Oregon sweeps distance races to earn both men's and women's titles

Glen Rosales | Associated Press

Last Updated - Mar 16, 2014 00:18 EDT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. --

Phyllis Francis had two record-setting runs and Edward Cheserek swept the distance races to help Oregon win the team titles Saturday night in the NCAA indoor track and field championships.

Francis sprinted down the backstretch in the 1,600-meter relay to catch Texas' Ashley Spencer at the tape, giving the Ducks 44 points - a half-point better than the Longhorns for a fifth consecutive championship.

Francis and her teammates finished in 3 minutes, 27.40 seconds, just ahead of Texas at 3:27.42, for a college indoor mark. Earlier, Francis set the indoor record in the 400 at 50.46 seconds. She was even faster in the relay, finishing her leg in 50.44.

The Ducks won the men's title with 62 points, eight more than Arkansas. Cheserek's performance won the 5,000 on Friday night in 13:46.67, and took the 3,000 on Saturday in 8:11.59.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The Oregon men's track team has won the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championship.

The Ducks put it away in the 3,000 meters, which freshman Edward Cheserek won and senior Trevor Dunbar was fifth.

They put the exclamation point on their victory with a seventh-place finish in the 4x400 relay.

Cheserek won two individual events for the Ducks, who weren't on anybody's radar coming into the meet.

I'll have a full story later with the team point totals. If my unofficial calculations are right, Oregon finished with 61 points. Arkansas was second with 53. But I hate trusting my math skills.

Team Scores

Updated after each completed event