Oregon moved from 4th to 1st in the West today

They’ve apparently been sand-bagging up until now, which is nice to be able to do. That was the first race this season for the Duck, Silan Ayyildiz, who won the B1G (five in the top 12, insane!). I expect the Ducks will be in the Top 5 nationally tomorrow. Possibly as high as second. Hard to specify exactly where.

Thanks for the note on my daughter. She’s certainly been working hard. Her 6k personal-best has come down 77+ seconds in a series of steps this season. Flat courses, like the one at Illinois that hosted the B1G meet, do help.

The team has work to do at the Midwest Regional in Peoria. OK State (4th at the Big 12, loaded at the top with BYU, WVU and Utah all in the national top six) is first in the region, Minnesota (5th at the B1G) is second. Our ladies are third — after being second, first and second in Sept and early Oct. We’ll need a very strong day to move into an AQ spot.

As for USC and their 18th finish, I suppose it’s possible to be competitive and finish in 18th. However, the Women of Troy were way, way, way, way back. They do have a formidable track program; all the focus seems to be on sprinting and relays.