University of Oregon Distance Team Works Hard for Win
The men's team of the University of Oregon is very much determined to claim the NCAA trophy in the upcoming competitions. Having had a solid track and field foundation – in the years since its program's birth, the establishment had already produced champions (most notable of which is the near-legend Steve Prefontaine) and fifty-seven All-Americans, trained twenty-eight top-ten teams, had sixteen top four finishes, and won four NCAA titles. This coming season, the University of Oregon's men's distance team is working hard to do the legacy of their predecessors proud; and it might be more pressure now than ever, as Oregon is preparing to host the 2008 Olympic Trials.
Last year, the University of Oregon's cross country men's team was a point short of reaching the NCAA top four, falling behind Stanford – a team they had defeated in other competitions (the PAC-10 and West Regionals). The NCAA trophy that denotes a top four finish in the competition has now been eluding the men's team of the University of Oregon for total of eleven years; prior to last year, they had the misfortune of not being in the NCAA for a few years. Apart from this, the team had won the university the Pacific-10 Conference championship and the West Regional championship last year, making it one of their track and field program's most successful years. Their performance, according to head coach and unofficial spokesperson Vin Lananna, had “raised the level” of expectation for this year.
This year, the team consists not only of a core of last year's best runners, but some freshmen who have in the past exhibited remarkable performances. The core team from last year includes three All-Americans: Galen Rupp (junior) – who had placed eleventh at the World Championships' 10,000m event – Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott (junior) and Diego Mercado (sophomore). Newcomers to the team include Chad Hall, who was the Foot Locker national cross country champion, and Matthew Centrowitz, who is a Pan-American junior 1,500m mile champion as well as a two-mile national junior. With such a strong team, the men's distance team of the University of Oregon is unquestionably pumped up to train as hard as their can for prize they are vying for.
Needless to say, Lananna is very happy with the prospects of this year's team. “It's a great year to have a solid team,” he says. He also commented on the team's dynamics since last year's member performance, “We really changed the team chemistry during the spring last year.”
The team's next meet is scheduled to happen on the twenty-ninth of September 2007, at the Springfield Country Club.
