Friends of Oregon Track and Field
NEWSLETTER WINTER 2013 VOLUME VI - ISSUE II
CHESEREK CROWNED NCAA Individual Champion!
Above: Oregon Freshman Edward Cheserek crosses the line in first at the 2013 NCAA Cross Country Championship.
MEN OF OREGON: CHESEREK WINS HISTORIC NCAA TITLE An outstanding season for the men’s cross country team was capped by an NCAA Individual Title from freshman Edward Cheserek. Cheserek became Oregon’s first-ever freshman to win an individual title and joins an elite group of Oregon men’s champions that includes Steve Prefontaine, Alberto Salazar and Galen Rupp. The previous best finish for a Duck freshman was held by Prefontaine, who finished third in 1969. Cheserek won four of the six races he competed in this year, including victories at the Pac-12 and West Region Championships. For his efforts, Cheserek earned an impressive trio of awards: the Pac-12 Athlete of the Year, the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and the National Cross Country Athlete of the Year. For the team, the season began with a low-key runner-up effort at the PSU Viking Classic in early September. A trip cross country to Boston College’s “Battle in Beantown” set the stage for what was to be later in the season as freshmen Edward Cheserek and Jake Leingang led the Ducks to a dominating victory over nationally ranked Syracuse, Providence and Wisconsin teams. Returning home to the Dellinger Invitational eight days later, the team faced tough tests against Boise State and Pac12 rival Washington. The annual Pre-National Invitational allowed the team to preview the NCAA Championship course and pitted the Ducks against one of the most competitive fields of the season. The men finished second at the highly competitive Pac-12 Championships,
held this year at the University of Colorado. At the NCAA Championships, the Men of Oregon improved fifteen places from last year and concluded the 2013 season with a fifth place finish (274 points). Besides champion Cheserek, scorers for the Ducks included senior Parker Stinson who finished 54th, junior Tanguy Pepiot in 58th, senior Mac Fleet in 77th and freshman Jake Leingang who finished 149th. Despite rough weather conditions and a course that was nearly destroyed by rain, the Ducks ran tough and outperformed many of the early season challengers. Pac-12 Champion Colorado (149 points) took home the team title, followed by Northern Arizona (169 points), Oklahoma State (230 points) and Brigham Young (267 points). WOMEN OF OREGON: NCAA TOP 15 TEAM FINISH Coming off a 2012 dream season in which the Ducks won an NCAA Championship, the 2013 Women of Oregon found new leadership among its distance corps, as all but two runners from last year’s team graduated. An influx of new talent and the coming of age of emerging stars allowed the team to contend for a Pac-12 Championship and secure their seventh-consecutive top 15 team finish at the NCAA Championships. The group played to their strengths and made a goal as a team to finish in a pack as close together as they could, a very difficult accomplishment that very few teams are able to do. Continued on Page Three.