All the talk around the collegiate cross country scene this year has been about the Colorado men’s squad. The reigning NCAA champions returned all seven runners from last year’s championship team, added former All-American Jake Hurysz and beat runner-up No. 2 Oregon by a staggering 91-35 score two weeks ago at the Pre-Nationals Invitational.
Oregon head coach Robert Johnson is no stranger to this news. He’s still confident that his team will be right in the thick of the race at Friday’s Pac-12 championships.
“From everything I’ve heard or everything I’ve been told, we don’t even need to go—just give Colorado the trophy,” Johnson said Tuesday. “They have a team assembled that some are arguing is the best in NCAA history. I think we’ll go there and continue to close the gap. We raced them there at Pre-Nationals and they spanked us pretty good. So we’re going to see if we can go and change that up. … We look to take a shot at the title, which is what we’ll always do.”
Colorado is armed with incredible depth. They placed six runners in the top-14 overall and ahead of Oregon’s third runner at Pre-Nationals. However, the Ducks boast arguably the best one-two punch in the nation with Edward Cheserek and Eric Jenkins. Cheserek hasn’t lost a cross country race since his fourth-place finish at last year’s Pre-Nationals meet and Jenkins secured a third-overall finish two weeks ago in Terre Haute.
The key for Oregon on Friday will be how their third, fourth and fifth scorers fare.
“At Pre-Nationals our 3-4-5-6 runners didn’t have the best day, so I think their margin of victory is a little misleading there,” Johnson said. “We’re hoping that all those guys hit it and if they hit it, we’ve got just as good a shot as anybody.”
Daniel Winn and Tanguy Pepiot finished 19th and 26th at Pre-Nationals, respectively. The Ducks will need better performances from the two seniors in order to keep within striking distance of the Buffaloes. The same goes for the freshman trio of Travis Neuman (42nd), Sam Prakel (83rd) and Blake Haney (77th), who have all shown throughout the season that they can make an impact.
“To be honest with you, everyone is going to need to be on,” Jenkins said. “No one can have a bad race to be able to beat them. We’ve got to be up there from the start.”
After their strong runner-up performance against No. 2 Georgetown at Pre-Nationals, the No. 3 Oregon women were already considered the favorites heading into the Pac-12 championships. But the Ducks will have yet another weapon at their disposal on Friday when junior transfer Waverly Neer makes her Oregon debut.
Neer transferred from Columbia this year and is coming off an impressive outdoor track season in which she ran a time of 15:37 for 5,000 meters. She’ll join an Oregon squad that featured a mere 10-second spread between its top-five finishers at Pre-Nationals.
“I think last year was kind of a rebuilding year,” junior Molly Grabill said. “Now that everyone that was on the squad last year is back and we’re stronger and know each other a lot better, I think that we’re definitely improved.”
Coach Johnson pointed to Grabill, Lindsay Crevoiserat and Megan Patrignelli as three of the several “number one’s” that make up the team’s tight pack. This trio along with freshmen Frida Berge, Alli Cash and sophomore Maggie Schmaedick have allowed the Ducks to stay close together throughout the season. The addition of Neer only bolsters Oregon’s chances at a second Pac-12 title in three years.
The women’s 6,000-meter race stars at 10 a.m. PT in Oakland, California, followed by the men’s 8,000-meter race at 11 a.m. PT.
Follow Chris Mosch on Twitter @chris_mosch