The Oregon men’s cross country team has achieved its goal: to be invited to the NCAA Championships.
The 14th-ranked Ducks received word Monday that they would be among the 31 teams who will compete on Nov. 19 at the Furman University Cross Country Course in Greenville, S.C.
“Our No. 1 goal from the first practice this season was to position ourselves to have a chance to advance to the NCAA Championships,” head coach Martin Smith said. “We’re excited as a program to match up against the nation’s best teams and see where we stand.”
Oregon will have to choose seven runners to compete in the national meet and eight have stood out this season. Two-time All-American Jason Hartmann, who has run in the past two national competitions individually placing 37th in 1999 and 35th in ’00, has led the unit that includes redshirt senior Adam Bergquist, sophomores John Lucas, Brett Holts and Noel Paulson, redshirt freshmen Ryan Andrus and Eric Logsdon and true freshman Seth Pilkington.
This trip to Furman will mark the 27th time the Oregon men’s team has advanced to the NCAAs since its first trip in 1963. They have four team national championships and four individual championships, three of which belong to Steve Prefontaine, as well as seven team runner-up finishes.
The last time the Ducks competed in the NCAAs was in 1999, when they came away with a sixth-place finish.