Advertisement

Oregon women advance to 2023 NCAA Cross Country Championship

chris hansen, eugene register-guard
·2 min read
Kaylee Mitchell, left, of Oregon State, and Oregon's Maddy Elmore, Klaudia Kazimierska and Izzy Thornton-Bott during the Dellinger Invitational at Pine Ridge Golf Club in Springfield on Sept. 22.
Kaylee Mitchell, left, of Oregon State, and Oregon's Maddy Elmore, Klaudia Kazimierska and Izzy Thornton-Bott during the Dellinger Invitational at Pine Ridge Golf Club in Springfield on Sept. 22.

The cross country season for the Oregon women has been extended one more week.

The Oregon men appear to have run their final race.

Led by a pair of top-10 finishes, the No. 17 Ducks placed second at the women’s NCAA West Regional meet Friday morning at Haggin Oaks Golf Course in Sacramento, earning an automatic spot in the NCAA Cross Country Championship meet.

Oregon finished seventh in the men's NCAA West Regional meet and will not compete at the national meet, though Elliott Cook, who placed 10th, was selected for individual at-large berth on Saturday.

The top-two teams from nine regional races on Friday, plus 13 at-large teams made the 31-team field for NCAA Cross Country Championship meet on Nov. 18 in Virginia.

Maddy Elmore paced the Oregon women with a fifth-place finish, running the 6,000-meter course in 19 minutes, 22.8 seconds. Izzy Thornton-Bott was 10th in 19:41.3, and Anika Thompson rose to the occasion with a 12th-place finish in 19:46.3.

Those three helped keep Oregon’s score to 109 points — just six ahead of third-place No. 8 Washington (115) and behind only No. 7 Stanford (77).

Also scoring for the Ducks were Katie Clute (24th, 20:06.6) and Tatum Miller (58th, 20:41.3).

Also competing for Oregon were Harper McClain (67th, 20:46.5) and Klaudia Kazimierska (74th, 20:50.4).

Oregon State's Kaylee Mitchell, left, leads the pack during the Dellinger Invitational at Pine Ridge Golf Club in Springfield on Sept. 22.
Oregon State's Kaylee Mitchell, left, leads the pack during the Dellinger Invitational at Pine Ridge Golf Club in Springfield on Sept. 22.

For the second straight season, the individual winner was Oregon State’s Kaylee Mitchell, who finished in 19:08.4. Grace Fetherstonhaugh also finished third for the Beavers in 19:15.6.

Oregon State finished 17th as a team and won’t get a consecutive trip to the national meet, though Mitchell and Fetherstonhaugh received at-large berths as individuals.

Overall there were 37 teams and 236 individual finishers in the women’s race.

Oregon's Elliott Cook finishes 10th in men's race

In the men’s 10K race, Cook finished in 29:22.7 and was the only Duck in the top 30.

Rounding out the scoring for Oregon was Josh Edwards, who was 34th in 29:57.8, Quincy Norman (39th, 30:04.7), Connor Burns (45th, 30:13.5) and Giuliano Scasso (70th, 30:47.6).

Oregon's Elliott Cook, left, competes in the Dellinger Invitational at Pine Ridge Golf Club in Springfield on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023.
Oregon's Elliott Cook, left, competes in the Dellinger Invitational at Pine Ridge Golf Club in Springfield on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023.

Also competing were Benjamin Balazs, (91st, 31:12.0) and Aiden Smith (167th, 32:56.1).

Stanford’s Ky Robinson was the individual men’s winner, besting a field of 201 runners with his finish in 28:55.6. The Cardinal, with three runners in the top seven, won the team title with 73 points. Gonzaga was second with 98.

Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com. 

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon women second at NCAA West Regional cross country meet