The Oregon men punched their ticket to next weekend’s NCAA championships and freshman standout Edward Cheserek continued his outstanding season with a win at the NCAA West Regional Championships on Friday.
Cheserek ran side-by-side with teammate Parker Stinson for the majority of the race, as the duo held a nine-second lead over the 15-man chase pack through 8,000 meters. Stinson eventually came back to the pack, fading to a fifth place finish, but Cheserek held pace over the final 2,000 meters, finishing eight seconds ahead of Stanford’s Jim Rosa. Cheserek navigated his first collegiate 10,000-meter race in 29:35 and will head into the NCAA championship meet as both the Pac-12 and West Regional champion.
Oregon finished second behind Stanford in team scoring. The Cardinal placed three runners in the top six and beat the Ducks by a score of 53-64. Oregon’s third runner was senior Mac Fleet, who finished 13th in 29:58, one second behind Stanford’s No. 4 runner Sean McGorty. Junior transfer Tanguy Pepiot followed up on his strong Pac-12 championship showing with a 19th place finish of 30:12. Rounding out the top five for Oregon was freshman Jake Leingang, who finished 28th in 30:30.
With their second place finish, Oregon earned an automatic bid to next Saturday’s NCAA championships in Terre Haute, Ind. The next team finishers were Portland, Boise State and Arizona State, which all stand good chances of earning one of 13 at-large bids to the NCAA championships.
On the women’s side, Oregon missed out on an automatic bid but with a strong third-place finish, the Ducks stand a good chance at receiving an at-large bid.
Leading the way for Oregon was sophomore Molly Grabill, who traversed the 6,000-meter course in 20:01 for a 14th-place finish. Grabill ran with teammates Annie Leblanc and Maggie Schmaedick for the majority of the race, with Leblanc finishing 17th in 20:04 and Schmaedick finishing 25th in 20:16. Rounding out the top five for Oregon was Abbey Leonardi and Megan Patrignelli, who finished 31st and 33rd respectively. Boise State’s Emma Bates took the individual honors in 19:11 over Arizona State’s Shelby Houlihan.
Arizona beat Stanford in team scoring 84-94, with both squads earning automatic bids to the NCAA championships. Oregon finished a distant third with 120 points, but with regular season wins over Stanford and Great Lakes qualifier Michigan, the Ducks are likely to receive an at-large bid to Terre Haute.
You can find official results from Friday’s NCAA West Regional championships here.
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