Growing up in Southern California, Cheyenne Savoie was constantly surrounded by elite water polo talent. But even as a young girl, her own skills shone through when she jumped in a pool.

“She would go in and post up against the guys in the middle of the pool, get the ball and just score,” Cheyenne’s sister, Chantelle, recalled about her playing youth co-ed water polo. “When your sister is killing it against the boys in the pool, it stands out.”

Cheyenne — who is one of the captains of the Oregon club water polo team — picked up the sport in the fourth grade. Her ball handling skills were a distinct cut above those of her peers, so her parents enrolled her at the Los Angeles Water Polo Club when she started high school. In her junior year, her 18 and under team won the National Junior Olympics tournament in front of several Olympic and college coaches.

From there, Cheyenne tried out for the Olympic Development Program — a strenuous process that involved a pair of seven hour days in the pool every weekend over the course of three months. Despite coming up short of making the Team USA Junior Olympic team, she made the Cadet team and got to practice and travel with Team USA.

Cheyenne broke numerous Ventura County and Newbury Park High School records in the pool and several top Division I college programs offered her full-ride scholarships. But by the end of her high school career, the grind of year-round water polo had taken its toll.

“I went on recruiting trips and I just saw what it was going to be like,” Cheyenne said. “With any DI sport, it becomes your life and I wanted to have a normal college experience without having to play water polo every second of the day. I was just tired out.”

Instead, Cheyenne headed north for Eugene. The University of Oregon doesn’t have a varsity water polo team, but the Oregon club team provided her with the perfect outlet to continue to feed her passion for the sport. The demands aren’t as high as they would be at a Division I program, but the team practices five days a week and travels to tournaments.

“It’s like having the best of both worlds,” Cheyenne said of her experience at Oregon. “I get to have this team that I love and play the sport I love, but I also get to experience the college life.”

As a freshman, she emerged as a top player on the club and had the opportunity to play alongside Chantelle, who was a senior at the time. A year later, Cheyenne thrived in her role as one of the team’s captains.

“She’s not only great at motivating herself but motivating people around her so everyone can accomplish the goal,” club president Emily England said. “Her presence just commands respect and you want to hear what she has to say.”

For Cheyenne, being a part of the team has allowed her to grow outside the pool into what her father, Lanny, describes as a “very mature and well-rounded person.”

“She would have done great playing DI,” Lanny said. “But she’s enjoying life and getting good grades. She’s doing really good and we’re really proud of her.”

Follow Chris Mosch on Twitter @chris_mosch

With just second lefts before the final whistle of Friday night’s game against Lewis and Clark College, Henry Fassinger thought he had a hat trick. The Oregon men’s club soccer outside midfielder struck a well-placed corner kick from the top of the 18-yard box, only to watch Lewis and Clark’s keeper make an outstanding diving save to deny him of his third goal of the game.

“I just watched it right to my foot,” Fassinger said. “It felt so good coming off it. I thought I had it right when I kicked it but the goalie made a really good save.

Instead, Fassinger settled for a pair of goals and a 6-2 win over the Pioneers.

The Ducks grabbed an early lead in the 10th minute. Forward Ian Maloney received a pass at the top of the 18-yard box and drilled his shot past the keeper and into the bottom left corner to give Oregon a 1-0 lead.

Oregon got away with a few defensive miscues immediately after Maloney’s goal, most notably a pass back to keeper Mak Lindquist that was subsequently turned over to a Lewis and Clark attacker.

However, Oregon settled down and began to gain the upper hand in the middle of the field. A series of passes in the 30th minute culminated with Fassinger’s first goal of the game.

“We were working on going to the middle and then sending it out wide because their center backs were pressing pretty high up,” Fassinger said. “We got a nice ball on the right side and then in the middle from the wing. It kind of floated across towards me and I just left-footed it in the back post.”

With Lewis and Clark’s defensive line pressing up, the Ducks caught them off guard on a counter-attack in the 42nd minute. Gregg Anderson slotted a through ball to Daley Stevens from just inside midfield, and the former Oregon player-coach dribbled past the final defender on the last side before burying a shot into the back of the net.

Oregon cruised into halftime with a 3-0 lead, but the Pilots cut into the lead early in the second half and had the Ducks on their heels.

In the 56th minute, an Oregon defender was called for a foul in the box. This led to a penalty kick and the Ducks being forced to play a man down, as head coach and center back Alex Riley was issued a red card after arguing against the call on the field. Lewis and Clark’s Mohammed Alnahari put away the penatly kick to make it 3-1.

Ten minutes later, the Lewis and Clark forward tallied his second goal of the game. A Lewis and Clark goal kick was flicked at midfield over the Oregon defense and Alnahari ran onto the ball. With just the keeper to beat, Alnahari volleyed a shot over Lindquist to cut Oregon’s lead to one goal.

However, a defensive blunder by the Pioneers ultimately swung the momentum back in Oregon’s favor. In the 70th minute, a ball cleared out by Oregon took several big bounces in Lewis and Clark’s territory and was fielded just outside the 18-yard box at the feet of their keeper. He dribbled the ball back into the box but Oregon’s Yutaro Tahara stole the ball from him before he could pick it up, resulting in Oregon’s fourth goal of the game.

Maloney added his second goal of the game minutes later on a free kick from 25 yards out. Fassinger capped off Oregon’s scoring in the 84th minute with his second goal of the game.

“The biggest thing was that when we went down a guy, we started to bring our center forward back a little bit, or had him play more in the middle,” Stevens said “We made him the pinpoint of the offense. We just funneled everything through there. It was me at times, it was Henry Fassinger at times and it was also Gregg (Anderson). We said everything goes through them, we work off of it and then we play every ball wide off of that.”

The Oregon men’s club team travels to the University of Portland on Saturday to play at 4:00 p.m. You can find more information about the club team on their Facebook page.

Follow Chris Mosch on Twitter @chris_mosch

For the second consecutive year, Oregon sophomore Edward Cheserek earned Pac-12 Athlete of the Year honors while Robert Johnson was named the Pac-12 Women’s Coach of the Year on Wednesday.

Cheserek joined Steve Prefontaine (1970-71) and Jim Hill (1982-1983) as the only Oregon runners to claim back-to-back Pac-12 individual championships with last Saturday’s win. It was the fourth race that the reigning NCAA cross country champion won this season and his seventh straight victory dating back to last season.

Johnson was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year after leading the Ducks to their second conference title in three years. The Oregon women placed their top seven runners in the top 20 overall at Saturday’s Pac-12 championship with their five scorers finishing with an 11-second spread. The Ducks beat runner-up Stanford by a final score of 54-74.

The first Oregon woman to cross the finish line on Saturday was Frida Berge, who finished sixth overall and was named to the First-Team All-Pac-12. Berge, a true freshman, navigated the 6,000-meter course in a time of 20:25. Waverly Neer, Molly Grabill and Alli Cash all earned second-team all-conference honors.

Eric Jenkins was named to the First-Team All-Pac-12 squad along with Cheserek after his runner-up performance at the conference championships. The senior edged out Stanford’s Joe Rosa for second place at the meet, which resulted in a key two-point swing for the Ducks. Oregon ended up beating Stanford for second place in the team standings by a final of 57-60.

Washington’s Colby Gilbert was named Men’s Freshman of the Year and Colorado head coach Mark Wetmore brought home the Coach of the Year hardware after leading the Buffaloes to their third-straight conference championship. Arizona State’s Shelby Houlihan was named Women’s Athlete of the Year after edging out Stanford’s Elise Cranny for the individual title on Saturday. Cranny was rewarded with the Women’s Freshman of the Year award.

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After a long summer day spent working at his digital marketing internship and his side job as a soccer field marshal coordinator, Andrew Wohl returned home to a curious observation by his mother, Danielle.

“Andrew, why are you wearing two rubber bands around your wrist?” she asked.

“It’s to remind myself that I have to work twice as hard to be successful,” Andrew explained.

For Andrew, the rubber bands around his left wrist weren’t just personal motivation for working through two jobs this past summer. They also embodied the mantra that the University of Oregon senior — who is the men’s club soccer co-president and a fundraising manager for Pit Crew — has ingrained in himself to help overcome his learning disability.

When Andrew was two years old, his pre-school teacher identified that he had less vocabulary usage than his peers. She recommended going to The Children’s Health Council at Stanford. Andrew’s parents, Danielle and Gary, took the observation seriously. They utilized the numerous resources and programs available within Palo Alto, California to help further his language skills.

Andrew was later diagnosed with dyslexia – a reading disability that can make it difficult for the brain to properly recognize and process letters and words. Having a structured support system helped and his confidence grew as he focused on his strengths: sports and music.

This growth translated to success in the classroom.

“Through sports, he was able to develop his work ethic, compassion for others and tenacity,” Danielle said. “Developing personal strengths can have a very powerful effect on someone in their development and drive towards success.”

Andrew became increasingly interested in others with learning disabilities that succeeded despite their own struggles. He instilled the philosophies of Winston Churchill, Richard Branson and Gavin Newsom into his own personal values and took their struggles and successes to heart.

“If they were successful with their disabilities, why can’t I?” he said. “What’s holding me back? The only thing that would be is myself. So why not just pursue it as hard as I can?”

Today, Andrew continues to push himself towards his strengths. He’s become a defensive stalwart for the Oregon men’s club soccer team as well as the club’s co-president.

On and off the field, his growth as a leader has been invaluable.

“His (Andrew’s) work ethic has always been top notch,” teammate Daley Stevens said. “He’s always had it. But four years later, the biggest difference is that he’s drawing that out of other people.”

As Andrew has grown older, he’s taken steps towards achieving success in the business world through multiple internships and his work as Pit Crew’s fundraising manager.

Equipped with a bright mind and an engaging personality, the extra time and work that Andrew has to dedicate towards the classroom because of his dyslexia isn’t the only thing that shapes him. The perseverance, unique perspective and creative methods of achieving success fostered through those experiences have also shined through.

“I’ve always prided myself on being a little different and pushing myself outside my comfort zone,” Andrew said. “I think differently, I see the world a little differently, so being able to go through college with a different experience is normal for me. I expect more from myself and I know that will pay off later in life. I really do look at it as a gift.”

Follow Chris Mosch on Twitter @chris_mosch

All the talk around the collegiate cross country scene this year has been about the Colorado men’s squad. The reigning NCAA champions returned all seven runners from last year’s championship team, added former All-American Jake Hurysz and beat runner-up No. 2 Oregon by a staggering 91-35 score two weeks ago at the Pre-Nationals Invitational.

Oregon head coach Robert Johnson is no stranger to this news. He’s still confident that his team will be right in the thick of the race at Friday’s Pac-12 championships.

“From everything I’ve heard or everything I’ve been told, we don’t even need to go—just give Colorado the trophy,” Johnson said Tuesday. “They have a team assembled that some are arguing is the best in NCAA history. I think we’ll go there and continue to close the gap. We raced them there at Pre-Nationals and they spanked us pretty good. So we’re going to see if we can go and change that up. … We look to take a shot at the title, which is what we’ll always do.”

Colorado is armed with incredible depth. They placed six runners in the top-14 overall and ahead of Oregon’s third runner at Pre-Nationals. However, the Ducks boast arguably the best one-two punch in the nation with Edward Cheserek and Eric Jenkins. Cheserek hasn’t lost a cross country race since his fourth-place finish at last year’s Pre-Nationals meet and Jenkins secured a third-overall finish two weeks ago in Terre Haute.

The key for Oregon on Friday will be how their third, fourth and fifth scorers fare.

“At Pre-Nationals our 3-4-5-6 runners didn’t have the best day, so I think their margin of victory is a little misleading there,” Johnson said. “We’re hoping that all those guys hit it and if they hit it, we’ve got just as good a shot as anybody.”

Daniel Winn and Tanguy Pepiot finished 19th and 26th at Pre-Nationals, respectively. The Ducks will need better performances from the two seniors in order to keep within striking distance of the Buffaloes. The same goes for the freshman trio of Travis Neuman (42nd), Sam Prakel (83rd) and Blake Haney (77th), who have all shown throughout the season that they can make an impact.

“To be honest with you, everyone is going to need to be on,” Jenkins said. “No one can have a bad race to be able to beat them. We’ve got to be up there from the start.”

After their strong runner-up performance against No. 2 Georgetown at Pre-Nationals, the No. 3 Oregon women were already considered the favorites heading into the Pac-12 championships. But the Ducks will have yet another weapon at their disposal on Friday when junior transfer Waverly Neer makes her Oregon debut.

Neer transferred from Columbia this year and is coming off an impressive outdoor track season in which she ran a time of 15:37 for 5,000 meters. She’ll join an Oregon squad that featured a mere 10-second spread between its top-five finishers at Pre-Nationals.

“I think last year was kind of a rebuilding year,” junior Molly Grabill said. “Now that everyone that was on the squad last year is back and we’re stronger and know each other a lot better, I think that we’re definitely improved.”

Coach Johnson pointed to Grabill, Lindsay Crevoiserat and Megan Patrignelli as three of the several “number one’s” that make up the team’s tight pack. This trio along with freshmen Frida Berge, Alli Cash and sophomore Maggie Schmaedick have allowed the Ducks to stay close together throughout the season. The addition of Neer only bolsters Oregon’s chances at a second Pac-12 title in three years.

The women’s 6,000-meter race stars at 10 a.m. PT in Oakland, California, followed by the men’s 8,000-meter race at 11 a.m. PT.

Follow Chris Mosch on Twitter @chris_mosch

Heading into halftime of Sunday’s men’s club soccer match between Oregon and Oregon State, the Ducks’ defense withstood the Beavers’ attack. Oregon State drove the ball into Oregon’s defensive third on several occasions but the Ducks cleared out all potential scoring opportunities keeping the game tied at zero.

The Ducks weren’t nearly as fortunate in the second half.

Oregon State had a pair of goal-scoring headers early in the half and then added another late goal to earn a 3-0 win over Oregon at the UO Rec Fields.

“We let in those (two) goals and it just fell apart from there,” head coach and center defensive back Alex Riley said, “It was two lucky goals. Great crosses in and then their guys were just taller.”

The Oregon defense bent, but didn’t break in the first half. However, that changed in the 57th minute. Oregon State’s Borce Atanasov headed a ball past Oregon keeper Mak Lundquist for the game’s first score.

Ten minutes later, the Beavers delivered on yet another cross into the box from the right side. This time, it was Oregon State striker Kellyan Kande who jumped over Oregon defensive back Andrew Wohl to deliver the goal-scoring header.

With the Ducks desperately trying to get on the scoreboard, Oregon State caught them off-guard on a counter-attack in the 76th minute to make their third goal of the match. The Beavers strung together a series of passes, culminating in a wide-open shot in front of the net by Atanasov. It was his second goal of the game.

“We were trying to push and get some more goals, trying to come back and they caught us on the counter,” Wohl said. “I just remember I was back and suddenly they had three guys coming back at myself and Luke (Connolly) and there’s not much you can really do about that.”

The Ducks opened the game with a 4-4-2 formation but switched it up at halftime after failing to get the ball out wide to their wings. Riley decided to change to a 4-3-3 formation in the second half. He said that allowed them to open the field and start better offensive drives.

Unfortunately, the Ducks weren’t able to capitalize offensively and suffered their first loss of the season.

“I’m glad we lost 3-0 because now we can learn from that,” Riley said. “We needed that to really get into shape. At practice we’re definitely going to work on our fitness, we’re going to work on our touches, work on getting wide and this will be a whole different game two weeks from now when we play again. We’re going to play them again soon and we’re going to beat them.”

Oregon will take next week off from competition before hosting Lewis and Clark College on November 7 at 7:15 p.m. at the UO Rec Fields. You can find more information about the Oregon club team on their Facebook page.

Follow Chris Mosch on Twitter @chris_mosch

Locked in a 2-2 tie, the Oregon men’s club soccer team was the verge of putting away the decisive goal time and time again during the second half of Saturday’s game against Southern Oregon. The frustration mounted and the urgency picked up after each shot that traveled wide of the goal post or was blocked by the Southern Oregon keeper.

But in the 89th minute, the Ducks finally broke through. Luke Connolly controlled a corner kick on the far post and fired a shot that was knocked down by the keeper, but trickled past the goal line to give Oregon the goal and its second win of the season.

“During the 15 minutes we had a little more urgency going for that final third,” Connolly said. “That shot was goalbound and then the guy knocked it in, so I’ll take it.”

The Ducks got out to a sluggish start in the first half and Southern Oregon didn’t waste any time capitalizing. In the seventh minute, outside midfielder Ryan Tucker crossed a ball in from the right side and found Jesus De La Cruz, who headed it in to give the Raiders an early 1-0 lead.

Southern Oregon kept the pressure on, stringing together a series of passes just outside the 18-yard box in the 12th minute. A Southern Oregon player finally got a shot off inside the box, but Oregon keeper Mak Lindquist pushed the shot around the goal post on an outstanding diving save.

“It was definitely a little slow at the beginning,” Oregon center back and head coach Alex Riley said. “I don’t think we came out with the passion that we usually come out with. But once we started getting into the feel of things, it really started coming together.”

As the first half progressed, Oregon’s defenders started to find the midfielders with plenty of time to either dribble into space or find the next pass. The Ducks started to push the ball into Southern Oregon’s half of the field and soon enough had the points on the board to show for it.

In the 26th minute, Yutaro Tahara had a one-on-one with a defender when a teammate volleyed a pass into the box. The Southern Oregon defender tried to clear the ball with a high kick, but instead connected with Tahara’s face, resulting in a yellow card and penalty kick. Connolly put away the kick moments later to even the score.

Oregon continued its attack and after stringing together a few passes, Joe Jackson found the back of the net in the 28th minute for his first goal of the season. Oregon would take that 2-1 lead into halftime.

In the 53rd minute, Southern Oregon’s Greg Rapet capitalized on a misplay by Riley to tie the game. One of Rapet’s teammates fed him a ball over the top and Riley lost the ball in the sun, allowing Rapet to one-touch the ball over the head of Lindquist and make it a 2-2 match.

From that point on, Oregon dominated the possession game and the ball was on Southern Oregon’s half of the field more often than not.

“There were a lot of times where we would try to get caught up in playing long balls or trying to take the extra shot instead of the extra pass,” center defensive back Andrew Wohl said. “What we really needed to do was swing the ball from side to side, possess it and play our game.”

In the 64th minute, an Oregon corner kick was headed from the far post back towards the center of the field where Jackson headed a shot that was saved by the Southern Oregon’s keeper.

A minute later, Oregon’s Louis Tanguy took a shot from just outside the 18-yard box that hit off the goal post and rebounded back to Jackson. The senior midfielder took another shot on goal, but the keeper made the save from point-blank range.

There were a handful other golden opportunities in the second half for Oregon to score, but strikers and midfielders were just unable to put the ball away. But after applying pressure to Southern Oregon’s back line time and time again, the Ducks finally broke through on Connolly’s late goal.

“We definitely had a lot of shots that we could have scored on and I think that’s what we need to work on these next couple of practices,” Riley said. “We need to finish the ball better. But I’m really happy that we scored and got three points. It was a big win for us.”

Oregon travels to Corvallis on Sunday to take on the Oregon State club soccer team and will host the Beavers next Sunday at 10 a.m. at the UO Rec Fields. You can find more information about the Oregon club team on their Facebook page.

Follow Chris Mosch on Twitter @chris_mosch

With a temperature in the low 60’s and a light drizzle falling throughout the evening at P.K. Park, it was a familiar setting for several former Ducks who played at Friday evening’s Oregon alumni game.

It was a very casual atmosphere for the alumni squad; most of the players in the starting lineup sported basketball shorts as they took the field and several former Oregon pitchers got to take their hacks at the plate throughout the game. Former Ducks shortstop J.J. Altobelli even pitched the ninth inning for the visitors. Ultimately, the current Oregon team won by a final score of 9-1, highlighted by a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth by sophomore outfielder Austin Grebeck.

The Emerald caught up with head coach George Horton after the game to discuss some of the newcomers that have impressed him the most, the rehab progress of Cole Irvin and Matt Krook, the deepest group of position players he can recall and some pitchers that he envisions making a run at the weekend rotation come spring.

There are lots of freshmen and new faces on the team this year. What is it like for those guys to be able to come out here and get their first real live game in a Ducks uniform?

“Whether there’s just a couple hundred people here, the lights are on, we’re playing an opponent. It feels like a real game … Whereas in the fall we’re scrimmaging against each other. So you do see the nervousness of the youngsters and I was quite impressed with some of our guys, the way they handled the nerves and the excitement. If I’m right, I think we’ve got some tremendous young players in our program now. It just keeps getting better. The bodies are better, the kids are stronger. I really like the recruiting class we brought in this year.”

So all in all, fall ball has been a positive experience?

“Yeah, we’re still a little nicked up on the mound. I think we’re going to have the deepest position player team in quality that we’ve had since I’ve been here. The question will be how deep our pitching staff will be.”

How are Cole (Irvin) and Matt (Krook) coming along?

“They’re doing fine. They’re on schedule and Cole will be at 12 months in January so we hope he can start the season on a pitch count and be healthy. Each month that goes by should be better and better.”

You were speaking about the rotation, how’s the rest of it coming along? Who are some of the guys you’re thinking might be in the running for the rotation?

“Our whole pitching staff, because they’re brand new, are a work in progress. I’ve been very impressed with Cooper Stiles. He’s dropped his arm down and that looks like a really good thing. I think he’ll be able to pitch in some critical innings for us. Tim Susnara, who’s a pitcher and catcher, has electric stuff. David Peterson from Colorado has great credentials and he hasn’t disappointed us one bit. Connor Harber, the JC kid from Western Nevada, I like what I’ve seen from him. Jacob Corn pitched for the first time tonight, we’re real high on him. He’s had a bit of shoulder tightness so we’re tiptoeing him in. I like the way the ball comes out of his hand. On the mound, we’ve got some good new guys. Just not as many as the position players.”

How’s Scott Heineman feeling?

“He’s okay. He’s had a bit of shoulder tightness, otherwise he would have pitched tonight. He’s starting to swing the bat, so that’s good. He’s taking batting practice now. So hopefully he can be that two-way guy that we think he can be.”

When he’s on the field, is the plan more of third base?

“Probably more in the outfield. We recruited a lot of infielders and I think we have that covered. It keeps his arm fresh, it’s less wear and tear. If he’s going to do the two-way deal, then he’ll play in the outfield. If somewhere along the line, we decide that pitching him is not our plans, we might get back to looking at him at third base as well.”

So the plan is to have (A.J.) Balta at first base?

“Balta and a kid named Brandon Cuddy, a JC guy from Seminole State JC.

How’s (Steven) Packard looked out in right field? Looking like the guy to take (Tyler) Baumgartner’s place out there?

“He’s been good. He’s in the mix and we’ve got (Nick) Catalano and (Austin) Grebeck. Got a kid named Jakob Goldfarb, a freshman that we think has a really high ceiling. Unfortunately he pulled his hamstring his very first day. We ran a 60 and he’s been limited since then. Even with the quality of the infielders that we have and the athleticism, some of those guys might matriculate out to there. We’ve got a guy, Phil Craig-St. Louis, a JC guy that played second base tonight and he can really hit. So if he’s not going to be our second baseman he might be able to be a corner outfielder as well.”

You guys got a handful of transfer guys to come in this year. 

“Yeah, a lot of JC guys. Some of those guys we got late. We were worried about the draft and they didn’t have a home. Matt Eureste was a Cape Cod League all-star and some teams made a run at him professionally. He had to pass four or five classes in the summer so a lot of people didn’t trust that he would do that. He got it done and we were lucky to get him last minute. Anytime you can get a Cape Cod League all-star, you’ve got yourself a pretty good player.”

Entering Saturday’s Pre-National Invitational at Terre Haute, Indiana, Edward Cheserek and Eric Jenkins have established themselves at the front of the Oregon men’s cross country pack.

Cheserek, the reigning NCAA champion, is coming off a historic freshman campaign. Jenkins, a former All-American at 5,000 meters who transferred from Northeastern University last year, went stride for stride with Cheserek at the Battle of Beantown meet earlier this month. After Cheserek and Jenkins, however, the rest of the scoring spots are up for grabs for No. 2 Oregon.

The Ducks boast a parade of strong harriers jockeying for a spot on the squad come championship season. Senior Daniel Winn is a returnee from last year’s Pac-12 runner-up team and has finished fifth overall at both of the meets that the men’s team has run this season. But when asked on Wednesday whether he felt that his spot is secure, Winn admitted that wasn’t the case.

“We’ve got a huge group that’s really interchangeable,” Winn explained. “I was fifth both times but we had two guys right ahead of me at Dellinger and two guys right behind me at Boston, so it seems like a really interchangeable and deep group.”

Junior Matthew Melancon and freshman Travis Neuman finished just ahead of Winn at the Dellinger Invitational with Melancon and freshman Sam Prakel finished within shouting distance behind the senior in Boston. Those four, along with senior Tanguy Pepiot, sophomore Jake Leingang and freshman Blake Haney will make the trek to Terre Haute to try and leave a lasting impression on head coach Robert Johnson with the Pac-12 Championships on the horizon.

“We took basically a core group to Boston and we kind of established a 1-2-3-4-5,” Johnson said. “Then the next weekend we took some guys to the Willamette meet… so then you’re trying to round out your depth — who’s going to be 5-6-7-8. We’re going to take them to Pre-Nationals to see if we made the right choices; basically a trial and error thing there to make sure that what we see in practices and workouts is actually going to happen on race day.”

In addition to getting familiar with the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course, the home of November’s National Championships, the Ducks will get the chance to face off against No. 1 Colorado, their Pac-12 rivals and reigning NCAA champions. The Buffaloes return all seven members of last year’s championship team and will also return 2012 All-American Jake Hursyz, who missed last season due to injury.

On the women’s side, the third-ranked Ducks are coming off a win over No. 6 Stanford at the Washington Invitational. Senior Lindsay Crevoiserat finished fourth overall at the meet while the next five Ducks finished within an 11-second spread. Maggie Schmaedick, a sophomore and Eugene native, was the fourth Duck to stop the clock in Seattle and feels that the team’s success can continue into Saturday’s race.

“It was definitely a good fitness check but also a good gut check,” Schmaedick said. “Everybody was fighting for points all the way to the very end, so that’s a good gut check going in. We know we can be tough when we need to be so it definitely gives us confidence going into the Pre-Nationals meet.”

No. 1 Michigan State, No. 4 Georgetown and No. 7 Colorado will also toe the starting line in the women’s 6,000-meter race, which begins at 8:00 a.m. PDT. The men’s 8,000-meter race is scheduled to start at 8:35 a.m. PDT.

Follow Chris Mosch on Twitter @chris_mosch

On Sunday, Oregon women’s soccer fell to 6-5-2 after their 2-1 loss to Colorado. The Ducks got on the board early, with Kristen Parr tallying her second goal of the season in the seventh minute. It was the second goal of the season for the junior from Bend, Oregon, who has led the Ducks in scoring in each of the past two season. Sunday’s goal was the first score for Parr since Aug. 31 against Loyola Marymount University. Parr spoke to the media after the game.

First goal since Loyola Marymount. What did you see on the play?

I think again I happened to be in the right place at the right time. It seems over the years I’ve kind of just been there and happened to put a good touch on it.

Did it feel like a missed opportunity?

Yes and no. I think we played some pretty good soccer in the first half. I think we just need to figure out how to play 90 minutes and once we do that… I think we’ve shown that we’re playing good soccer and that we can play with anybody and we’ve come a pretty far way over the year. We just need to put the full 90 minutes together. Not 80, not 70, not one half. Once we put it together, we’ll be right in the mix of everything.

Did having the game two days ago make any difference? Was it tired legs towards the end?

Yes, but both ways and we’re used to it. We’re in the middle of the season and everybody’s legs are feeling it. But we play the sport, we chose to do it. It’s kind of part of the game. We have to push through. That’s what makes it fun.

Follow Chris Mosch on Twitter @chris_mosch