The latest men’s cross county poll is out, and other than the top three spots, there was quite a shake-up in the rankings. After an 11th place finish Saturday at the Roy Griak Invitational, the Ducks dropped from No. 16 in the nation to No. 18.
The Mondo men’s poll features two other Pacific-10 Conference teams, No. 2 Stanford and No. 15 Arizona State, who jumped up seven spots, above Oregon. Regional foe Portland, who was ranked No. 13 before Saturday, now holds the No. 6 position.
Arizona, who last week was ranked No. 12, fell drastically out of the top-25 because of a poor showing Saturday where they beat only one ranked team, the host school No. 20 Minnesota.
The Oregon women harriers, who finished in last place at the Griak, remain out of the FinishLynx women’s poll. The Stanford women maintained the No. 2 spot, while Arizona State leapt up the polls from No. 11 to No. 4 after winning the Griak.
No. 9 Arizona (down from No. 8), No. 16 Washington (up from No. 17) and No. 18 UCLA (previously unranked) also hold spots on the top-25 poll.

Not quick enough off the line
“We victimized ourselves with our conservative race strategy and never really gave ourselves the chance to succeed,” women’s head coach Tom Heinonen said of his squad’s performance Saturday.
During the meet in Minnesota on Saturday, the Ducks’ plan, according to sophomore Magdalena Sandoval, was to “start the race conservatively, then stay strong through the middle, then finish really strong trying to pass people.”
The blueprint for the race would have worked well in a smaller race, but the course in Minnesota was just too tight with the number of runners in attendance.
Heinonen said that the course would have been fine for 150 runners, but was far too narrow for 300.
“Going out slow and trying to work your way past those who have gone out too fast just didn’t work,” he said.

Preppin’ for the Willamette
The men and most of the women will not run until the Furman Invite on Oct. 13, but before then some female harriers will travel to Salem for the Willamette Invitational. Runners going include Laura Harmon, Alicia Snyder-Carlson, Annette Mosey, Sara Schaaf, Annie Davis and Taylor Bryant.
The race is mostly designed for small college runners, but Heinonen said that it could be good for the Oregon runners to get some more experience running in a race with 300 other participants.

Rice transfer fitting in well
Sandoval, who finished third on the Oregon squad at Saturday’s meet, has been a welcomed addition to the team. Though her summer training was limited by a bout with mononucleosis, Sandoval should be a scorer for the Ducks in all their races. With Rice, Sandoval ran well for the team, but the college just wasn’t the right fit.
“I was just not having a satisfying running experience and running is so important to me,” she said.
Heinonen said that Sandoval’s enthusiasm for the sport and excellent attitude is a good influence on the team.
“She is a delight to have on the team,” he said.
Sandoval’s father, Tony, won the 1980 U.S. Olympic Trials marathon and was an Olympic alternate in 1976.