Some may have wondered how the Oregon cross country team would fare at the Pacific-10 Conference Championship without All-Americans Steve Fein and Andrew Bliss, the squad’s two best runners from the previous season.
On Saturday, the Ducks made a strong, responsive statement.
The young, green and yellow pack of two seniors, a junior, a sophomore and three freshmen exceeded all expectations at the Pac-10 championships in Seattle, edging No. 10 Arizona by four points to finish in second place with a score of 66. Stanford won the team title with 21 points by placing five runners in the top seven.
This year marks the fourth time in five years that Oregon trailed only Stanford in the Pac-10 meet.
“Coming in, I tried to convey the intensity of what a conference meet is,” Oregon head coach Martin Smith said. “Today they rose to that challenge. We have a really young team, and a key was that the freshmen kept their cool and followed the plan.”
The losses Fein and Bliss left the Ducks with a young and unproven team this season, but Smith’s team has earned a No. 13 ranking and posted three impressive performances at large meets.
Super sophomore Jason Hartmann led the Ducks at the championship meet, placing second in the team standings and improving Oregon’s chances of receiving an NCAA meet bid.
Hartmann put in arguably his best performance as a Duck, finishing second individually in a personal best 23 minutes, 47 seconds over the 8,000-meter course.
“I tried to grind it out from the start,” Hartmann said. “I got in good position early and wanted to be ready to move with the leaders. I’m happy with the place and I hope it’s just the start, and I can move up from here.”
Hartmann, last season’s Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year, trailed only Jonathon Riley of Stanford (23:39). The first five finishers eclipsed the course’s old record of 23:53.
Senior Michael Kasahun also put in a good performance, placing tenth in a personal best 24:03. Kasahun’s finish is a nine-spot improvement over last year’s conference meet.
“I was able to keep track of where I was at the entire race and work off the other runners,” Kasahun said. “I ran a smarter race and didn’t press it too early. Normally I like to be up among the leaders and hang on. I felt good about my place.”
Junior Adam Bergquist led a pack of Oregon runners finishing 17th, 18th and 19th. Freshmen John Lucas and Brett Holts followed Bergquist to the line, all finishing within five seconds of each other.
The meet was the conference debut for four of Oregon’s seven runners.
Freshman Noel Paulson placed 25th in a time of 24:35 in his conference debut. Senior Lincoln Nehring rounded out the Oregon contingent, placing 31st in a time of 24:48, only a minute behind Hartmann.
The Duck’s performance in Seattle improves their chances of a possible top-two finish at the Western Regional meet on Nov. 11, earning the Ducks and automatic NCAA bid.