The University of Oregon cross-country women’s team finished fifth, while the men finished second at the 2019 Pac-12 Championships held in Monmouth, Ore. 

Heading into the postseason, both teams are ranked top-20 in the nation — the men’s and women’s teams are ranked No. 16 and No. 20 respectively. 

Cooper Teare, a junior on the men’s team finished 12th in the 8,000 meters last time he ran at the Nuttycombe Invitational on Oct. 18. — a race in which he finished in 23:51.9, Teare was looking to best his time. And that is exactly what he did. 

In the men’s 8,000 meter race he placed second and surpassed his previous time by more than 45 seconds, running 23:05.7. Senior James West also made a top-10 appearance placing ninth. 

Four other Ducks placed in the top 20, with Jackson Mestler and Charlie Hunter placing 14th and 15th respectively. Freshman Cole Hocker was right behind them, with a 17th placement as Jack Yearian placed 20th, three seconds behind Hocker.

In the women’s 6,000 meter race only two Oregon runners placed in the top-20. Redshirt senior Susan Ojore placed ninth, running a sub-20 minute race in 19:55.2. Senior teammate Amanda Gehrich placed 20th running 20:13.2.