Aren't they supposed to be the Distance U?
They only had 4 finishers today. Did they even start 5 runners?
And they don't even have an indoor track conference to worry about.
Yes, there is NCAAs but they only have two entrants in NCAAs - the # 5 seed in the mile and the last seed in the 5000. Plus a DMR team.
5 422 Aneta Konieczek JR Oregon 4:35.88
16 425 Hannah Reinhardt SR Oregon 16:01.67
Now, they have a very small xc roster. Only 13 women are on it. How is that possible for Oregon? Do yo know how many runners would die to walk on there? With only 13 on the team, with only a few going to NCAAs, there isn't a lot of leeway for injuries, eating disorders, etc.
But let's say they don't have 5. Shouldn't these schools get someone off of the intramural team? I'm serious. Wouldn't it be a cool thing if you were a good HS runner to get to step it up and race Pac 12s?
Like when the men were away fighting World Wars, the women took over and kicked butt. Well when the xc squad is diluted and injured and at NCAA track, an intramural runner got to run Pac 12s.
Regardless, I think the NCAA should also have a new rule. Teams that run partial squads should be given a team score. They need to be listed in last place in the results. Just fill out the scores with the last place finishers. Either that or put "Forfeit."
I think this sends a very bad signal to society. By only having 13 people on the roster, by not getting a team score today, they are basically saying, "If we can't be really good, we might as well not even try."