There is one Oregon team that can call themselves national champions this year. The women’s cross country team won its first NCAA cross country national title since 1987 on Saturday.
The squad was led by a bold effort from seniors Jordan Hasay, Alexi Pappas and Katie Conlon.@@directory@@
Hasay led her team throughout the 6,000-meter distance. However, the team as a whole had an impressive performance with each Oregon runner in the top 50 throughout nearly the entire contest.
Hasay lead the pack throughout the race, only falling to Iowa State’s Betsy Saina@@http://www.tfrrs.org/athletes/2439118.html@@ and Abbey D’Agostino@@http://www.dartmouthsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=11600&ATCLID=204971765@@ of Dartmouth at the end. After a sprint to the finish, Saina was the individual champion in 19:27.9, followed by D’Agostino and Hasay both in 19:28.6.
Hasay, from Arroyo Grande, Calif., is one of the most decorated runners in school history with 14 combined All-American awards, two national titles and four Pac-12 crowns. Besides being a dominant runner, Hasay excels in the classroom with a grade point average better than 4.5.
This season, Hasay has truly made the most out of her senior year. She helped the Ducks place overall at Pre-Nationals by placing fifth overall.  Hasay came in second at the Pac-12 Championships, helping the team win the title and won the NCAA West Regional Championships for the third consecutive year. In addition, she was named the USTFCCCA West Region Athlete of the Year.@@http://www.ustfccca.org/2012/11/featured/region-award-winners-in-division-iii-announced-for-2012-cross-country@@
With help from Hasay and an overall dominant team performance, Oregon finished with a winning score of 114 points, followed by Providence with 183, Stanford with 198.
“I wanted to win, but I wanted to the team to win more, so I’m pretty happy about that,” Hasay told goducks.com. “We’ve been trying to win this meet ever since my freshman year, so it’s great to be able to do it with these girls who have been supporting each other for so long.”
Senior transfers Alexi Pappas and Katie Conlon also helped anchor the Ducks to first place.  Pappas finished eighth in 19:43.9. However, it was Conlon who was the surprise of the race for the Ducks. Normally, she is the Ducks’ fifth or sixth runner during the regular season, but in the last third of the race, she passed a couple dozen runners and ultimately placed 39th with a time of 20:15.0.
Freshmen Allie Woodward and Katie Leblanc also contributed to the final team score. Woodward was 44th overall in 20.19.5, while Leblanc topped off the score for the Ducks, finishing in 68th with a time of 20:31.5.
“In one way or another, every runner for Oregon stepped up and ran in a way they hadn’t before,” head coach Robert Johnson told goducks.com. “We are absolutely thrilled to be able to bring this national title back home to the state of Oregon.”
It is the women’s third NCAA cross country title in school history. The Ducks are one of only seven schools that have won the national title more than once.