Ducks Look to Secure NCAA Bids at West Region Meet

EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon cross country teams begin their trek to the NCAA Championships with the NCAA West Regional meet Friday at Haggin Oaks Golf Course in Sacramento, Calif.

The women's 6,000-meter race starts at 11 a.m., with the men's race going off at noon. The men will race at 10,000 meters for the first time this season.

The top two men's and women's teams from the West Regional earn automatic bids to the NCAA Championships Nov. 19 in Terre Haute, Ind., while a number of at-large bids will also be up for grabs.

In addition to the 18 automatic bids coming from the nine regional meets to be held around the nation on Friday, another 13 at-large bids will be extended Saturday based on head-to-head competition.

As has been the norm in recent seasons, the West Region features more ranked teams than any of the other eight regionals, with six top-30 teams competing in the men's race and six on the women's side.

No. 4 Stanford is the highest-ranked men's team, followed by No. 8 UCLA, No. 10 Oregon, No. 12 Portland, No. 17 Washington State and No. 20 Boise State.

In the women's race, No. 4 Washington leads the way, followed by No. 7 Stanford, No. 10 Portland, No. 11 Oregon, No. 16 San Francisco and No. 27 California.

WHAT TO WATCH
MEN: The battle to secure a top two finish - and an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships - will be tightly contested between the Pac-12's Stanford, UCLA, Oregon and Washington State, as well as Portland out of the WCC and Boise State from the Mountain West. Nearly a third of the West Region's teams are in the top 20, so with a high finish all of those teams could be in a strong position to earn at at-large bid should they place outside of the top two. At the individual level, Edward Cheserek goes for his third career West title. The 2014 West race was the sight of one of Cheserek's four career losses (second to Stanford's Maxim Korolev).
WOMEN: With No. 4 Washington the favorite, the intrigue will be the race for second between No. 7 Stanford, No. 10 Portland and No. 11 Oregon. Like the men, a strong finish should put the next three or four teams outside the top two in a spot to earn an at-large bid. Individually, Katie Rainsberger earned Pac-12 freshman of the year honors as the top rookie in the league race (fifth) and now looks to make that claim for the West Region.

THE AT-LARGE BID
The Regional races are akin to the conference tournaments in basketball. For many teams, the only path to advance to the NCAA Championships is getting an automatic bid by finishing in the top two spots. However, those teams who have accumulated the most head-to-head victories are also in good shape to advance as an at-large team, should they fall out of the top two. This is the case in the West Region, where a handful of teams in both races could move on to Terre Haute. However, just like in basketball, if unexpected schools nab automatic bids, that squeezes at-large teams off the bubble.

ABOUT THE WEST REGION
The NCAA West Region covers teams from the states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. There are three western Universities that are exceptions: Idaho State, Nevada and Northern Arizona, which compete in the Mountain Region.

DUCKS AT THE NCAA WEST REGIONAL
   Women: Oregon has won this event 16 times, including three of the last four years, which is one more than Stanford for the most in West Region history. The Ducks' team titles came in 1976-81, 1983, 1985, 1987-88, 1990-91, 1995, 2012 and 2014-15. Oregon has also produced the individual champion on 12 occasions, including recent three-time winner Jordan Hasay (2010-11-12). Penny Graves won twice (1986, 1988), while Robin Baker (1978), Molly Morton (1979), Kathy Hayes (1983), Annette Hand (1987), Lucy Nusrala (1991), Milena Glusac (1994) and Alexandra Kosinski (2008) each claimed one crown.
   Men: Oregon has won this event nine times. Stanford has won the most with 14 titles, followed by the Ducks. Oregon's titles have come in 1983-83, 1988-89, 2006-08, 2010 and 2014. The Ducks have also produced 10 individual champions, including Edward Cheserek in 2013 and 2015, and Galen Rupp in 2007 and '09. Other individual winners for Oregon include two-time champs Jim Hill (1982-83) and Karl Keska (1995-96), as well as Brad Hudson (1989) and Steve Fein (1999). Last season, the Ducks finished third and received an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships.

ENTRIES
WOMEN: Both squads bring relatively strong experience into the NCAA West meet. The women will enter five runners with prior regional meet experience, including all-American Alli Cash who was sixth at the 2015 regional meet. Other Duck women with previous NCAA West races include seniors Ashley Maton and Maggie Schmaedick, and juniors Emma Abrahamson and Frida Berge. They'll be joined by Georgetown senior transfer Sam Nadel, sophomore Jess Hull and freshman Katie Rainsberger.
MEN: Two-time NCAA West champion Edward Cheserek leads seven Duck runners with previous regional experience. Junior Travis Neuman was fourth in 2015 and is coming off his best meet of the season after finishing 13th at the Pac-12 Championships. Other Ducks who have run this 10K race before include senior Jake Leingang, juniors Bryan Fernandez and Sam Prakel and sophomores Tanner Anderson and Matthew Maton. Making their first NCAA West appearances will be senior Dartmouth transfer Tim Gorman and freshmen Jackson Mestler, Austin Tamagno and Levi Thomet.

NCAA WEST REGIONAL WOMEN'S RACE
Time: 11:00 a.m. PT
Length: 6,000 Meters
Live Stream: None
Twitter: @OregonTF / @hornetsports
Results: http://www.rtspt.com/events/ncaa/d1westxc16/
Teams (39): Arizona, Arizona State, Boise State, California, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly, Cal State Bakersfield, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, Eastern Washington, Fresno State, Gonzaga, Hawaii, Idaho, Long Beach State, Loyola Marymount, Oregon, Oregon State, Pacific, Pepperdine, Portland, Portland State, Sacramento State, Saint Mary's, San Diego, San Diego State, San Francisco, San Jose State, Santa Clara, Seattle U., Stanford, UCLA, UNLV, USC, Washington, Washington State.
Rankings: No. 4 Washington, No. 7 Stanford, No. 10 Portland, No. 11 Oregon, No. 16 San Francisco, No. 27 California
Oregon Entries: Seniors Ashley Maton, Samantha Nadel and Maggie Schmaedick, juniors Emma Abrahamson, Frida Berge and Alli Cash, sophomore Jessica Hull, and freshman Katie Rainsberger

NCAA WEST REGIONAL MEN'S RACE
Time: 12:00 p.m. PT
Length: 8,000 Meters
Live Stream: None
Twitter: @OregonTF / @hornetsports
Results: http://www.rtspt.com/events/ncaa/d1westxc16/
Teams (32): Arizona, Arizona State, Boise State, California, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, Eastern Washington, Gonzaga, Idaho, Long Beach State, Loyola Marymount, Oregon, Pepperdine, Portland, Portland State, Sacramento State, Saint Mary's, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose State, Santa Clara, Seattle U., Stanford, UCLA, Washington, Washington State.
Rankings: No. 4 Stanford, No. 8 UCLA, No. 10 Oregon, No. 12 Portland, 17 Washington State, No. 20 Boise State
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.

CHESEREK NAMED PAC-12 ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Oregon's Edward Cheserek was named Pac-12 Cross Country Male Athlete of the Year for an unprecedented fourth-straight year. The league also selected Katie Rainsberger as its Freshman of the Year. Juniors Alli Cash and Travis Neuman were also named to the all-Pac-12 teams. Cheserek (Newark, N.J.) completed the most decorated men's career in Conference history with his unrivaled fourth consecutive Pac-12 individual championship, passing distance legends and three-time champions Steve Prefontaine (Oregon, 1970-71 & 1973) and Henry Rono (Washington State, 1976-77 & 1979). He is now the first man to earn the Conference's Athlete of the Year award four times, eclipsing Rono's total of three. He joins Arizona women's alumna Amy Skieresz (1995-98) as the only four-time individual champions and Athletes of the Year in Conference cross country history. Rainsberger (Colorado Springs, Colo.) finished fifth at the Pac-12 Championships, the highest freshman finisher in the field, in a time of 20:30.6 to earn first team All-Pac-12 honors. Rainsberger's fifth-place run was the highest by a Duck true freshman since 2009 Conference Freshman of the Year Jordan Hasay placed third.

CHESEREK NABS SECOND USTFCCCA WEEKLY AWARD
Edward Cheserek's fourth Pac-12 title also earned him his second career USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week honor. He won his first coaches' association award in November of 2014 in recognition of his second Pac-12 championship.

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 16 of his last 18 cross country races, and 17 of 21 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 four 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.