2008 Videos

FREE LIVE INTERNET BROADCAST: Live on www.goducks.com and www.pac-10.org beginning at 2:15 p.m.

October 29, 2008
This is Thriller: Oregon Hosts 2008 Pacific-10 Championships
The Pac-10 meet will be the nation’s top championship with the No. 1 and No. 2 men’s and women’s teams in action.

“‘Cause this is thriller, thriller night.”
“There ain’t no second chance against the thing with forty eyes.”
-Thriller by Michael Jackson

EUGENE, Ore. -- On All Hallow’s Eve, it will actually be a beast with about 198 eyes -- or 158 for the men -- chasing the leader at the 2008 Pacific-10 cross country championship that takes place Friday at the Springfield Country Club, hosted by the University of Oregon. And thousands of other eyes will be watching in person and live on the internet as the Pac-10 championships will be the race of the weekend with No. 1 Washington and No. 2 Oregon meeting in the women’s competition and No. 1 Oregon and No. 2 Stanford squaring off in the men’s race. The action starts at 2:25 p.m. with the women’s race, while the men go off at 3:25 p.m.

MEET DETAILS
ADMISSION: FREE
FREE LIVE INTERNET BROADCAST: Live on www.goducks.com and www.pac-10.org beginning at 2:15 p.m.
TELEVISION: Comcast Sports Net Northwest (Comcast Cable 37), 6 p.m.
RESULTS: www.goducks.com and www.pac-10.org.
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 12:30 p.m. and 4:30 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 2008 Pac-10 Championships is a 2,000 meter loop and is the same course that was used for the Bill Dellinger Invitational on Oct. 4. 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. Course maps are attached.

THE WOMEN’S RACE
Time: 2:25 p.m.
Length: 6,000 Meters (two loops)
Teams: Arizona, No. 15 Arizona State, California, No. 2 Oregon, Oregon State, No. 18 Stanford, UCLA, USC, No. 1 Washington, Washington State
Entries: Each team is allowed 10 runners. Of those, the top seven factor in the team scoring; the top five account for team score and the next two may displace runners from opposing teams.
At a Glance: Arguably, the 2008 women’s championship could be the race of the century. Stanford has won this event an impressive 12 straight times and 14 of the last 15 seasons. Even so, two other Pac-10 schools have moved into the national spotlight.
Washington and Oregon have spent the entire season ranked first or second in the national polls and the Pac-10 Championships set up as the first of three entertaining battles between the two Northwest rivals which will culminate in the NCAA Championships.
The Ducks have looked impressive as All-Americans Nicole Blood, Alexandra Kosinski and Zoe Buckman have been bolstered by the addition of transfers Melissa Grelli, Lindsey Scherf and Mattie Bridgmon. The Huskies have been just as strong with Kendra Schaaf, Christine Babcock and Marie Lawrence leading Washington to victory at the Pre-Nationals.
Then there’s No. 18 Stanford, the three-time defending NCAA champion, which certainly has tradition on its side. No. 15 Arizona State will also be a factor, while the young program at Oregon State, led by Sylvia Veal, is aiming for its first upper division finish.

THE MEN’S RACE
Time: 3:25 p.m.
Length: 8,000 Meters (three loops)
Teams: Arizona, Arizona State, No. 24 California, No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Stanford, N. 13 UCLA, No. 24 Washington, Washington State
Entries: Each team is allowed 10 runners. Of those, the top seven factor in the team scoring; the top five account for team score and the next two may displace runners from opposing teams.
At a Glance: Oregon is the two-time defending champion of this event and boasts the last two individual winners in Galen Rupp (2006) and Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott (2007). In addition to Rupp and Kiptoo-Biwott, Oregon features All-Americans Kenny Klotz, Daniel Mercado, Diego Mercado, Andrew Wheating and A.J. Acosta. The Ducks come into the 2008 Pac-10 Championships ranked first nationally, but look for Stanford to push Oregon following the Cardinal’s strong performance at the Pre-Nationals two weeks ago.
Stanford won its race in Terre Haute, Ind., to jump all the way from 10th to No. 2. Garrett Heath and Chris Derrick finished third and fourth, respectively, to lead the Cardinal. UCLA continues to be one of the better stories of the 2008 season. The Bruins used a fourth-place showing at the Bill Dellinger Invitational to jump start their season and after being unranked at the start of the year have climbed all the way to No. 13.
California and Washington are also ranked nationally, being tied for 24th this week.

DUCKS AT THE PAC-10 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Women: Oregon has won this event seven times, which is second only to Stanford’s 14 titles. The Ducks’ team titles came in 1986-88, 1990-1992 and 1995. Oregon has also produced the individual champion on six occasions. Liz Wilson won twice (1988, 1990), while Penny Graves (1986), Annette Hand (1987), Lisa Karnopp (1991) and Nicole Woodward (1992) each claimed one crown.
Men: Oregon has won this event a record-15 times. Stanford is second with 10 Pac-10 titles. The Ducks are the two-time defending champions of the race. Oregon’s other titles came in 1969-70, 1972, 1976-79, 1982, 1988-90, 1992 and 1995. The Ducks have also produced the last two individual champions: Galen Rupp in 2006 and Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott in 2007, both of whom are entered in the 2008 meet. Other individual winners for Oregon include three-time winner Steve Prefontaine (1970-71, ‘73), two-time winner Jim Hill (1982-83), Brad Hudson (1988), Colin Dalton (1991), Karl Keska (1995) and Steve Fein (1999).

VIN LANANNA AT THE PAC-10 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Fourth year Associate Athletic Director Vin Lananna has an unmatched track record at the Pacific-10 cross country championships. His charges at Oregon, and previously Stanford, have produced 17 team titles and eight individual winners. The 2007 championships saw Lananna’s legacy continue with another men’s team title for the Men of Oregon and an individual win by Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott. Lananna was named both the Pac-10 and National Men’s Coach of the Year following Oregon’s 2007 NCAA Championship.

Lananna’s Pac-10 Title Runs (Oregon/Stanford)
Men’s Team Titles - 8 (Stanford 1996, ‘97, ‘98, ‘00, ‘01, ‘02; Oregon 2006, ‘07)
Women’s Team Titles - 9 (Stanford 1993, ‘94, ‘96, ‘97, ‘98, ‘99, ‘00, ‘01, ‘02)
Men’s Individual Titles - 5 (Stanford 2000, ‘01, 03; Oregon 2006, ‘07)
Women’s Individual Titles - 3 (Stanford 1999, ‘01, ‘02)

PAC-10 DOMINANCE
In the last half century, no other conference can match the league’s combined 17 NCAA men’s and women’s team championships in cross country.
Combined NCAA Team Titles by Conference, 1958-present
17 Pacific-10 Conference
13 Southeastern Conference
12 Big East Conference
9 Conference USA
8 Big Ten
8 Big XII

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 Friday 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.