FloAwards: New Mexico and Oregon Roll on Team Competition

FloAwards: New Mexico and Oregon Roll on Team Competition

Oct 5, 2015 by Taylor Dutch
FloAwards: New Mexico and Oregon Roll on Team Competition


From the UW Invitational in Seattle to the USATF 10 Mile Championships in Minneapolis, runners turned out newsworthy performances around the country. Here are the runners and teams that earned this week’s FloAwards:

FloPerformer

Aisling Cuffe (Stanford)
The fifth year-senior led the Cardinal to a third-place finish at the Washington Invitational with a dominating win over Oregon’s Alli Cash. Cuff took the victory over Cash by three seconds in a winning time of 19:41, leading six women under the 20-minute barrier. The performance was Cuffe’s second race since returning from an injury-filled 2014-15 season. Prior to the Fresno Invitational in September, Cuffe hadn’t competed in a race since the USATF Outdoor Championships in June 2014 when she finished fifth in the 5K. 
 

Edward Cheserek (Oregon)
The multiple-time NCAA Champion made his mark on a Pac-12 and inter-region field with an individual win over Joe Rosa of Stanford. Cheserek took the victory in a winning time of 23:15, five seconds ahead of Rosa to help the Oregon men claim the team victory with a 52-point spread over runner-up Stanford’s 69 points. 
 

Dominique Scott (Arkansas)
The senior Razorback made her cross country debut with a dominating win at the Chilli Pepper Festival in a blazing fast time of 16:07 over the 5K course. Scott was returning from a summer of competition that saw a 4:08 1500m personal best, the fastest time run by a collegian in 2015. Scott’s performance also catapulted her to the No. 1 spot in the Saucony Flo50 cross country rankings. 
 

FloFrosh

Ryen Frazier (NC State)
Frazier continued her winning streak at the Notre Dame Invitational with an individual title in a winning time of 16:22 over a field that included No. 1 team powerhouse New Mexico. In the final 1000m, Frazier took down New Mexico’s Courtney Frerichs by five seconds. Frazier’s performance marks her second meet victory since joining the NC State Wolfpack. Her first victory came at the adidas XC Challenge. 

Watch Frazier run her way to victory in South Bend:
 

Anna Rohrer (Notre Dame)
After claiming a meet victory at the National Catholic Championships, Anna Rohrer returned to competition this weekend with an eighth-place finish at the Notre Dame Invitational. Rohrer’s performance is significant given the stiff competition of the field, which included No. 1 New Mexico and national title-contending freshman Ryen Frazier.  
 
Matthew Maton (Oregon)
The Duck made his collegiate debut at the UW Invitational with an eighth-place finish in 23:34, helping his squad to a team victory as the No. 2 runner to cross the line for Oregon. Not only did Maton prove himself as a top scorer for the Ducks, but he also beat out a number of formidable opponents, including BYU’s Dallin Farnsworth, Connor McMillan and UCLA’s Sergey Sushchickh. 
 

FloTeam

Oregon Women
The women of Oregon had a stellar showing at the UW Invite this past weekend, sweeping the team competition over Stanford and Washington with just 36 points. Led by a runner-up finish from Alli Cash, Oregon tallied a 2-4-6-11-13 showing in Seattle, displaying the power of the Duck pack in a competitive race. 
 
BYU Men
The BYU squad out of the Mountain region turned out an impressive third-place finish at the UW Invitational, which beat out a number of ranked teams such as UCLA and Portland. The team was led by a 1-2 punch by Dallin Farnsworth and Connor McMillan who finished ninth and 10th, respectively. Notably they ran without their projected #1 man Jonathan Nelson. The performance catapulted the team from No. 12 to No. 9, cracking the Saucony Flo50 top 10 rankings for the first time this season. 
 
New Mexico Women
The No. 1 Lobos did not disappoint at the Notre Dame Invitational as the squad captured a team title with a spread of just 29 points over runner-up NC State’s 74 points. Mew Mexico was led by a runner-up finish by Courtney Frerichs, followed by a fourth-place finish from Rhona Auckland, a fifth-place finish from Alice Wright, a sixth-place finish by Calli Thackery, and a 12th-place finish from Molly Renfer. 
 

FloElite

Molly Huddle
The World Championships finalist continued her reign of the USATF road series championships with yet another title this weekend at the USATF 10 Mile Championships in Minneapolis. Huddle captured the title in a winning time of 51:44, which would stand as an American record in the distance, but the course was not record-verified. Huddle’s performance marks her 18th USATF title. 
 

Sam Chelanga
After recently becoming an American citizen, Sam Chelanga captured his first USATF Championship title with a win at the USATF 10 Mile Championships.. Chelanga captured the win over Tyler Pennel in a furious kick to the finish in 46:47, just one second ahead of runner-up Pennel.