TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Galen Rupp won his first individual title to lead Oregon to its second straight NCAA men’s cross country championship on a gusty and cool Monday at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course. The women, racing without one of their top runners, gutted out an impressive second place finish, which was the Ducks’ second straight NCAA runner-up showing.

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"It was a great day for the men; it was a great day for the women. All-around, it was a great day for the University of Oregon," said Associate Director of Athletics Vin Lananna. "And Galen Rupp was just terrific. What a great young man and a wonderful national champion to represent our University."

Rupp was one of three top-10 finishers for the men, as the No. 1-ranked Ducks pulled away for a 54-point victory over No. 7 Iona. Oregon tallied 93 points to Iona’s 147. No. 3 Stanford edged No. 4 Wisconsin for third 227-229.

The senior from Portland, Ore., watched Liberty’s Samuel Chelanga race out to an early lead that reached about 30 meters after a 4:24 opening mile. But Rupp bided his time, never losing site of Chelanga. He closed the gap to about :03 at the 3,000-meter mark, and the two ran shoulder-to-shoulder the last half of the race until Rupp made his move with 200 meters remaining. He then sprinted away and, with a smile on his face, crossed finish line in 29:03.2. Chelanga was second in 29:08.0.

"I heard somebody yell with 100 meters to go ‘don’t forget about last year’," said Rupp, who.....READ MORE