NCAA Men's Cross Country Championships Results |
Video Recap
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Led by All-America individual performances from Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse, Jeff Thies and Nick Hauger, the Portland Pilots cross country program added to its remarkable history by finishing second as a team at the 2017 NCAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday.
Portland entered the race ranked No. 4 nationally, but trailed only NCAA champion Northern Arizona at the finish line of the 10K race hosted at Tom Sawyer State Park. NAU finished with 74 team points followed by Portland (127), BYU (165), Stanford (221) and Arkansas (259). Justyn Knight of Syracuse was the individual champion.
It marks the second podium finish for Rob Conner's program, which made its 18th team appearance at the national meet. Portland's previous best was a third-place showing in 2014.
Roudolff-Levisse, a sophomore who won the NCAA West Regional last weekend, was Portland's top individual finisher in 11th-place with a time of 29:38.90. Thies, a senior, was on his heels in 14th-place, while the junior Hauger closed hard to come in 26th place overall.
The trio joins 15 other Pilots to earn NCAA Cross Country All-America honors. It is the first time in program history that three Pilots have earned All-America status in the same year.
Senior transfer Matt Welch made an impressive debut for the Pilots and crossed the finish line in 46th place, while Caleb Webb was Portland's fifth scorer and finished 54th overall.
The runner-up finish caps a phenomenal cross country season that featured Portland starting the season ranked outside of the top 20, placing second at the prestigious Nuttycombe Invitational, earning its highest in-season national ranking (No. 3) ever, and claiming the second NCAA West Regional title (1993).
Conner, the five-time West Region Coach of the Year, has been at the helm of Portland for 28 years and has now has guided the Pilots eight Top 10 finishes at nationals.
Pilot fans and the Portland community is encouraged to welcome the team back to campus from its successful trip on Sunday afternoon. The travel party is expected to arrive back at campus at 2:45 p.m. and the Chiles Center Plaza will be where fans can greet and congratulate the group.
NCAA Cross Country Championships
Louisville, Ky. (Tom Sawyer State Park)
November 11, 2017
Top Team Finishes
1. Northern Arizona, 74
2. Portland, 127
3. BYU, 165
4. Stanford, 221
5. Arkansas, 259
6. Oregon, 274
7. Iowa State, 279
8. Colorado, 294
9. Colorado State, 318
10. Michigan, 328
Portland Individuals
11. Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse, 29:38.90 (All-America)
14. Jeff Thies, 29:40.62 (All-America)
26. Nick Hauger, 29:46.69 (All-America)
46. Matt Welch, 30:09.62
54. Caleb Webb, 30:14.65
64. Logan Orndorf, 30:20.83
148. Noah Schutte, 31:06.95
Portland Men's Cross Country NCAA History (18)
Year Team Finish
1993 12th
1996 10th
1998 28th
1999 26th
2001 7th
2003 27th
2005 9th
2006 18th
2007 14th
2008 7th
2009 13th
2010 13th
2011 8th
2012 12th
2013 7th
2014 3rd
2016 13th
2017 2nd
Portland Men's Cross Country All-Americans (18)
Pete Julian (1993), Uli Steidl (1996), Joe Driscoll (2001), John Moore (2005), David Kinsella (2007, 2008), Alfred Kipchumba (2008, 2009, 2011), Trevor Dunbar (2010, 2011), Scott Fauble (2012, 2013, 2014), Reid Buchanan (2014), Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse (2017), Jeff Thies (2017), Nick Hauger (2017)
