Oregon’s men and women cross country teams made history at the NCAA Regional race this past weekend in Indiana. For the first time in over 20 years, the Ducks were crowned champions on both the men and women’s side. It was an exciting day for Oregon Athletics as we saw the women set the pace with a victory in the 6k race. Once again, the Lady Ducks executed the “pack” plan and followed closely behind Stanford’s group of runners for the first part of the race. Oregon finished strong, passing competitors in the final leg of the race.
All season we have seen a different athlete lead the pack for the Lady Ducks, and this week it was Junior Molly Grabill. Grabill has experienced quite the recovery over the last year, but her hard work has paid off. She was the first Duck to cross the finish line with a time of 20:36 and finishing 11th overall. Grabill was followed by teammates Frida Berge who finished 13th, Megan Patrignelli who finished 18th, Alli Cash who finished 22nd, and Annie Leblanc in 24th. All scoring runners for the Ducks finished in the top 24.
It was no different for the Ducks on the men’s side. It was an exciting race with Edward Cheserek and Eric Jenkins setting the pace early. Cheserek took second place behind Maxim Korolev of Stanford. Jenkins finished in third place. The next finishers for the Ducks crossed the finish line in a tight pack, all finishing within three seconds of each other. Oregon had all scoring runners finish in the top 20.
Next up for the Ducks are the Cross Country NCAA Championships. While the men swept the competition at Regionals, their top competitor, Colorado, competed in a different region. They will face them this Saturday. The women look to face top teams such as Michigan State and Georgetown. Running as a pack will prove Oregon to be the top team in a highly competitive field.
The Ducks have the West Title in their pockets, now onto the Championships. The action begins this Saturday, the 22nd, at 9:00am.
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