In a sneak preview of things to come, the Oregon cross country teams achieved mixed results. The Ducks traveled to Iowa State for the pre-NCAA meet Saturday to look at the NCAA championship course, to scout out the competition and, more importantly, to have a chance to beat top-25 ranked teams.
The men did just that, and in the process have almost assured themselves of an NCAA at-large bid, should they not automatically qualify.
Martin Smith’s squad finished eighth out of 53 teams at Iowa State with 382 points. The No. 18 Ducks beat seven other top-25 teams and should climb in the national polls, which are released every Tuesday.
The Ducks were also third among Pacific-10 conference schools, behind top-ranked Stanford and No. 9 Arizona.
Sophomore Jason Hartmann led the Ducks with a 30th-place finish, seven places better than his NCAA meet finish a year ago. His time was 31 minutes, 35 seconds over the 10,000-meter course.
Senior Michael Kasahun was not far behind, finishing 36th in 31:41 seconds. The time equals Kasahun’s 10,000-meter personal best in cross country, which he also ran at the Western Regionals last season.
Junior Adam Bergquist put in another solid performance at Oregon’s No. 3 spot. Bergquist, who is coming off of a redshirt season, placed 80th in a time of 32:14.
Redshirt freshman John Lucas led a pack of the next three Ducks. Lucas placed 122nd in 32:33. Freshmen Brett Holts (32:36) and Noel Paulson (32:41) followed in 133rd and 145th, respectively.
Senior Sam Hill rounded out the Oregon contingent in 184th in 33:02.
In the men’s “B” race, senior Lincoln Nehring placed ninth in 32:08. Freshman Aaron Emery followed in 24th in a time of 33:21.
No. 3 Colorado won the team title behind Jorge Torres’ individual title.

In contrast to the men’s success, the Duck women were dealt a major blow in their quest for a fourth-straight NCAA appearance.
Tom Heinonen’s 22nd-ranked squad came into Ames, Iowa, with plans to dethrone other top-25 teams. But the Ducks found themselves on the receiving end at the meet.
Oregon placed 21st overall, 14th among the 16 top-25 teams present.
Senior Hanna Smedstad led the Ducks with a 35th-place finish, well below her 18th place finish at the NCAA meet last year. The transfer from Oklahoma State covered the 6,000-meter course in 21:55.
Senior Rhiannon Glenn was the next Duck to the line, placing 123rd in a time of 22:47.
Sophomores Erinn Gulbrandsen and Eri MacDonald followed in 163rd and 176th, respectively.
Senior Katie Crabb, who is usually Oregon’s No. 2 runner, finished 180th in 23:19, more than a minute slower than her previous 6,000-meter race.
Freshman Laura Harmon was not far behind in 202nd in a time of 23:34. Sophomore Carrie Zografos rounded out the Oregon contingent in 304th in a time of 24:43.
“Almost everyone felt flat and tired,” Heinonen said. “We tried to run conservative early, and some our runners were able to move up a little. Rhiannon and Erinn ran pretty solid races, but as a team we were far below form.”
Defending national champion Brigham Young won the team title with 128 points. Colorado’s Kara Wheeler took the individual title in 20:27.
The Ducks will get two more chances to impress the NCAA selection committee. In two weeks, Oregon travels to Seattle for the Pac-10 championships. On Nov. 11, the Duck Harriers get a final chance to earn an NCAA bid at the Western Regional meet.
“We’ll be very lucky to make the NCAA meet,” Heinonen said. “But it’s still possible since 31 teams qualify, and we did beat a few teams that might help us later on.”