By the time Benjamin Balazs and Diana Cherotich crossed the finish line in first place at the Bill Dellinger Invitational, Oregon cross country already knew what it had.

By the time both were named U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association (USTFCCCA) Division I National Athletes of the Week on Oct. 13, it was clear to everyone else: the Ducks have everything they need to remain challengers at the top of the Big Ten later this month.

It’s a program with a rich history — 10 combined men’s and women’s national titles — and a women’s conference championship to defend this month. After a season stacked with collegiate and professional alumni success, the Ducks are poised to take a strong cross country campaign, which concluded with top-four sweeps of both the men’s and women’s races at the Dellinger, into the postseason.

Balazs, who won the Dellinger men’s 8K race in 23:08.2, leads a group that also includes Dellinger top-six finishers Evan Bishop (23:09.89), Abdel Laadjel (23:11.47), Aiden Smith (23:15.46) and Michael Mireles (23:25.61) into the Big Ten Championships later this month. The Ducks finished third at last year’s edition, behind Washington and champions Wisconsin, where Smith and Simeon Birnbaum (18th at the Dellinger) were named All-Big Ten after finishing in the top 10 of the championship race. Birnbaum was also named to the All-Freshman team.

The Ducks’ men’s program, headed by track and field head coach Jerry Schumacher, has flashed depth throughout the season — the Dellinger was the first time Balazs, Bishop, Laadjel, Smith or Mireles had run in official cross competition. 

The previous two men’s outings — the 5K Mizzou Opener, hosted by the University of Missouri, and the 8K Cowboy Jamboree, hosted by Oklahoma State University — featured strong showings from Sergio Del Barrio (third at Mizzou, 28th in Oklahoma), Jack Meier (12th in Missouri) and Tayson Echohawk (16th in Oklahoma, second team All-Big Ten in 2024). Four Wisconsin runners finished in the top 20 at last year’s conference championships, and Oregon would have to put together a similar effort to push for the title.

Before the Dellinger, the USTFCCCA ranked Oregon as a projected autoqualifier to the NCAA Cross Country Championships, which will be hosted on Nov. 22 in Columbia, Missouri. Wisconsin, the only other Big Ten projected-AQ, sat atop the Great Lakes region and has remained the top seed through four polls, while Oregon began the season ranked behind Stanford in the West region but jumped the Cardinal after Week 1.

The rankings are determined “subjectively by a single member coach in each respective region,” the USTFCCCA said on its website. A strong performance at the conference championship, though, will go a long way toward cementing the Ducks’ first-overall place. In the Coaches’ Poll, Oregon ranked 14th, but has dropped every week after beginning the season in ninth. Still, it’s the second-best Big Ten program behind No. 7 Wisconsin. 

On the women’s side, Cherotich and Juliet Cherubet led the way at the Dellinger for a group already ranked fourth in the nation by the coaches and top of the West in the regional rankings on Oct. 7. The Ducks sat behind only Brigham Young University (the unanimous first-place choice), NC State University and the University of Florida. Shalane Flanagan, who coached the Ducks’ strong women’s middle-distance group that put Oregon in the mix for last year’s team titles, is back at the helm of the women’s cross country team. 

In two regular-season meets at the 3-mile UVU Invitational in Orem, Utah and the 6K Gans Creek Classic in Missouri, the Ducks secured three top-five finishes. Cherubet was the only Oregon athlete to finish in the top five in Missouri, with a 19:20.30 outing, while Ella Thorsett (17:22.64) and Katie Clute (17:22.66) finished fourth and fifth in Utah. 

At the Dellinger, it was all about freshman Cherotich, who ran 18:58.81 in her first race of the year to finish nearly a minute ahead of Cherubet, who still came through in 19:42.93. Thorsett finished sixth, while Clute finished 19th. It’s the first cross-country race for Cherotich, but not her first competition in an Oregon kit; she won the Big Ten 10,000-meter Championship at Hayward Field earlier this year.

For the Ducks, who still haven’t had 2024 All-Big Ten finishers Şilan Ayyıldız and Mia Barnett return from their elongated track seasons, the conference championships are an immense opportunity. They totaled five top 12 finishes at last year’s edition, and despite only one of those (Anika Thompson, 12th) having run a race this season, they’re still one of the favorites for this year’s team title.

The competition for this year’s Big Ten Championships is set for Oct. 31, in East Lansing, Michigan.