The University of Oregon cross country program has been recognized traditionally as one of the nation’s most prominent, especially as a leader in the Pacific-10 Conference.

The roots of the “Conference of Champions” go back five decades, and Oregon’s men’s and women’s programs will continue to hold a special place in its history as they look to repeat conference and postseason honors in 2007.

The Duck men’s team won its league-leading 14th title last year en route to West Regional and NCAA accolades, and return the bulk of last year’s talent. The Duck women also sport a talented corps of young runners who aim for strong postseason showings.

The Duck cross country programs are two of the nation’s most vibrant and teem with All-America athletes, world-class facilities and nationally respected coaches. Sharing in the excitement is Track Town, USA and the University of Oregon who devote an equal passion towards distance running.

2007 SEASON OUTLOOK

The Oregon distance programs are unquestionably riding a wave of national popularity in their third season under associate athletic director Vin Lananna and assistant coaches Andy and Maurica Powell.

During the 2006-07 season, the ‘Men of Oregon’ swept the Pacific-10 Conference Men’s Cross Country Athlete, Newcomer and Coach of the Year awards en route to national, regional and conference success, and the Duck women also sported several of the nation’s top young runners.

The 2007-08 campaign looks even more promising.

Oregon’s men’s distance roster is arguably its deepest in recent history and features three cross country All-Americans, juniors Galen Rupp and Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott and sophomore Diego Mercado, and two more NCAA track veterans, redshirt freshman Andrew (A.J.) Acosta and redshirt senior Michael McGrath. UO’s deep squad also showcases several of the nation’s most talented young runners. Redshirt freshman A.J. Acosta and sophomore Kenny Klotz won U.S. junior track titles in the summer, Chad Hall is the Ducks’ second straight Foot Locker national cross country champion signee, and Matthew Centrowitz is the third-fastest prep 2-miler of all-time.

The Oregon women’s program also features a national caliber roster dotted with decorated runners at the prep and collegiate levels. Junior Zoe Nelson was an All-Pac-10 cross country pick last fall, and a Pac-10 Championships track scorer in the 5,000m and 10,000m. Sophomores Nicole Blood and Keara Sammons were NCAA track qualifiers in 2007 and the top freshman finishers in the 5,000m and 10,000m, respectively. Sophomore Bria Wetsch is a Foot Locker Championships veteran and equally decorated on the track as a prep.

Two of the nation’s top women’s recruits — freshmen Betsy Bies and Alex Kosinski — offer equally impressive resumes. Bies has shined at the national level in cross country and was a Nike Team Nationals champion, and was a seven-time top-four South Dakota state track placer. Kosinski is the national 1,600m record holder (4:38.15), and one of the nation’s fastest recruits in the 800m (2:07.84). In cross country, she was a California state runner-up and a two-time Foot Locker qualifier.

Duck fans will get to cheer on these great teams in person this fall in several of the West Coast’s top events, stirring the hearts of the community that already eagerly anticipates the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Team Trials.

After UO opens the cross country season in early September, it hosts the second annual Bill Dellinger Invitational, Saturday, Sept. 29. The event will showcase many of the top teams from across the nation at the Springfield Country Club in one of the most scenic cross country settings anywhere. Last year, thousands of fans made the meet an instant hit, and their shouts, applause and clanging cowbells rallied on 14 teams that eventually advanced to the 2006 NCAA Championships.

The postseason kicks off a month later with the Pac-10 Championships in Corvallis, Ore., Saturday, October 27, followed by the West Regional’s first visit to the Eugene-Springfield community in more than 20 years on Saturday, November 10. The NCAA Championships return on Monday, November 19 to Terre Haute, Ind., the site of two top-five UO men’s team finishes the past five years, including last year’s breakthrough effort.

MEN'S TEAM PREVIEW

Last season, the ‘Men of Oregon’ quickly and emphatically continued their return to the front of the national scene with a sweep of Pac-10 and West Regional team championships — their first pair since 1989 — followed by the program’s 20th top-five NCAA Championships finish.

The Duck distance squad is poised for more honors again in ’07 after a stirring track and field season in which they scored nearly half of UO’s points in its Pac-10 Championships team victory — its third win since 2003 and sixth straight top-two team finish.

They will combine with a host of young, national class talent that give UO arguably the deepest roster in the nation, including two Foot Locker national champion recruits among nine freshmen and sophomores that have competed in prep national cross country championships the past two seasons.

Junior Galen Rupp joined UO’s greatest harriers last fall when he became the 20th Duck to finish top 10 in the NCAA Cross Country Championships with his sixth-place finish. Three weeks before he claimed UO’s 10th Pac-10 individual crown and was named the Pac-10 Cross Country Men’s Athlete of the Year.

On the track, he earned a 2007 World Championships invitation after he surged to a runner-up USA Championships 10,000m finish. He is a two-time NCAA 10,000m runner-up and a six-time track All-American. Rupp also left his mark on the national record books last spring with an American collegiate record in the 10,000m (27:33.42) that ranks him seventh overall in U.S. history.

Redshirt junior Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott stepped up with an All-America honor in his first NCAA Championships appearance in 2004 (14th place). Last fall, he was an All-Pac-10 First Team honoree, and again boosted the team in the Pac-10 track meet as a scorer in both the 5,000m and 10,000m. He nearly scored All-America honors on the track in the NCAA Championships 10,000m with his ninth-place finish in ’07, and ran a 29:00.52 personal best early in the season.

Redshirt senior Michael McGrath has established himself as one of the nation’s elite middle distance runners with NCAA invitations in the 1,500m outdoors in ’07 and in the mile indoors in ’06 — the latter of which came thanks to a 3:59.25 mile personal best that ranks him second all-time for UO. In cross country, he is a past Pac-10 Championships scorer and West Regional veteran.

Redshirt senior Carlos Trujillo has proven a reliable varsity cross country performer the past two seasons thanks to his hard work and continued improvement. On the track, he was one of seven Ducks in ’07 that met the 5,000m regional qualifying standard of 14:12.00 — the most nationally of any team in the event.

Junior Scott Wall looks to springboard off a breakthrough track season that featured a win and personal best in the Penn Relays 5,000m (13:57.64). The following months, he scored in his Pac-10 Championships 10,000m debut, was a regional 5,000m scorer, and dramatically lowered his 1,500m best to 3:43.82.

Redshirt sophomore James Withers is a returning Pac-10 1,500m finalist, and has run in UO’s top six in nine career cross country races, including twice as the team’s top finisher. Junior Duke Wasteney is also a Pac-10 Championships veteran in cross country and track and was one of UO’s top milers indoors in ‘07.
In cross country last fall, sophomore Diego Mercado was voted the Pac-10 Men’s Newcomer of the Year after he claimed an All-America honor in the NCAA Championships and led freshmen in the Pac-10 Championships and West Regional.

Redshirt freshman A.J. Acosta was an indoor All-American and an NCAA qualifier outdoors in ‘07. He ran a mile personal best indoors (4:00.37) that was the top freshman time nationally, and outdoors led UO in the 1,500m (3:42.40). His credentials also include a Foot Locker national cross country title in 2005 and U.S. junior 1,500m titles in ‘06 and ‘07.

In ’07, sophomore Kenny Klotz paced the U.S. team in the World Junior Cross Country Championships after he was the U.S. junior runner-up. Outdoors on the track, he was the U.S. junior and Pan American junior 10,000m champion and one of five Ducks that placed top 10 in the Pac-10 10,000m.

Redshirt freshman Daniel Mercado was one of the team’s fastest freshmen last spring in the 5,000m (14:15.46) and an eighth-place Foot Locker finisher as a prep senior in ‘05. Redshirt freshmen Eric and Matt Dettman and sophomore Isaac Stoutenburgh were USA Junior Championships qualifiers.

Redshirt sophomore Jonathan Thomas was a regional 5,000m qualifier outdoors last spring and a Pac-10 Cross Country Championships scorer as a freshman in ’05.

On the track last spring, redshirt freshman Andrew Wheating shined as one of the team’s leading middle distance runners with his regional qualifying marks in the 800m and 1,500m (1:50.17 / 3:44.25) and was a Pac-10 800m scorer.

Three distinguished freshmen, Matthew Centrowitz, Chad Hall and Chris Kwiatkowski, are hailed additions in ’07. In 2006-07, Centrowitz — the son of former Duck great and Olympian Matt Centrowitz — stamped himself as a national and international class performer. He opened the summer by running away with the Nike Nationals 2-mile title and third-fastest prep time ever (8:41.55), then was the Pan American junior 1,500m champion and U.S. junior 1,500m runner-up. In cross country, he was an eighth-place Foot Locker placer last fall and a three-time Maryland state champion. Hall led preps last fall in cross country with his Foot Locker Championships national crown and is a two-time California state 3,200m runner-up. Kwiatkowski was a Washington state cross country runner-up and Border Clash top-25 placer.

Another highly respected transfer, graduate student Joaquin Chapa, adds championship track experience. The former Stanford All-America middle distance runner ran an outdoor 5,000m best of 14:07.41 in ‘07, and already sported impressive 800m and 1,500m bests of 1:49.86 and 3:43.22, respectively.

WOMEN'S TEAM PREVIEW

The Oregon women look forward to a breakthrough season after they have attracted many of the nation’s top distance runners that have shined on the national and conference stages as preps and collegians.

Sophomore Nicole Blood has quickly penned an amazing resume at the collegiate, national and international levels. The former U.S. junior champion in the 3,000m, 5,000m and cross country was the Pan American Junior 3,000m champion this past summer. For the Ducks, she stood out as the top freshman in the NCAA 5,000m last spring after she ran a personal best in the West Regional 5,000m (16:19.15). In the fall, she joined the squad late in the season and ranked top five for UO in the Pac-10 Championships and West Regional.

Redshirt freshman Keara Sammons made the most of her collegiate cross country debut last fall and won the Pier Park Preview. On the track in ‘07, she was the top freshman finisher in the NCAA 10,000m, and her personal best from earlier in the season (33:54.55) moved her to sixth all-time for UO. She scored for the team in the Pac-10 Championships 10,000m and 5,000m and was an NCAA indoor 5,000m provisional qualifier.

Sophomore Bria Wetsch joined the squad for the cross country championship slate in ’06 and stood second on the team in both of her races — the Pac-10 and West Regional Championships. She was a three-time USA Junior Championships competitor and the national prep 2-mile champion as a senior (10:10.50).
In ‘06, junior Zoe Nelson scored All-Pac-10 Second-Team Honors in the Pac-10 Cross Country Championships and was just shy of similar honors as a freshman in ’05.

Senior Sarah Pearson has helped the team at the Pac-10 Championships level as a scorer in cross country and in the 10,000m on the track.

Freshman Zoe Buckman looks ahead to her first cross country season, and Duck track fans already recognize her as one of the nation’s top collegiate middle distance newcomers. In 2006, the Canberra, Australia native placed 11th in the World Junior Championships 800m and 1,500m, and owns impressive personal bests in the 800m and 1,500m (2:03.94 / 4:19.96). For the Ducks, she was an NCAA 800m qualifier and a top-five Pac-10 and Regional event placer.

Other returnees from last year include redshirt senior Emily Mathis, sophomores Berkeley Aldinger-Gibson and Lauren Zaludek and redshirt freshman Erin Lewis.
The Ducks’ newcomer class again rates among the best ever with four freshmen that look to make an immediate impact.

Freshman Betsy Bies captured the celebrated Nike Team Nationals individual title as a junior and then added top-12 finishes in the Foot Locker Championships as a junior and senior. At the state level, the South Dakota cross country champion was a four-time, top-four event finisher and scored seven similar finishes in her prolific prep state track career.

Freshman Alex Kosinski drew national acclaim when she broke the national high school 1,600m record as a senior (4:38.15), and was a two-time Foot Locker cross country qualifier.

A pair of in-state additions — freshmen Haley Belli and Claire Michel — are two of the state’s top prospects. Belli was a four-time top-three state track placer for Philomath High School, and last year’s state cross country runner-up was also a four-time, top-10 state harrier finisher. Michel was a state 3,000m champion as a junior among her three, top-five state track finishes, and was the state cross country champion as a junior and runner-up as a sophomore and senior.