The cross country season heads into the Pacific-10 Conference Championships, one of the biggest meets for the Ducks, this weekend in Scottsdale, Ariz.
With five men’s and five women’s Pac-10 teams ranked in the latest top-25 national polls, the Oregon harriers will have to be at their best if they want to make a statement this weekend.
Stanford, a perennial power, is the overwhelming favorite as the Cardinal men are ranked No. 2 and the women No. 1 in the country. The men’s field also includes No. 13 Arizona, No. 19 Arizona State and No. 24 Washington.
Oregon men’s head coach Martin Smith, who has his team ranked No. 20 in the nation, is looking forward to the race.
“It should be a very good meet,” he said. “There are several good teams, and they all seem to have at least two or three low scorers up front.”

All-American junior Jason Hartmann, who placed second last year in the event, will lead the way for the Ducks and has a chance to win the individual title. Arizona State’s Fasil Bizuneh and Stanford’s Ryan Hall and Louis Luchini are among the runners with the best chance of taking the spotlight away from Hartmann.
“This is an opportunity for Jason to see how he stacks up with some of the best individuals in the country,” Smith said.
In order for Oregon to finish well as a team, their other runners must finish near the front. Martin Smith said that the Ducks’ success will be measured by how many of the two through six runners finish in the 15th to 20th range.
On the women’s side, following No. 1 Stanford should be No. 7 Arizona State, No. 11 Arizona, No. 13 Washington and No. 22 UCLA. Oregon head coach Tom Heinonen is not expecting to beat any of the five ranked teams, but did say that his team will run well.
“We’re healthier now than at Pre-NCAAs,” he said. “We think we can have our best showing of the season this week.”
Sophomore Laura Harmon has recovered from a kidney infection and redshirt sophomore Alicia Snyder-Carlson is back from an ankle sprain, so the Ducks’ are only missing Tara Struyk, whom they have been without for the entire season.
With no seniors on the team, Heinonen is looking at each race as a learning experience.
“Our goal is to be sixth and be as close to (the five ranked teams) as possible,” he said. “We expect everyone back next year so this is another step in our development.”
Junior Carrie Zografos, who has led the Ducks in every race in which she has run this season, and Harmon should be the top finishers for Oregon. Heinonen said that he is looking for the two to run their best races of the season.
The championships will be different from other races that the Ducks have competed in this season because of the limited number of participants. Sixty three athletes from nine schools will run in the women’s race and only eight schools will send runners for the men’s race (Southern California has no men’s team and Oregon State has no cross country program).
“It’s a much more personal race and a good challenge at this time of the season,” Heinonen said.
The men’s 8,000 meter race will be held on the Pavilion Lakes Golf Club at 10 a.m., and the women’s 6,000 m. will follow at 11 a.m.