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In what was the closest finish in history, the Oregon women's cross country team won the national championship on Saturday morning.
The Ducks finished with 125 points, beating Michigan by just one point.
Wild team finish at #NCAAXC:
— FloTrack (@FloTrack) November 19, 2016
Oregon 125
Michigan 126
Colorado 134
Second Ducks title in five years!
Katie Rainsberger led the way for the Ducks, finishing fourth overall in 19:51, 10 seconds behind the winner.
Ali Cash also placed in the top 10 for the Ducks, finishing ninth in 20:08.
All of Oregon’s scoring runners placed within the top 50.
Samantha Nadel finished 16th in 20:14. Oregon was the only school to get all three runners in the top 20.
It was a historic win for the women, who came in ranked 12th in the nation.
No. 12 Oregon became the lowest ranked team to win an NCAA title by quite a bit. The previous low was No. 4 Georgetown in 2011.
— Oregon Track & Field (@OregonTF) November 19, 2016
On the men's side, Villanova’s Patrick Tiernan pulled a massive upset over Oregon’s Edward Cheserek, denying the King a fourth straight individual national title. Tiernan won in 29:21 while Cheserek took third in 29:47.
Cheserek hung near the front until late in the race when Tiernan and Syracuse’s Justyn Knight dropped the three-time champion.
The Oregon men finished ninth as a team with 282 points, led by Cheserek’s third place finish. Matthew Maton placed in the top 30, finishing 29th overall in 30:16, helping the Ducks finish in the top 10 as a team.