LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Oregon’s men’s and women’s cross country teams emerged with a pair of top three finishes Saturday at the Pre-Nationals meet at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park.
The fourth-ranked women ran to a second-place finish, just 15 points back of top-ranked Florida State, while the No. 15 men knocked off five ranked teams en route to a third-place showing.
“Both teams accomplished what they set out to do this weekend,” said associate head coach Andy Powell. “We got a good look at the course and did a good job of sticking to our race plans. I think it was a pretty good meet for both the men and the women.”
Florida State won the women’s 6,000 meter race with 72 points. The Ducks were right on their heels with 87 points. No. 8 Michigan took third with 141 points, followed by defending national champion and sixth-ranked Georgetown (163), Texas (184), No. 17 William & Mary (266) and No. 18 Colorado (273) and No. 24 Villanova tied for seveth at 273.
The margin between the Ducks and Seminoles was razor-thin. Senior Alexi Pappas led the Ducks with a third-place finish in 19:56.9. Senior Jordan Hasay backed that with a fifth-place run in 20:03.4. Oregon also counted an 18th-place finish from Allie Woodward. The freshman from Green Bay, Wis., ran 20:24.6 in her cross country debut. Freshmen Annie Leblanc was 27th in 20:41.2 and senior Sarah Penney was 34th in 20:48.1.
FSU countered with Violah Lagat in fourth, Colleen Quigley sixth, Amanda Winslow 14th, Kayleigh Tyerman 17th and Jessica Parry 31st, with Tyerman’s 17th-place showing as the Seminoles’ No. 4 runner accounting for most of their 15-point margin.
“The women were pretty good today,” said Powell. “We had Alexi and Jordan working together up front and a pretty tight pack from our other runners.”
The women also had sophomore Megan Patrignelli 42nd in 20:57.9 and freshman Abbey Leonardi 52nd in 21:05.8.
Wichita State’s Aliphine Tuliamuk-Bolton won the women’s title in 19:43.9, while Risper Kimaiyo of Texas-El Paso was second in 19:46.0.
Defending Pac-12 champion Colorado won the men’s race. The seventh-ranked Buffalos were impressive in scoring 72 points. No. 3 Brigham Young was second with 127 points with the 15th-ranked Ducks scoring 152 points for third place. No. 14 Florida State was fourth with 275 points, followed by Duke (287), Virginia Tech (288) No. 9 Tulsa (292), No. 12 Villanova (338) and No. 20 Georgetown (351).
Trevor Dunbar led Oregon with his fifth place finish. The senior from Kodiak, Alaska, covered the 8,000 meter course in 23:20.5. Junior Parker Stinson took ninth in 23:24.8, while junior Ben DeJarnette continued his solid junior season with a 28th-place showing in 23:52.3. Sophomore Cole Watson was 49th in 24:02.4 with fellow sophomore Daniel Winn 61st in 24:06.8.
“Trevor and Parker ran pretty well together today and we had a good group in our 3-4-5-6-7 guys hanging tough to back them up,” said Powell. “I think all the guys may have PR’d for 8K today.”
Also for the Ducks, freshman Matthew Melancon was 65th in 24:12.0. In the men’s open race, freshman Chris Brewer ran ninth in 24:32.3.
UTEP’s Anthony Rotich was the men’s individual champion in 23:01.0.
Oregon next returns to action Friday at the Beaver Classic in Corvallis before the Pac-12 Championships Oct. 27 in Santa Clarita, Calif.
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