September 30, 2008
Bill Dellinger Invitational
2007 Men's Highlight Video | 2007 Women's Highlight Video
Top-Ranked Ducks Host
Third Annual Bill Dellinger Invitational
Nine ranked teams will
be in action Saturday at Springfield Country Club.
EUGENE, Ore. –
Now in their fourth season under the direction of Associate Athletic
Director Vin Lananna, the top-ranked Oregon men’s and women’s cross
country teams kick their seasons into high gear by hosting the third
annual Bill Dellinger Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 4 at Springfield
Country Club. The women’s race begins at 10:30 a.m., while the men’s race
will go off at 11:15 a.m.
The
Dellinger Invitational has become one of the nation’s premier cross
country events. With ranked teams and schools from every region of the
country slated to run, the 2008 edition carries on that tradition.
The men’s
race will feature the defending national champion Oregon Ducks, along
with four other squads ranked among the nation’s top 25. Competition
should be entertaining among No. 1 Oregon, No. 5 Alabama, No. 7 Portland,
No. 17 Texas-El Paso and No. 23 Cal Poly, in addition to solid teams from
Colorado State, Penn State, UCLA (also receiving votes) and Weber
State.
The
women’s race has the top-ranked Ducks joined by No. 11 Arkansas, No. 17
Colorado State and No. 23 Brigham Young, in addition to Cal State
Fullerton, Penn State (also receiving votes), Portland (also receiving
votes), Texas-El Paso and Wake Forest.
Among the
2008 entrants are a number of Dellinger Invitational veterans with top-15
finishes on their resumes. Oregon All-American Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott,
the 2007 Pac-10 champion, has a pair of top-four finishes in his career:
second in 2007 and fourth in 2006. Alabama has two runners who were third
and fourth in last year’s race in Emmanuel Bor and Augustus Maiyo,
respectively, while David Kinsella of Portland finished 10th in 2007.
Oregon’s Daniel Mercado (T15th) and Diego Mercado (T15th) and Troy Swier
of Cal Poly (13th) also ran in the top 15 last year.
The women
have nearly as many top competitors back, with defending individual
champion Nicole Blood of Oregon leading the way. Teammates Alexandra
Kosinski (third) and Keara Sammons (ninth) had top-10 showings in 2007,
while Brigham Young’s Angela Wagner was seventh and Arkansas teammates
Christine Kalmer and Jillian Rosen tied for 10th. BYU’s Amy Fowler-Lane
is another to watch. She was fifth in the 2006 Dellinger.
From
another perspective, several cross country All-Americans are entered in
Saturday’s race: Blood, Kosinski, Kiptoo-Biwott, Daniel Mercado and Diego
Mercado from Oregon, Maiyo from Alabama, Kinsella from Portland and
Japheth Ng’ojoy of Texas-El Paso.
THE WOMEN’S RACE
Details: 6,000 Meters
(two loops)
Teams:
No. 11 Arkansas, No. 22 Brigham
Young, Cal State Fullerton, No. 14 Colorado State, No. 1 Oregon, Penn
State, Portland, Texas-El Paso, Wake Forest
THE MEN’S RACE
Details: 8,000 Meters
(three loops)
Teams:
No. 5 Alabama, No. 21 Cal
Poly, Colorado State, No. 1 Oregon, Penn State, No. 7 Portland, UCLA,.
No. 12 Texas-El Paso, Weber State
KIDS’ FUN RUN
After the men’s
race, kids 12 and under are invited to participate in a brief fun run on
the Springfield Course that will conclude at the finish line. Members of
the Oregon track and field team will assist with the Kids’ Fun Run that
is being co-sponsored by City of Eugene Recreation. The first 25 kids who
visit the City of Eugene Recreation table on Saturday will receive a free
T-shirt.
AWARDS CEREMONY at 11:50
a.m.
2007 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP POSTER
A limited
collector’s edition poster commemorating Oregon’s 2007 NCAA Men’s Cross
Country Championship will be handed out to fans on Saturday while
supplies last. The poster features All-Americans Galen Rupp and Shadrack
Kiptoo-Biwott, among others, who led the Ducks to their first cross
country national title in 30 years.
PARKING
Spectator parking
is available at Mohawk Elementary School on Sunderman Road. Free shuttle
buses will transport spectators to Springfield Country Club and will run
continuously between 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Directions to Mohawk
Elementary: Take Highway 105/126 East to the 42nd Street/Marcola exit.
Turn left on 42nd Street and follow that for 0.4 miles to Marcola Road.
Proceed right on Marcola Road for 5.5 miles, going one mile past
Springfield Country Club. Turn right on Sunderman Road and Mohawk
Elementary will be on the right.
THE COURSE
The Bill
Dellinger Invitational is a 2,000 meter loop. The course is laid out on
the back nine holes at Springfield Country Club along the Mohawk River.
Fans are reminded they are NOT allowed to walk on greens or tee boxes,
and are asked to stay off fairways as much as possible. PDFs of the
course maps are attached.
The History
2007 BILL DELLINGER
INVITATIONAL
The Ducks set the 2007 season into
high gear in the second annual Bill Dellinger Invitational and swept the
team titles against national caliber fields at the scenic Springfield
Country Club.
The
third-ranked Duck men scored 54 points thanks to five top-20 finishers,
Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott (second), Carlos Trujillo (ninth), Kenny Klotz
(12th), Daniel Mercado (15th) and Diego Mercado (16th). No. 3 Oregon won
its second straight men’s team title by 19 points and beat seven other
top-25 ranked teams: No. 1 Wisconsin (second, 73), No. 17 Alabama (third,
111), No. 18 Portland (fourth, 137), No. 23 UCLA (fifth, 147), No. 6
Texas-El Paso (sixth, 148), No. 12 Washington (seventh, 176) and No. 13
Cal Poly (eighth, 183).
The women
scored an equally impressive win with 65 points and bested a field that
included five top-25 ranked teams, returning meet champion and
fourth-ranked Arkansas (second, 90), No. 19 Washington (third, 93), No.
18 Colorado State (fourth, 95), No. 23 Brigham Young (fifth, 104) and No.
15 Georgia (sixth, 162). Individually, Nicole Blood cruised away from the
141-women field in the final mile to win the race over Washington’s Katie
Follett and Duck teammate Alexandra Kosinski. Two other Ducks finished
top in the 25 overall, Keara Sammons (eighth) and Bria Wetsch
(21st).
Springfield Country Club,
Springfield, Ore. (Sept. 29, 2007)
Men (8k)
1, Oregon, 54. 2, Wisconsin,
73. 3, Alabama, 111. 4, Portland, 137. 5, UCLA, 147. 6, Texas-El Paso,
148. 7, Washington, 176. 8, Cal Poly, 183. 9, New Mexico, 221. 10, Ohio
State, 292. 11, Colorado State, 302. 12, Duke, 330. 13, Utah State, 343.
14, Marquette, 352. 15, Georgia, 369.
Individual
1, Matt Withrow, Wisconsin,
23:20. 2, Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott, Oregon, 23:24. 3, Emmanuel Bor,
Alabama, 23:26. 4, Augustus Maiyo, Alabama, 23:30. 5, Austin Ramos, UCLA,
23:37.
Women (6k)
1, Oregon, 65. 2, Arkansas,
90. 3, Washington, 93. 4, Colorado State, 95. 5, Brigham Young, 104. 6,
Georgia, 163. 7, Portland, 178. 8, Wake Forest, 187. 9, Marquette, 301.
10, New Mexico, 302. 11, UCLA, 323. T12, Montana, 324; Oregon State, 324.
14, Utah State, 361. 15, Texas-El Paso, 403.
Individual
1, Nicole Blood, Oregon,
20:04. 2, Katie Follett, Washington, 20:17. 3, Alexandra Kosinski,
Oregon, 20:24. 4, April Thomas, Colorado State, 20:27. 5, Katie Bowen,
Brigham Young, 20:31.
2006 BILL DELLINGER
INVITATIONAL
The inaugural Dellinger Invitational
held on Pre’s Trail in Alton Baker Park in Eugene saw the No. 17 Oregon
men enjoy an upset victory. With 47 points, the Ducks cruised past No. 8
Portland (second, 89), No. 10 BYU (third, 102) and No. 20 Alabama
(fourth, 135) for the victory.
Hosting
their first home cross country race since 1998, the Ducks put their first
five finishers in the top 20 overall — Galen Rupp (second), Shadrack
Kiptoo-Biwott (fourth), Diego Mercado (seventh), Ben Stern (15th) and
Carlos Trujillo (19th). Overall, in the men’s race eventual NCAA champion
Josh Rohatinsky of Brigham Young won the individual title (22:59).
On the
women’s side, No. 28-ranked UO placed 10th. Dana Buchanan (31st) led
Oregon. Fellow Duck scorers included Zoe Nelson (42nd) and Sarah Pearson
(50th). No. 8 Arkansas handily won the team title with 35 points,
defeating No. 6 BYU (55) Wake Forest (117) and No. 10 Washington (119).
Kassi Anderson of BYU won the women’s 6K chase (19:55) by 16 seconds over
2007 NCAA 5,000 meter champion Michelle Sikes of Wake Forest
(20:11).
Pre’s Trail, Alton Baker
Park, Eugene, Ore. (Sept. 29, 2006)
Men (8k)
1, Oregon, 47. 2, Portland,
89. 3, Brigham Young, 102. 4, Alabama, 135. 5, Cal Poly, 144. 6,
California, 163. T7, Washington, 183; Butler, 183. 9, Texas, 189. 10,
Duke, 243. 11, Utah State, 270. 12, American, 325. 13, Wake Forest,
356.
Individual
1, Josh Rohatinsky, Brigham
Young, 22:58.37. 2, Galen Rupp, Oregon, 23:09.03. 3, John Moore,
Portland, 23:19.09. 4, Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott, Oregon, 23:28.18. 5, Scott
Overall, Butler, 23:31.41.
Women (6k)
1, Arkansas, 35. 2, Brigham
Young, 55. 3, Wake Forest, 117. 4, Washington, 119. 5, Duke, 132. 6,
Butler, 158. 7, Indiana, 170. 8, California, 179. 9, Portland, 231. 10,
Oregon, 247. 11, Utah State, 264.
Individual
1, Kassi Anderson, Brigham
Young, 19:54.09. 2, Michelle Sikes, Wake Forest. 20:10.91. 3, Emily
McCabe, Duke, 20:31.68. 4, Dani Parry, Arkansas, 20:39.99. 5, Amy Fowler,
Brigham Young, 20:43.43.
COACHING LEGEND BILL
DELLINGER
The meet is named
for legendary University of Oregon track and field coach Bill Dellinger.
The Springfield, Ore., native and two-time Olympic champion for the Ducks
was a three-time Olympian and won a bronze medal in the 5,000 meters at
the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo. He set two world indoor records and six
American records during his career and in cross country, never lost a
race at the high school, collegiate or post-collegiate level. As Oregon’s
cross country coach from 1968-98, Dellinger guided the Ducks to four NCAA
men’s titles and 12 top-three finishes. He also counted 13 conference and
four district titles. Athletes under his mentorship received 45 cross
country All-America honors and won eight Pac-8/Pac-10 championship and
six regional crowns.
RANKINGS
The Oregon men
were ranked No. 1 in the second USTFCCCA poll of the season (Sept. 30),
meaning that the Ducks will have retained the No. 1 spot for a full
calendar year. The Men of Oregon first moved into that position on Oct.
2, 2007.
The UO
women also continued to rank at the top of the poll. The Ducks earned
their first ever No. 1 ranking in the preseason poll two weeks ago. The
Pac-10 continued to dominate the women’s poll with four of the top seven
spots held by league members: No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Washington, No. 5
Stanford and No. 7 Arizona State.
LOOKING AHEAD
Next on the fall
schedule, the Ducks are entered in a pair of meets on Oct. 13: the
Pre-NCAA Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind., and the Mike Hodges
Invitational at Clackamas Community College. The Pre-NCAA Invitational
will be run on the same course as the 2008 NCAA Championships will be
held on Nov. 24. That’s the same course where the Oregon men won and
Oregon women placed second at the 2007 NCAA Championships.
A LOOK AT THE DEFENDING
NCAA CHAMPIONS, RUNNERS-UP
Oregon’s 2008
cross country roster features an impressive collection of talent and
experience. Combined, the two teams have 12 All-Americans and 13 of their
top 14 runners back from the 2007 NCAA Championship race.
On the
men’s side, 2008 Olympians Galen Rupp and Andrew Wheating are joined by
fellow All-Americans Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott (the 2007 Pac-10 Champion),
A.J. Acosta, Kenny Klotz, Daniel Mercado and Diego Mercado. For the
women, the All-Americans are both familiar -- Nicole Blood, Zoe Buckman
and Alexandra Kosinski -- and new in graduate transfer students Melissa
Grelli (Georgetown) and Lindsey Scherf (Harvard).
Though
experience alone will not win championships, Oregon is arguably the most
veteran team in the nation this season with the top seven men’s
competitors back from last season’s NCAA title run: Rupp, Kiptoo-Biwott,
Diego Mercado, Daniel Mercado, Klotz, Acosta and Scott Wall, as well as
six of the top seven for the women: Blood, Kosinski, Buckman, Bria
Wetsch, Zoe Nelson and Brooke Giuffre. Sarah Pearson was the only
graduate off the 2007 team for the women.
The Ducks
also have upper-class leadership with four seniors in both the
men’s program: Kiptoo-Biwott, Rupp, Wall and Chris Winter, and women’s
program: Mattie Bridgmon, Grelli, Nelson and Scherf.