University of Oregon
NCAA Championships
Triple Crown
11/21/15 | Cross Country
LOUISVIILE, Ky. – Edward Cheserek pulled away from his last challenger with 1,500 meters to go and never looked back to become the first man in NCAA history to win three consecutive individual NCAA cross country titles Saturday at E.P. 'Tom' Sawyer State Park.
Cheserek's historical effort highlighted a day that saw both Duck teams finish on the podium at the NCAA Cross Country Championships for the first time in seven years.
The women, led by all-America performances by Waverly Neer, Alli Cash and Molly Grabill, had their best race of the season to finish third and win their first trophy in three years.
Top-ranked New Mexico won the women's race with 49 points, followed by Colorado at 129, Oregon at 214, Providence with 231 and North Carolina State at 264.
The men fought their way to a fourth place finish. Syracuse scored 82 points to upset heavy favorite Colorado. The Buffaloes scored 91 points, followed by Stanford at 151, Oregon with 183 and Iona with 231.
How It Happened – Men: The contenders for the men's individual crown pushed the pace early as Cheserek, Patrick Tiernan of Villanova, Anthony Rotich of Texas-El Paso and Justyn Knight of Syracuse gapped the pack at the 2,000 meter mark.
Tiernan then made his move at the midway point of the 10,000 meter race and Cheserek followed, leaving Rotich and Knight behind. The two ran shoulder-to-shoulder over the next 3,500 meters.
Cheserek shifted into overdrive with 1,500 meters remaining and won his record-setting third NCAA cross country title going away in 28:45.8. Tiernan was second in 29:11.1.
With the individual race over, the fight for a team trophy heated up, and the Ducks younger runners came through to push the Ducks on to the podium. Sophomore Travis Neuman from Bend, Ore., was 46th in 30:30.6, junior Jake Leingang placed 50th in 30:32.6, freshman Tanner Anderson was 56th in 30:39.3 and freshman Matthew Maton from Bend, Ore., was 85th in 31:50.0. That is a spread of less than :20 among the Ducks' No. 2 and No. 5 scorers. Oregon also had senior Matthew Melancon from Eugene, Ore., 98th in 30:56.2 and senior Ryan Gil 121st in 31:08.7.
How It Happened – Women: Oregon's top five runners were able to stay near the lead pack through the first 2,000 meters, and then Neer and Cash maintained touch with the leaders over the final 4,000 meters. Grabill made a big push late in the race to bump the Ducks into the third spot, and Frida Berge, Ashley Maton, Annie Leblanc and Maggie Schmaedick ran in a strong pack to finish within :07 of each other and round out the scoring for the Ducks.
Neer, a senior from Russiaville, Ind., finished 27th overall in 20:19.8, with Cash, a sophomore from Lexexa, Kan., 31st in 20:20.9. Grabill, a senior from Poway, Calif., charged past a couple dozen competitors over the last 500 meters to finish 33rd in 20:21.8. The Ducks also had Berge, a sophomore from Olve, Norway, 110th in 20:54.6, Maton, a junior from Bend., Ore., 112th in 20:56.5, Leblanc, a senior from Repentigny, Quebec, 116th in 20:57.2 and Schmaedick a junior from Eugene, Ore., 124th in 21:00.7.
What It Means – Men: The fourth-place finish by the men represents their best NCAA showing since a runner-up finish in 2009. Cheserek joins distance running legends Gerry Lindgren of Washington State (1966, 1967, 1969) Steve Prefontaine of Oregon (1970, 1971, 1973) and Henry Rono of Washington State (1976, 1977, 1979) as the only three-time NCAA individual champions. It was the men's 20th trophy finish in 40 all-time appearances.
What It Means – Women: The third-place finish by the women's team was the Ducks' best since winning the national title in 2012, also in Louisville. It was the 11th trophy earned by the women in 26 all-time NCAA appearances. Neer earned her second career all-America award, while Cash and Grabill both earned their first cross country all-America certificates. Neer was honored previously for her 40th place finish while at Columbia.
Notes and Numbers: Oregon last had both teams on the victory stand at the NCAA Championships in 2008 when the men won and the women were second ... The :41 spread for the women from their first to their seventh finisher was the school's best performance at the NCAA Championships. ... Grabill and Leblanc became the 11th and 12th women to compete in four NCAA Championships for the Ducks. ... Four of the top 10 women's teams were from the Pac-12. ... Three of the top four, and four of the top 10 teams in the men's race were from the Pac-12. ... Neer, Cash, Grabill, Neuman and Leingang all posted career-best finishes at the NCAA Championships. ... Anderson had the third-highest finish among freshmen in the men's field. ... Cheserek won his ninth overall individual title (cross country and track) and is now tied with Arkansas legends Mike Conley and Robert Howard for fourth all-time.
Quotable: "Our freshman both went down early and then fought back. Our top seven beat everyone else's top seven so we had good depth. And what amazing accomplishment for Edward. To be mentioned with Pre and those other guys is really a credit to the work he puts in every day," - Oregon associate head coach Andy Powell.
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