meet, while the Pilots will be led by 2008 West Coast Conference and Bill Dellinger Invitational winner David Kinsella, who was second at the Regional last season. Other nationally ranked teams in the meet include No. 19 Cal Poly, No. 20 California, No. 23 Washington and No. 26 UCLA. Last year, six teams (two automatic, four at-large) advanced to the NCAA Championships: Oregon, Cal Poly, Portland, California, Stanford and Arizona State, with the Ducks bringing home their first NCAA Championship in 30 years.
DUCKS AT THE NCAA WEST REGIONAL
Women: Oregon has won this event 12 times, which is second only to Stanford’s 14 titles. The Ducks’ team titles came in 1976-81, 1983, 1985, 1987-88, 1990-91 and 1995. Oregon has also produced the individual champion on eight occasions. Penny Graves won twice (1986, 1988), while Robin Baker (1978), Molly Morton (1979), Kathy Hayes (1983), Annette Hand (1987), Lucy Nusrala (1991) and Milena Glusac (1994) each claimed one crown.
Men: Oregon has won this event six times, including the last two. Stanford has won the most with 10 titles, followed by Arizona with eight. In addition to 2006-07, Oregon’s other titles came in 1982-83 and 1988-89. The Ducks have also produced seven individual champions, including Galen Rupp in 2007. Other individual winners for Oregon include two-time champs Jim Hill (1982-83) and Karl Keska (1995-96), as well as Brad Hudson (1989) and Steve Fein (1999).
2007 NCAA WEST REGIONAL RECAP
At the 2007 NCAA West Regional Championship, the Springfield Country Club continued to position itself as one of the top West Coast cross country sites and thousands of fans cheered the Ducks to automatic NCAA berths.
The No. 1-ranked Duck men opened the morning with a convincing team win and defended their regional title with 47 points for its sixth regional men’s team victory.
On the individual front, Galen Rupp won his first regional title and UO’s seventh since 1982. He ran in a four- to five-man pack through much of the middle third of the race, then made a break from the field in the final third and won by 10 seconds over Portland’s David Kinsella, while Oregon’s Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott finished third.
UO featured its next four runners in the top 25 overall—Kenny Klotz (12th), Daniel Mercado (15th), Scott Wall (16th) and A.J. Acosta (24th).
On the women’s side, No. 2 ranked UO tallied 72 points to finish second overall—its highest finish since 1997 when they also finished second—and was one of four teams in the field that ranked top seven nationally.
Nicole Blood finished second overall in the event, surging in the final mile to pull within eight seconds of the winner. Alexandra Kosinski followed in sixth place. Other UO scorers included Bria Wetsch (16th), Zoe Buckman (21st) and senior Sarah Pearson (27th).
PAC-10 DOMINANCE
In the last half century, no other conference can match the league’s combined 17 NCAA men’s and women’s team championships in cross country.
Combined NCAA Team Titles by Conference, 1958-present
17 Pacific-10 Conference
13 Southeastern Conference
12 Big East Conference
9 Conference USA
8 Big Ten
8 Big XII
VIN LANANNA AT THE PAC-10 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Fourth year Associate Athletic Director Vin Lananna has an unmatched track record at the Pacific-10 cross country championships. His charges at Oregon, and previously Stanford, have produced 18 team titles and nine individual winners. The 2008 championships saw Lananna’s legacy continue with the third straight team title for the Men of Oregon and an individual win by Galen Rupp. Lananna was named both the Pac-10 and National Men’s Coach of the Year following Oregon’s 2007 NCAA Championship.
Lananna’s Pac-10 Title Runs (Oregon/Stanford)
Men’s Team Titles - 9 (Stanford 1996, ‘97, ‘98, ‘00, ‘01, ‘02; Oregon 2006, ‘07, ‘08)
Women’s Team Titles - 9 (Stanford 1993, ‘94, ‘96, ‘97, ‘98, ‘99, ‘00, ‘01, ‘02)
Men’s Individual Titles - 6 (Stanford 2000, ‘01, 03; Oregon 2006, ‘07, ‘08)
Women’s Individual Titles - 3 (Stanford 1999, ‘01, ‘02)
A LOOK AT THE DEFENDING NCAA CHAMPIONS, RUNNERS-UP
Oregon’s 2008 cross country roster features an impressive collection of talent and experience. Combined, the two teams have 12 All-Americans and 13 of their top 14 runners back from the 2007 NCAA Championship race.
On the men’s side, 2008 Olympians Galen Rupp and Andrew Wheating are joined by fellow All-Americans Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott (the 2007 Pac-10 Champion), A.J. Acosta, Kenny Klotz, Daniel Mercado and Diego Mercado. The Duck men have welcomed a couple of newcomers into to the fold in freshman Luke Puskedra and senior transfer Curtis Suver from Eastern Washington, as well as having being bolstered by the return of sophomore Matthew Centrowitz and seniors Chris Winter, who redshirted the 2007 cross country season, and Scott Wall.
For the women, the All-Americans are both familiar -- Nicole Blood, Zoe Buckman and Alexandra Kosinski -- and new in graduate transfer students Melissa Grelli (Georgetown) and Lindsey Scherf (Harvard). They have been joined by another senior transfer, Mattie Bridgmon (Eastern Washington) and senior Zoe Nelson to give Oregon one of the most veteran women’s teams in the country. Sophomore Betsy Bies and freshman Bronwyn Crossman have also been key contributors in 2008.
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