In what promises to be a season-long dogfight, Oregon landed the first punch in its opponent’s own backyard.
The Duck harriers defeated the Cardinal men at the 4K Stanford Invitational Saturday, 45-45 winning on a sixth-man tiebreaker. Oregon, which opened the season ranked No. 21 in the nation, was led by senior All-American Ryan Andrus, who won his first race of the season.
Andrus’ 11-minute, 53-second mark eclipsed second-place finisher Josephat Keino of Alliant International by five seconds.
No. 2 Stanford was paced by Steven DeWitt, the fourth runner through the finish line (12:02). Stanford sent a split squad to Saturday’s meet, meaning the Cardinal will likely be a much stronger team when it faces Oregon again. Other members of Cardinal’s varsity squad competed in the Stanford Invite 8K.
Oregon’s strong showing included senior Eric Logsdon placing fifth (12:03) and sophomore Kyle Alcorn running a close sixth (12:06). Picking up key points at the team’s fourth and fifth spots were sophomore Patrick Werhane (18th, 12:23) and freshman Chris Winter (20th,12:25).
Instrumental, though, in the team’s win was freshman J.K.
Withers’ 24th-place finish (12:30). Withers’ effort as the sixth Oregon finisher bested Stanford’s number-six man’s 99th-place finish, giving the Ducks the victory over the Cardinal runners.
Women finish 14th
Two time zones away, the Duck women competed in the Roy Griak Invitational at the University of Minnesota. The meet showcased some of the country’s most powerful female cross country teams including No. 2 Providence, No. 8 Princeton, No. 16 Arkansas, and No. 22 Arizona State.
Senior Laura Harmon led the Ducks in the 6K race, placing 10th (21:27) in the 29-team gold race.
“I went out and felt really good. It was awesome to have people to chase, including quite a few people from our regional that I recognized,” Harmon said.
Harmon started the race with a 10:34 first-half split and ended the tougher part of the course with a 10:53 second-half split.
“I started around 30th place and worked my way up throughout the race, including a few spots in the last mile,” said Harmon. “It’s a good course to race on.”
Establishing herself as the No. 2 runner for the young Duck squad was freshman Katie Leary, finishing 68th overall (22:40). Junior Haripurkh Khalsa (80th, 22:53), freshman Sarah Pearson (100th, 23:09), and junior-transfer Mandi Fitz-Gustafson (174th, 23:58) rounded out the scoring for the Ducks.
The women’s team placed 14th at the highly competitive meet, ahead of Pac-10 rivals Arizona (15th), Washington State (16th), and California (26th).

Beau Eastes is a freelance reporter
for the Daily Emerald.