Welcome aboard Connor Hayward, who will be an XC contributor for us from Eugene, Oregon. We’re going to start telling people that he’s related to Bill Hayward, who Hayward Field is named after. We don’t know if it’s true but it sounds accurate.

The sweet smell of the Willamette River on a cool, crisp morning and the occasional red or orange leaf hitting you in the face mid-run can only mean one thing: Oregon Cross Country is back.

While the cancelling of the Oregon XC Preview may have delayed the men and women of Oregon from getting their cross country season underway, the Ducks were back in action this week with Friday’s Bill Dellinger Invitational.

Now, I’m no duck expert, but last time I checked Google, ducks weren’t able to fly as fast as Katie Rainsberger did to run 37 seconds faster than the previous course record in 18:47 (the average speed of a duck is actually ~50 miles per hour, just so no one @s me on Twitter). In fact, it seems like the whole team didn’t mind the first of many autumn showers in their pond, with Lilli Burdon and Jessica Hull going 2-3, followed by Carmela Cadama Baez (12th) and Susan Ejore (15th), rounding out the scoring positions to total 33 points for the winning women’s team. Stanford followed with 66 points led by Vanessa Fraser (5th). Just behind them was BYU with 78, led by Laura Young (11th).

On the men’s side, BYU took home the team title thanks to a 1-4 sweep led by Clayton Young and Rory Linkletter at the front end of that. Daniel Carney was the 5th man for BYU – taking 7th and sealing the deal for the Cougars’ overall tally of just 17 points. Oregon freshman Cooper Teare crossed the finish line first for the Ducks and 9th overall in 23:52 so keep an eye on The Wood Report to see if he’s managed to prove himself enough to move up in the rankings. We’ve discussed their depth but there’s been a lot of questions as to who will be the top scorers for Oregon. On Friday, they were Sam Prakel and Tanner Anderson (11/12), followed by Travis Neuman and Blake Haney (23/24). Stanford edged out Oregon for second place by 2 points (73 v. 75) and were able to have their top five across the finish line before Oregon’s 4-5 guys.

It’s still really early in the season. A lot of things are going to happen in between now and NCAAs, so make sure you keep an eye on CitiusMag over the next many weeks and months to check out all the hullabaloo surrounding your favorite teams.