University of Oregon
Washington Invitational
Cheserek, Ducks Reign in Seattle
10/03/15 | Cross Country
EUGENE, Ore. – In the city of king salmon and “King Felix,” Edward Cheserek was king for a day in Seattle, leading the Duck cross country teams to a sweep of the Washington Invitational Friday afternoon at Jefferson Park.
The fifth-ranked men won with 52 points, comfortably ahead of No. 2 Stanford (69), No. 12 Brigham Young (70), No. 11 UCLA (117), Air Force (136), Washington (146) and Portland (174). The No. 5 women were even bigger winners at 36 points, followed by No. 15 Washington (59), No. 4 Stanford (60), No. 23 Brigham Young (77), Air Force (143) and Gonzaga (200).
How It Happened - Men: Cheserek surged to the front as Oregon took the lead on the final lap. Cheserek fought off a game challenge by Stanford's Joe Rosa to win by :05. Cheserek, winning for the 10th time in the last 11 races dating back to the 2013 Pac-12 Championships, finished the 8,000 meter course in 23:15.4. He was backed by a pair of freshmen making their collegiate debuts. Bend's Matthew Maton took eighth in 23:27.2, while Tanner Anderson of Spokane ran 12th in 23:34.6. The veterans closed the deal for the Ducks as Sam Prakel finished 14th in 23:34.6, Travis Neuman 17th in 23:36.7 and Matthew Melancon 18th in 23:37.7
How It Happened - Women: Oregon led nearly wire-to-wire with Alli Cash, Maggie Schmaedick and Waverly Neer in the lead pack throughout the race. Cash followed up her Bill Dellinger Invitational victory with a runner-up finish on Friday in 19:44.6. Schmaedick was fourth in 19:50.2 in her 2015 debut, while Neer took sixth in 19:56.8. Frida Berge (11th, 20:09.3) and Molly Grabill (13th, 20:11.2) rounded out Oregon's scoring. Stanford's Aisling Cuffe won the 6,000 meter women's race in 19:41.0.
What It Means: After Cheserek, Oregon's No. 2 through No. 6 runners had a spread of just 10.5 seconds, as pack running was a huge success for the men on Friday. The women saw a decent :27 spread from one to five, and will look to drop that into the teens as the season goes along. Friday also marked the successful debuts of freshmen Maton and Anderson on the men's side, and veterans Schmaedick and Grabill for the women.
Odds and Ends: In addition to the four previously mentioned, other Ducks making their debuts on Friday included Georgetown senior transfer Ryan Gil (32nd, 23:54.6) for the men, and freshman Jessica Hull (38th, 20:41.5) and senior Abbey Leonardi (39th, 20:42.3) for the women…The women successfully defended their 2014 Washington Invitational title, while the men raced during the regular season in Seattle for the first time since 2003.
What's Next: Pre-National Invitational, Oct. 17, Louisville, Ky.
Quoteworthy: “It was a good overall day both for teams. Anytime you get a win, it's a good thing. We got to see where we are at after fall camp, and we'll go back home, put some things together and see how we do next time out. I think both teams will get better and better as the year goes on. I'm very excited about where coach Andy Powell and coach Maurica Powell have our teams at right now,” said head coach Robert Johnson.
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