It wasn’t quite déjá-vu, but it doesn’t get much closer.
Oregon cross country traveled north to Salem on Saturday, competing in the 19-team Willamette Invitational at Bush Park.
For the second time in as many weeks, the Ducks were led by Magdalena Sandoval. And for the second time in two weeks, Sandoval finished second overall.
Oregon finished sixth in the race — one of the few differences between Saturday’s race and the Sundodger Invitational held two weeks ago, where Oregon finished fourth.
However, similarities existed.
Senior Eri Macdonald again finished second on the Ducks’ team. Macdonald finished with a time of 17 minutes, 39 seconds, for 14th overall.
Sandoval was the first collegiate finisher at the Willamette Invitational, finishing in 16:50. The senior was outpaced by Margaret Butler of Kajaks Track Club –a repeat of the Sundodger Invitational. Butler beat out Sandoval the previous weekend as well.
“Magdalena is continuing to improve every race she gets under her belt,” head coach Marnie Mason said in a press release. “Each race she gets progressively stronger.”
But what was different?
For starters, Sandoval was the only scoring Oregon runner to finish in the top 10. The next-best finisher after Sandoval and Macdonald was sophomore Haripurkh Khalsa, who finished 60th overall.
The Ducks had two runners in the top 10. Laura Harmon finished sixth overall, but the senior ran unattached, nullifying her score.
“Eri didn’t have as strong a race, while Haripurkh had the race of her collegiate experience being third on our team,” Mason said. “Overall, it was a good team effort.”
Marquette claimed the title on Saturday, finishing two points ahead of Nevada. Portland came in third, followed by UC Davis and Santa Clara. Oregon finished nine points behind Santa Clara.
Sandoval and Macdonald have a chance to catch their breath before they head to the Pre-NCAA Invitational in Cedar Falls, Iowa, home of Northern Iowa. The Pre-NCAA meet will be held on Oct. 18. Northern Iowa also plays host to the 2003 NCAA Championships, slated for Nov. 24.
“We’ll throw in a pre-nationals race for Eri and Mag so they can get experience against top-notch individuals,” Mason said.
Oregon will return to action as a whole on Nov. 1 at the Pacific-10 Conference Championship in Pullman, Wash.