EUGENE-SPRINGFIELD, Ore. – The top-two ranked University of Oregon cross country teams shined on the Springfield Country Club golf course in front of thousands of fans Saturday, and scored automatic NCAA berths and top-two finishes in the NCAA West Regional Championships

(*Note: Links to final results, athlete quotes, race recaps and pictures are available by clicking here).

The No. 1-ranked Duck men opened the morning with a convincing team win and defended their regional title with 47 points. UO’s sixth regional men’s team victory came against a 24-team field that included seven top-30 ranked squads.

No. 20 Portland finished in second place with 76 points, ahead of No. 8 Stanford (third, 100), No. 10 California (fourth, 112), No. 28 Cal Poly (fifth, 116), No. 27 Arizona State (sixth, 141), No. 21 UCLA (seventh, 142), Washington State (eighth, 220), UC Santa Barbara (ninth, 233) and UC Davis (10th, 356).

On the individual front, Duck junior Galen Rupp won his first regional title and UO’s seventh since 1982 and joined former Duck greats and past champions Steve Fein (1999), Karl Keska (1995, ’96), Brad Hudson (1989) and Jim Hill (1982, ’83).

“It’s a lot of fun to run here at home, and that is why this is so special,” Rupp said. “I wanted to make sure I ran relaxed and am getting use to racing again. It's a really strong region this year so you never expect to pull away easily. Our main goal was to be among the top two qualifiers, and the team's obviously in really good shape. We have had fun getting here, and that's why we've been so successful, especially here at home. This place is so special.”

Rupp ran in a four- to five-man pack through most much of the middle 1/3 of the 10,000m race, then made a break from the field in the final 1/3 and won (29:36) by 10 seconds over Portland’s David Kinsella (second, (29:46), while UO junior Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott finished third (30:04).