Top Teams Vie for Title at Pac-12 Meet

EUGENE, Ore. – The Ducks begin the championship portion of the 2016 cross country schedule with the Pac-12 Championships Friday at Randolph North Golf Course in Tucson, Ariz.

The women's 6,000-meter race will lead things off at 9:30 a.m., followed by the men's 8,000-meters at 10:30 a.m.

Once again, the Pac-12 Championships will be the feature races among the conference meets. The men have four of the nation's top 10 teams in the field, while the women have four of the country's top 11 teams running on Friday. No other conference has more than two teams ranked in the top 11 in either the men's or women's polls.

In the men's race. the top teams are No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 Oregon, No. 7 Colorado, No. 10 UCLA, No. 15 Washington State and No. 25 Washington. On the women's side, ranked squads include No. 1 Colorado, No. 2 Washington, No. 5 Oregon, No. 11 Stanford, No. 17 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 25 California.

WHAT TO WATCH
MEN: The men's Pac-12 Championships will be the first meeting of the season between Oregon and Stanford, two teams favored not only for conference supremacy, but also picked to challenge for a trophy next month at the NCAA Championships. Colorado is below the Ducks and Cardinal in the current poll, but the Buffaloes are the five-time defending league champions. A subplot to the team competition is Edward Cheserek's quest to become the first man in league history to win four Pac-12 individual league titles. It is a feat accomplished once previously on the women's side. Arizona's Amy Skieresz won four straight women's cross country crowns from 1995-98.
WOMEN: Speaking of the women, three of the nation's top five teams will vie for the 2016 title. Both top-ranked Colorado and No. 5 Oregon have won the Pac-12 twice in the last five years. No. 2 Washington is seeking its first Pac-12 crown since 20009. The Buffaloes defeated Oregon and No. 11 Stanford to win the Pre-National Invitational two weeks ago. Individually, Katie Rainsberger was the top freshman at the Pre-National meet (sixth) as she looks to continue her outstanding rookie fall.

OREGON IN THE PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
MEN: The Men of Oregon have won 16 Pac-12 championships, with the last one coming in 2008. The Duck men have finished third or better at this meet 10 years in a row, including a third-place showing behind Colorado and Stanford in 2015. Oregon has had an individual champion 15 times, including Edward Cheserek, who last year became the first man in the history of the league to win three individual titles in a row.
WOMEN: The Women of Oregon have won nine league titles, including two of the last foure (2012, 2014). The women were second behind Colorado by six poins in 2015. The Duck women have had eight individual titles in their history with the last being Jordan Hasay in 2010.

ENTRIES
WOMEN: Both squads bring relatively strong experience into the Pac-12 meet. The women will enter six runners with prior league meet experience, including all-American Alli Cash who was sixth at the 2015 Pac-12 Championships. Other Duck women with previous Pac-12 races include seniors Ashley Maton and Maggie Schmaedick, juniors Emma Abrahamson and Frida Berge and sophomore Jess Hull. They'll be joined by Georgetown senior transfer Sam Nadel and freshmen Katie Rainsberger and Perrin Xthona.
MEN: Led by the three-time Pac-12 champion Edward Cheserek, the men will run as experienced squad as well. Senior Jake Leingang, juniors Bryan Fernandez, Travis Neuman and Sam Prakel and sophomores Tanner Anderson and Matthew Maton all have run at the Pac-12 level previously. Making their first Pac-12 appearances will be senior Dartmouth transfer Tim Gorman and freshmen Jackson Mestler, Austin Tamagno and Levi Thomet.

KING CHESEREK
Senior Edward Cheserek has won three straight NCAA individual cross country titles. He is the first man in NCAA history to accomplish that feat. No man has ever won four NCAA cross country titles (consecutive or otherwise). With his third career victory last fall, Cheserek joined a trio of collegiate distance running's all-time legends with three career NCAA cross country titles: Gerry Lindgren of Washington State (1966, 1967, 1969), Steve Prefontaine of Oregon (1970, 1971, 1973) and Henry Rono of Washington State (1976, 1977, 1979).
Cheserek quick facts:
   * Has won 15 of his last 17 cross country races, and 16 of 20 in his career
   * Has never finished lower than fourth in a collegiate cross country race
   * Is the first man to win three consecutive NCAA Championships
   * Is the first man to win three consecutive Pac-12 titles
   * Won the NCAA West Region meet in 2013 and 2015 (finished second in 2014 to Stanford's Maxim Korolev)
   * Was the first Oregon freshman to win the NCAA Cross Country championship.
   * Has won a combined 15 career NCAA individual titles between cross country, indoor, and outdoor track, a mark that is tied for the all-time NCAA record with Texas-El Paso's Suleiman Nyambui.

NCAA CAREER INDIVIDUAL TRACK & FIELD/CROSS COUNTRY TITLES
   NAME       SCHOOL       NCAA TITLES
1.   Suleiman Nyambui   Texas-El Paso   15
   Edward Cheserek   Oregon       15
3.   Gerry Lindgren       Washington State   11
4.   Erick Walder       Arkansas       10
5.   Mike Conley       Arkansas       9
   Robert Howard       Arkansas       9

Ironically, despite being the most dominant cross country runner in the nation over the last four years, Cheserek has only one USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week award to his resume. That came in November of 2014 in recognition of his second Pac-12 championship.

PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS WOMEN'S RACE
Time: 9:30 a.m. PT
Length: 6,000 Meters
Live Stream: None
Twitter: @OregonTF / @pac12
TV: Pac-12 Networks delayed broadcast, Monday, Oct. 31, 6 p.m. PT
Results: http://pac-12.com/cross-country/championships / www.goducks.com
Teams (12): Arizona, Arizona State, California, Colorado, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Utah, Washington, Washington State
Rankings: No. 1, Colorado, No. 2 Washington, No. 5 Oregon, No. 1 Stanford, No. 17 Utah, No. 23 UCLA, No. 25 California
Oregon Entries: Seniors Ashley Maton, Samantha Nadel and Maggie Schmaedick, juniors Emma Abrahamson, Frida Berge and Alli Cash, sophomore Jessica Hull, and freshmen Katie Rainsberger and Perrin Xthona

PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS MEN'S RACE
Time: 10:30 a.m. PT
Length: 8,000 Meters
Live Stream: None
Twitter: @OregonTF / @pac12
TV: Pac-12 Networks delayed broadcast, Monday, Oct. 31, 6 p.m. PT
Results: http://pac-12.com/cross-country/championships / www.goducks.com
Teams (9): Arizona, Arizona State, California, Colorado, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, Washington, Washington State.
Rankings: No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 Oregon, No. 7 Colorado, No. 10 UCLA, No. 15 Washington State, No. 25 Washington
Oregon Entries: Seniors Edward Cheserek, Tim Gorman and Jake Leingang, juniors Bryan Fernandez, Travis Neuman and Sam Prakel, sophomores Tanner Anderson and Matthew Maton, and freshmen Jackson Mestler, Austin Tamagno and Levi Thomet

SCORING
The place of the first five finishers counts toward the team score. The next two runners may displace runners from opposing teams. First place is worth one point, second place two points, etc. Low score wins.

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Randolph North Golf Course is the competition site for the 2016 Pac-12 Cross Country Championships. The course will be all grass with some golf cart path crossings. There are numerous small hills throughout. The women's race will include three loops and the men's race will include four loops. Each loop is approximately 2,000 meters.