Galen Rupp leads men of Oregon to third straight Pac-10 title

- Complete Results

SPRINGFIELD, Ore. – Galen Rupp won his second career individual title to lead top-ranked Oregon to its third consecutive Pacific-10 Conference men’s cross country crown Friday at the Springfield Country Club before a crowd estimated at 5,000 strong. The Oregon women placed second behind top-ranked Washington.

“The men were brilliant,” said Oregon Associate Athletic Director Vin Lananna. “They did a great job. Galen was fantastic. I still think we could run better. We went out way too had. It was a hard race, but that’s what we wanted.”

Rupp, a senior from Portland, Ore., became just the third Oregon runner to win multiple conference titles and he did so in record fashion. His first place-time of 22:55.14 was :25 better than the previous mark of 23:20, set by Wisconsin’s Matt Winthrow at the 2007 Bill Dellinger Invitational.

Rupp joined Steve Prefontaine (1970-71, ’73) and Jim Hill (1982-83) as the Ducks’ multiple conference winners.

“Coach told me to have fun today and not put too much pressure on myself,” Rupp said. “We have a big target on our backs this year and as a team we really just wanted to get rolling today. The conference title is a big deal, especially with us hosting it. We had a great time today.”

Nearly as impressive as Rupp was freshman Luke Puskedra’s second place dash in 23:32.11. The Ducks also counted a fifth-place finish from Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott (23:42.50), a ninth-place finish from Andrew Wheating (23:46.79) and an 11th-place showing from Matthew Centrowitz (23:47.95) for their 28 points. Curtis Suver was right behind Centrowitz in 12th (23:48.89).

It was the third time in program history that Oregon has won three straight titles, the last coming 1988-90. Oregon also accomplished that feat in 1976-79.

Oregon’s 28 points were 19 better than second-ranked Stanford’s 47. California and Washington tied for third at 104 points with No. 13 UCLA’s 106 points good for fifth. The rest of the field fell in with Washington State in sixth (169 points), Arizona seventh (180 points) and Arizona State in eighth (198 points).

Stanford runners Chris Derrick (23:38.17) and Garrett Heath (23:41.18) finished third and fourth, respectively, while California’s Yosef Ghebray was sixth (23:43.03).

Rupp, Kiptoo-Biwott and Puskedra led the early going for the Ducks. The trio, paced by Rupp, held a 50 meter edge on the pack. At the half-way point in the race, Rupp pushed ahead with the lead while Puskedra and Kiptoo-Biwott ran neck-and-neck 16 seconds behind the leader. The remainder of the chase pack, led by Kelly Spady of Washington and a host of Stanford runners followed 50 meters after the Oregon pair.

With one final loop of the 3.5 loop course remaining, Rupp led Puskedra and Kiptoo-Biwott with Wheating and two other Ducks in the 4-6 positions leading the chase pack and the Ducks remained strong to close out the win.

On the women’s side, Lindsey Scherf and Nicole Blood posted top-10 finishes for the Ducks, but Washington ran a strong race, sweeping the top six spots, to win their first Pac-10 title since 1989. The Huskies snapped the Stanford’s run of 12 consecutive conference crowns.

Kendra Schaaf led the Huskies, winning in a course-record 19:24.05.

Washington won with 15 points, Oregon placed second with 55 points and Stanford took third at 99 points. Arizona State recorded 105 points for fourth place and Washington State’s 188 points was good for fifth. Oregon State earned sixth with 192 points and Arizona followed in seventh (199), California in eighth (209), USC in ninth (212) and UCLA in 10th (271).

“I think the Washington women did a great job,” said Lananna. “They came out quick, and, quite honestly, I think we underestimated how good they were. I still think this was a good step towards nationals, and I feel confident we will come out and close the gap.”

Schaaf, a freshman from Craven, Saskatchewan, built a commanding lead early with at least 60 meters separating her from the pack a mile into the race. Her lead grew to more than 100 meters as the competitors passed the half-way point.

Scherf was the top non-Washington finisher, taking seventh in 20:15.64, with Blood right behind (20:25.28). Alex Kosinski was 11th for the Ducks in 20:29.61, with Melissa Grelli 14th (20:36.98), Mattie Bridgmon 15th (20:41.43) and Zoe Nelson 16th (20:41.91).

“UW ran really well and I think they caught us off guard emotionally when we were hurting halfway through and they were still moving up, and that made it a difficult race,” said Blood. “We just have to believe that we are better than that, and we know we are. We’ll be back and ready to go for nationals.”