Coaches’ polls kind to UO men. snub women ■The Oregon cross country teams are headed in opposite directions in the ever important national polls By Robbie McCallum Oregon Daily Emerald An impressive performance at the Pre-NCAA meet at Iowa State Saturday has helped gain recogni tion for the Oregon men’s cross country team. After placing eighth out of 53 teams in Ames, Iowa, the Ducks rose five places in the national polls to the No. 13 spot. Martin Smith’s squad beat out seven of the 14 ranked teams en tered in the Pre-NCAA meet. Col orado earned the top nod in the poll after winning in Iowa. Pacific 10 Conference rival Stanford fell to No. 3 after placing second. The Oregon women fell completely out of the polls after a disappointing performance in Iowa. The Ducks were ranked No. 22, but after finishing 21st out of 56 teams, they received only one vote in the na tional coaches’ poll. Defending national champion Brigham Young remained the top women’s team. PR watch The only Oregon runner to come close to his or her personal best last Saturday at the Pre-NCAA meet was senior Michael Kasahun. The transfer from Fresno City Col lege equaled his 10,000-meter per sonal best with a time of 31 min utes, 41 seconds. Considering that the Iowa State course is hilly and not known for personal records, Kasahun’s run is much more impressive. Kasahun is having a breakthrough year in his second season with the Ducks. The Kenyan was Oregon’s top finisher at the Roy Griak Invita tional Sept. 23 and was second on the team to sophomore Jason Hart mann at the Pre-NCAA meet. Looking ahead The Oregon cross country teams will have another two-week break between meets. Coming up for Oregon are the Pacific-10 Confer ence Championships in Seattle Oct. 28. Although the meet will decide the conference champions, it has little effect on which teams qualify for the NCAA meet Nov. 20. What the meet will affect are the nation al coaches’ polls, which have a major impact on which teams re ceive at-large bids for the tourna ment. The meet that will decide the Ducks’ NCAA fate is the NCAA Western Regional meet Nov. 11 in Fresno, Calif. Western region update Although the Oregon men’s cross country team rose in the na tional polls to No. 13, it remained third among teams in the West re gion. The Ducks must place in the top-two at the regional meet to au tomatically qualify for the NCAA meet. Their No. 13 ranking does put the Ducks in good position for an at-large bid. Oregon trails Stanford and Ari zona in the rankings. The women are in a tougher spot. Head coach Tom Heinonen’s team trails West region rivals Stan ford, Arizona State, Washington and Arizona in the coaches’ polls. Call (541) 3464343 or stop by Room 300 Erb Memorial Union to place your ad today. P.O. Box 3159 Eugene, OR 97403 E-mail: classads@oregon.uoregon.edu On-line edition: www.dailyemerald.com 080 Greek Events