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Oregon Men Run to Second at NCAA Championships - Goducks.com
Published by
Nov 23rd 2009, 10:19pm
For Immediate Release November 23, 2009 Contact: Greg Walker (541-954-8775)
Men Run to Second at NCAA Championships
TERRE
HAUTE, Ind. – The Men of Oregon placed four runners in the top 31 to
rally for a runner-up finish at the 2009 NCAA Cross Country
Championships Monday at the Lavern Gibson Championship Course.
For
the Ducks, who entered the race as the two-time defending NCAA
champions, but only ranked eighth in the national polls, Monday’s race
marked the school’s third straight NCAA trophy. That’s Oregon’s best
stretch at the NCAA Championships since finishing in the top two for
four consecutive years between 1976-79.
The Oregon women finished ninth.
“Our
men just ran a terrific race,” said Associate Athletic Director Vin
Lananna. “It’s always a good accomplishment when you can leave these
championships with a trophy.
“It was a disappointing day for our
women, but when you consider that neither program was even at this meet
four years ago, to finish second and ninth isn’t too bad.”
Sophomore
Luke Puskedra led the men with a 21st-place finish in 30:01.9. Junior
Matthew Centrowitz ran 27th in 30:09.5, senior Kenny Klotz was 29th in
30:13.9 and junior Danny Mercado was 29th in 30:15.4.
“We knew what we were capable of doing,” said Mercado. “We just wanted to go out and prove that we’re a good team.”
Senior
Diego Mercado’s 61st-place showing in 30:34.4 rounded out the scoring
for the Ducks, who finished just 16 points behind No. 2 Oklahoma State.
The
Cowboys won with 127 points, followed by Oregon with 143 points. No. 3
Alabama was third with 173 points, followed by No. 13 Northern Arizona
(190) and No. 7 William & Mary (226). Top-ranked Stanford ended up
10th with 354 points.
Liberty’s Sam Chelanga, runner-up to Galen Rupp a year ago, won the individual title in a course-record 28:41.3.
Oregon
steadily worked its way up the scoreboard. On the first loop, Puskedra
opened the race near the lead pack, with Klotz about 40th and
Centrowitz and the Mercado twins in the middle of the field.
The
Ducks made their move just before the midpoint, with Puskedra near the
top 10 and Klotz, Danny Mercado and Centrowitz climbing into the top 40.
With
2,000 meters remaining, Puskedra was 20th, with Centrowitz, Klotz and
Danny Mercado all around 25th, before the four Oregon runners finished
within :14 of each other.
It was the best career NCAA finish for Centrowitz, Klotz and Danny Mercado, who joined Puskedra in earning All-America honors.
“It
felt good to go out and run like we know we can,” said Centrowitz. “The
way we were racing lately really didn’t represent Oregon the way we
wanted to.”
The Duck women were led by Jordan Hasay’s 18th-place
finish in 20:23.1. The freshman from Arroyo Grande, Calif., won the
first All-America award of her young career.
“The pace went out
really quick,” said Hasay. “The last kilometer, I just tried to be
tough. I wanted to finish in the top 10, but I can’t be too
disappointed.”
No. 2 Villanova won the race with 86 points, with
No. 8 Florida State taking second with 133 points. Top-ranked
Washington was third with 188 points, followed by No. 9 Texas Tech
(191) and No. 3 Princeton (251).
Angela Bizzarri of Illinois was the individual winner in 19:46.8.
In
addition to Hasay, the Ducks, who had five of seven runners making
their NCAA Championships debuts, counted a 48th-place finish from
senior Nicole Blood (20:54.6), an 81st-place finish from junior
Alexandra Kosinski (21:10.5), an 87th-place finish from sophomore
Claire Michel (21:12.6) and a 103rd-place showing from senior Lauren
Zaludek (21:19.2) for their 276 total.
“Sometimes you have these days,” said Blood. “We have a great group of women and we know we’re better than that.”
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