The past two men’s cross country seasons have been disappointing by Oregon standards, but with a talented crop of freshmen and the addition of a promising transfer, this year’s squad has the potential to challenge the nation’s best teams come November’s NCAA championship.
The 2011 Oregon men failed to qualify for the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2005, ending a streak of five consecutive top-six team finishes, including back-to-back national championships in 2007 and 2008. At last year’s NCAA championship race, the Oregon men faded to a 20th-place finish and graduated their only top 50 finisher, Trevor Dunbar.
However, true freshmen Edward Cheserek and Jake Leingang, who finished one-two at this past weekend’s Boston College Invitational provide plenty of hope.
Cheserek was arguably the nation’s premier distance recruit this year, boasting a list of high school accolades headed by two Foot Locker national cross country titles. The Kenyan-born prodigy out of Newark, N.J. was named the 2013 Gatorade National Cross Country Runner of the Year and holds the national indoor high school two-mile record of 8 minutes and 39 seconds — a record that had previously stood at 8 minutes and 40 seconds for 49 years.
Leingang was able to net two top five Foot Locker championship finishes himself — securing a fourth-place finish in 2011 and a third-place performance in 2012.
Head coach Robert Johnson was excited to see the freshmen duo perform well in their first collegiate race, but stressed that he doesn’t feel the need to put too much weight on their shoulders.
“To see them go out and be in their first collegiate race with that big ‘O’ on their chest, that’s huge,” Johnson said.
Eric Jenkins, a junior transfer from Northeastern University who is projected to be one the Ducks’ top runners, was absent from last weekend’s race in Boston. Jenkins is coming off a strong outdoor track season in which he became the youngest American to ever run sub-13:20 for 5,000 meters.
Seniors Parker Stinson and Mac Fleet are both expected to play substantial roles despite disappointing performances at last year’s NCAA Championship. Stinson is a three-time All-American and capable of placing as one of the Ducks’ top harriers, and Fleet is coming off a strong outdoor track season capped by an NCAA 1,500-meter title.
Sophomore Matthew Melancon along with juniors Ryan Pickering, Jeramy Elkaim and Daniel Winn should all be in the mix for the Ducks. Pickering finished fourth overall at Boston College, with Melancon, Eklaim and Winn finishing 7-8-9, all within nine seconds of the winner’s pace.
The Ducks’ incredible depth was exemplified this past weekend by the domination of a quality field without the help of Jenkins, Fleet and an 18th place overall finish by Stinson.
“It really speaks a lot,” Melancon said. “Parker didn’t have the best race, but we all ran well. It’s that sort of thing where one person doesn’t have a great race, but the rest of the team steps up and takes (their) place. I think that really says a lot about how strong we are this year and how good we can be.”
On Saturday, the Ducks host the eighth annual Bill Dellinger Invitational at the Springfield Country Club. The men’s 8,000-meter race starts at 10:30 a.m. and the women’s 5,000-meter race is scheduled to start at 11:15 a.m.