The Oregon men’s and women’s cross country teams travel to Louisville, Kentucky this weekend to compete in the 2012 NCAA Championships on Saturday at E.P “Tom” Sawyer State Park.
The 16th-ranked men return to the championship stage after surprisingly not making an appearance in 2011. Previously, the team competed in five straight NCAA championships.
The men have three runners with prior NCAA Championship experience in senior Trevor Dunbar and juniors Parker Stinson and Ben DeJarnette.
For the women, this is their sixth straight trip to the NCAA championships. The Ducks finished fifth last year for their third top-five showing in the last five years.
The No. 2 team is coming off their first place victories in the Pac-12 Championship and NCAA West Regional Championship.
The women will look for experience from seniors Jordan Hasay, Becca Friday and Anne Kesselring.
Hasay placed second in the championships a year ago, took third as a sophomore in 2010 and was 18th as a freshman in 2009. The California native won her third straight NCAA West Regional crown and was the runner-up at the Pac-12 Championships.
The women have won this event twice, in 1983 and 1987.They are one of only seven schools that have won the national title more the once. The men’s team last won in 2008 and are one of just four schools who have won at least six NCAA titles.