EUGENE, Ore. -- The 2009 cross country season culminates in the NCAA Championships on Monday, Nov. 23 at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Ind. Oregon comes into the Championships ranked fourth in the latest USTFCCCA women’s poll and eighth in the men’s poll. The men’s race is slated for a 9 a.m. Pacific time start, while the women will get underway at 9:45 a.m. The Men of Oregon are the two-time defending champions of this race, having won back-to-back titles behind 2008 NCAA individual champion Galen Rupp. Oregon’s women have been nearly as impressive with runner-up showings each of the last two Championships. The race length is 6,000-meters for the women and 10,000 meters for the men. The NCAA Championships will be televised live nationally on the Versus Network (locally Comcast Cable Channel 32/732 HD).

MEET DETAILS

THE MEN’S RACE
Time: 9 a.m. PST
Television: Versus Network (locally Comcast Cable Channel 32/732 HD)
Length: 10,000 Meters
Results: www.ncaa.org
Scoring: Each team is allowed seven runners. Of those, the top five account for the team score and the next two may displace runners from opposing teams.
Teams (31): Oregon, Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, Brigham Young, Colorado, Duke, Florida State, Georgetown , Iona, Iowa State, Louisville, Michigan State, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina State, Northern Arizona, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Portland, Providence, Stanford, Syracuse, Texas, Villanova, Virginia, Washington, William and Mary and Wisconsin.
At a Glance: Oregon is the two-time defending NCAA Champion, but the 2009 version a vastly different team than its predecessors. Graduated are 2008 individual champion Galen Rupp and All-American Shadrack Biwott. Olympian Andrew Wheating, another member of the 2008 championship squad, is redshirting the cross country season this fall. However, the Ducks do return a number of runners with NCAA experience. Sophomore Luke Puskedra was the top freshman in the 2008 race, earning All-America honors with his fifth-place finish. This will be the fourth NCAA Championship race for senior Diego Mercado. The two-time All-American was a top-30 finisher in both 2006 (29th) and 2007 (30th). His twin brother, junior Danny Mercado, also earned All-America status in his only NCAA appearance in 2007 when he ran 41st. Senior Kenny Klotz has run at the these Championships the past two years, earning All-America status in 2007 when he placed 37th. Juniors A.J. Acosta and Matthew Centrowitz are also members of past Oregon national championships teams, Acosta in 2007 and Centrowitz in 2008. That’s six runners with a combined nine NCAA Championship races. Runners who could see their first NCAA race include senior Jordan McNamara and freshmen Bryce Burgess and Mac Fleet.

THE WOMEN’S RACE
Time: 9:45 a.m. PST
Television: Versus Network (locally Comcast Cable Channel 32/732 HD)
Length: 6,000 Meters
Results: www.ncaa.org
Scoring: Each team is allowed seven runners. Of those, the top five account for the team score and the next two may displace runners from opposing teams.
Teams (31): Oregon, Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Brigham Young, Colorado, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Georgetown, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa State, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, New Mexico, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, Princeton, Providence, Southern Methodist, Stanford, Syracuse, Texas-El Paso, Texas Tech, Villanova, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.
At a Glance: Oregon’s top three runners have been among the best in the nation all season long. The trio is led by senior Nicole Blood, the 2009 Pacific-10 Conference individual champion, and junior Alexandra Kosinski, who have led the Ducks to back-to-back NCAA runner-up showings. Blood has a pair of top-10 NCAA finishes on her resume -- eighth in 2007 and 10th in 2008 -- for her two All-America certificates, while Kosinski sports a pair of top-13 finishes in her first two seasons at Oregon -- 13th in 2007 and eighth in 2008. Those two have been joined by freshman Jordan Hasay, who has finished no lower than sixth in her first four races as a Duck. The Arroyo Grande, Calif., native has impressed with a third-place finish at the Pre-National Invitational, a third at the Pac-10 Championships and a second at the NCAA West Regional. Additionally, junior Zoe Buckman has run at these championships each of the past two years. The remainder of the squad will be a mix of veterans and newcomers making their NCAA Championships debuts. Senior Lauren Zaludek has reemerged as a consistent scorer and was Oregon’s No. 4 runner at the NCAA West Regional, finishing 25th. Sophomore Claire Michel has also experienced a resurgence after redshirting last season and was the Ducks’ No. 5 runner at the NCAA West Regional, placing 26th. Sophomore Bronwyn Crossman and freshmen Anne Kesselring and Taylor Wallace have also all scored for the Ducks at some point during the 2009 season.

DUCKS AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Men: Oregon has won this event six times, including the 2007 and 2008 NCAA Championships. Oregon’s other titles came in 1971, 1973-74 and 1977. The Ducks are one of just four schools who have won at least six NCAA men’s cross country titles. The others are Arkansas, Michigan State and Texas-El Paso. An Oregon individual has won this race on five occasions: Steve Prefontaine, only of only three, three-time NCAA cross country champions, won in 1970-71 and 1973. Alberto Salazar was the 1978 champion and Galen Rupp was the 2008 winner. Last year, Oregon had three runners finish in the top 10 (Rupp - 1st, Luke Puskedra - 5th, Shadrack Biwott - 9th) for the first time since 1974.
Women: Oregon has won this event twice, in 1983 and 1987, and has been the runner-up on five other occasions (1979, 1981, 1988, 2007, 2008). UO is one of only seven schools that has won the national title more than one time. Oregon has produced 13 top-10 individual finishes at the NCAA Championships, including Alexandra Kosinski’s eighth place showing and Nicole Blood’s 10th place showing last season. The Ducks’ last runner to finish higher than eighth was Lisa Karnopp, who ran third in 1991. The best individual finish by an Oregon woman was second by Leann Warren in 1981.

PAC-10 DOMINANCE
In the last half century, no other conference can match the league’s combined 19 NCAA men’s and women’s team championships in cross country.
Combined NCAA Team Titles by Conference, 1958-present
19 Pacific-10 Conference
13 Southeastern Conference
12 Big East Conference
9 Conference USA
8 Big Ten
8 Big XII

2008 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS RECAP
At the LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Ind., Galen Rupp won his first individual title to lead Oregon to its second straight NCAA men’s cross country championship. The women gutted out an impressive second place finish, which was the Ducks’ second straight NCAA runner-up showing.

Rupp was one of three top-10 finishers for the men, as the No. 1-ranked Ducks pulled away for a 54-point victory over No. 7 Iona. Oregon tallied 93 points to Iona’s 147 with No. 3 Stanford third at 227.

Rupp, who set a Gibson Course record in finishing in 29:03.2, became just the third Duck to win the NCAA cross country title. He joins Oregon legends Steve Prefontaine, a three-time winner in 1970-71 and 1973, and Alberto Salazar, who was the Ducks’ last individual champion in 1978. In addition to Rupp, the Duck men also counted All-American performances from Luke Puskedra, who ran fifth in 29:27.8 and was the meet’s top freshman finisher, and Shadrack Biwott, who placed ninth in 29:43.4. Oregon had three runners finish in the top 10 for the first time since 1974 (Paul Geis/4th, Dave Taylor/5th and Terry Williams/6th).

It was the sixth NCAA men’s cross country championship for the University of Oregon, and school’s 15th NCAA team championship overall. It was also the Ducks’ first back-to-back titles since 1973-74. Oregon’s other NCAA cross country titles came in 1971, 1977 and 2007.

Nearly as impressive was the women’s second-straight second place showing. Alexandra Kosinski and Nicole Blood were the catalysts with top-10 finishes. The two ran with the lead pack for much of the race as Kosinski finished eighth in 20:05. Blood was just a step behind her in 10th (20:09). Both runners earned the second cross country All-America awards of their careers. The pair gave Oregon two top-10 individuals for just the second time in school history. In 1991, Lisa Karnopp was third and Lucy Nusrala was eighth.

Mattie Bridgmon, a transfer from Eastern Washington, ran the race of her life and passed a dozen competitors in the final 200 meters to finish 40th in 20:43.6 and earn her first career All-America award.

No. 1 Washington won their first NCAA title with 79 points. Oregon was second with 131 points, a total that was a 46-point improvement over the Ducks’ 2007 mark.

VIN LANANNA AT THE PAC-10 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Fifth year Associate Athletic Director Vin Lananna has an unmatched track record at the Pacific-10 cross country championships. His charges at Oregon, and previously Stanford, have produced 18 team titles and 10 individual winners. The 2008 championships saw Lananna’s legacy continue with another team title for the Men of Oregon and an individual win by Galen Rupp, while in 2009 Nicole Blood claimed an individual title for the women. Lananna was named both the Pac-10 and National Men’s Coach of the Year following Oregon’s 2008 NCAA Championship.

Lananna’s Pac-10 Title Runs (Oregon/Stanford)
Men’s Team Titles - 9 (Stanford 1996, ‘97, ‘98, ‘00, ‘01, ‘02; Oregon 2006, ‘07, ‘08)
Women’s Team Titles - 9 (Stanford 1993, ‘94, ‘96, ‘97, ‘98, ‘99, ‘00, ‘01, ‘02)
Men’s Individual Titles - 6 (Stanford 2000, ‘01, 03; Oregon 2006, ‘07, ‘08)
Women’s Individual Titles - 4 (Stanford 1999, ‘01, ‘02; Oregon 2009)

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