While Oregon Olympian Galen Rupp’s teammates were taking care of business behind him, Rupp engaged Monday in one of the epic duels in Division I Men’s Cross Country Championships history.

When it was over, he owned the course record at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Indiana – and the Ducks owned a second straight team title.

Rupp ran nearly stride for stride with Liberty’s Samuel Chelanga through most of the 10,000-meter race before sprinting ahead in the last 1,000 meters to win by five seconds.

About 90 seconds later, Rupp’s four scoring teammates all had joined him at the finish line to give the Ducks a 54-point victory over runner-up Iona.

The victory is Oregon’s sixth overall, and was doubly sweet for Rupp, who lost last year’s individual crown to another Liberty runner, Josh McDougal, in a similar sprint down the course’s long final stretch. This year, Chelanga pushed Rupp from the start in what had been an eagerly anticipated showdown between the Oregon senior and Liberty sophomore, especially since Chelanga’s Pre-Nationals win on the Terre Haute course in October.

“You know, he’s been doing that all year,” Rupp said of Chelanga’s fast start. “So, it wasn’t completely unexpected. I think going in, we knew it was a real possibility that he might do that.

“Coach (Vin Lananna) just told me to sit back and not panic. I knew I was going to have to run smart and stay focused on what was going to be the best plan to be successful. It was something I was prepared for and kept chipping away.”

Rupp’s winning time of 29 minutes, 3.2 seconds was nearly two seconds better than the course record set in 2002 by Colorado’s Jorge Torres.

Chelanga was happy with his own effort against Rupp, who ran in the Beijing Olympics’ 10,000-meter run in September.

“He is a good competitor and I am happy where I am right now,” Chelanga said of Rupp’s victory. “It was fun.”

Two of Rupp’s teammates also finished in less than 30 minutes and placed among the race’s top eight scoring runners, including freshman Luke Puskedra, who finished fourth among scorers and fifth overall. Senior Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott notched his second straight top-10 finish for the Ducks, and sophomores Matthew Centrowitz and Diego Mercado also placed among the top 45 scorers.

“These guys did great all season,” said Lananna, who claimed his fifth team title as a coach, including the three he won at Stanford. “It’s a big deal for us and we’re thrilled to be in the same position as last year – as champions.”

Iona posted its second straight runner-up finish at the championships, led with top-five finishes by seniors Andrew Ledwith and Mohamed Khadraoui.

Team results

1. Oregon, 93; 2. Iona, 147; 3. Stanford, 227; 4. Wisconsin, 229; 5. Auburn, 264; 6. Northern Ariz., 281; 7. Portland, 293; 8. Oklahoma St., 305; 9. BYU, 310; 10. (tie) Georgetown and Alabama, 319; 12. Colorado, 372; 13. Tulsa, 377; 14. Virginia, 383; 15. Minnesota, 385; 16. William & Mary, 412; 17. Iowa St., 435; 18. Washington, 438; 19. Notre Dame, 446; 20. Providence, 465; 21. North Carolina St., 473; 22. California, 477; 23. Cal Poly, 513; 24. Michigan, 522; 25. Penn St., 547; 26. (tie) Florida St. and UCLA, 576; 28. Arkansas, 579; 29. Butler, 602; 30. Texas A&M, 609; 31. Villanova, 643.

Individual results

1. Galen Rupp, Oregon, 29:03.2; 2. Samuel Chelanga, Liberty, 29:08.0; 3. Andrew Ledwith, Iona, 29:25.4; 4. David Kinsella, Portland, 29:26.5; 5. Luke Puskedra, Oregon, 29:27.8; 6. Mohamed Khadraoui, Iona, 29:29.3; 7. Chris Derrick, Stanford, 29:29.4; 8. John Kosgei, Oklahoma St., 29:32.4; 9. Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott, Oregon, 29:43.4; 10. Kyle Perry, BYU, 29:46.1.

11. Patrick Smyth, Notre Dame, 29:47.2; 12. Mark Steeds, Georgia St., 29:49.2; 13. Andrew Bumbalough, Georgetown, 29:51.7; 14. Jordan Kyle, Colorado, 29:52.4; 15. David McNeill, Northern Ariz., 29:53.0; 16. Girma Mesecho, Auburn, 29:53.8; 17. Chris Rombough, Minnesota, 29:54.4; 18. Alfred Kipchumba, Portland, 29:54.8; 19. David McCarthy, Providence, 29:55.1; 20. Jeremy Criscione, Florida, 29:55.9.

21. Ryan Vail, Oklahoma St., 29:58.4; 22. Shadrack Songok, Texas A&M, 29:58.9; 23. Elkanah Kibet, Auburn, 29:59.5; 24. Landon Peacock, Wisconsin, 30:00.0; 25. Jeff Schirmer, Illinois, 30:00.8; 26. Emil Heineking, Virginia, 30:02.0; 27. Japheth Ng'ojoy, UTEP, 30:03.3; 28. Felix Kibioywo, Auburn, 30:04.7; 29. John Beattie, Tulsa, 30:05.0; 30. Nicodemus Ng'etich, UTEP, 30:06.2.

31. Hassan Mead, Minnesota, 30:06.2; 32. Scott MacPherson, Arkansas, 30:06.8; 33. Garrett Heath, Stanford, 30:08.3; 34. Stuart Eagon, Wisconsin, 30:08.6; 35. Levi Miller, Georgetown, 30:09.0; 36. Yosef Ghebray, California, 30:09.4; 37. Samuel Kosgei, Lamar, 30:10.2; 38. Guor Marial, Iowa St., 30:12.3; 39. Matt Withrow, Wisconsin, 30:12.8; 40. Andy Baker, Butler, 30:13.7.

41. Ryan Sheridan, Iona, 30:14.8; 42. Daniel Chenoweth, Harvard, 30:14.8; 43. Jesse Luciano, Iowa, 30:17.8; 44. Morten Bostrom, Northern Ariz., 30:20.1; 45. Matthew Centrowitz, Oregon, 30:21.3; 46. Harbert Okuti, Iona, 30:23.8; 47. Bobby Mack, North Carolina St., 30:24.4; 48. Emmanuel Bor, Alabama, 30:25.0; 49. John Martinez, North Carolina St., 30:25.6; 50. Kiel Uhl, Iowa St., 30:27.5.

51. Michael Coe, California, 30:28.1; 52. Tommy Betterbed, Portland, 30:29.8; 53. Ben True, Dartmouth, 30:30.8; 54. Diego Mercado, Oregon, 30:31.0; 55. Jake Riley, Stanford, 30:31.4; 56. Hillary Bor, Iowa St., 30:31.7; 57. Augustus Maiyo, Alabama, 30:32.6; 58. Jake Schmitt, Washington, 30:32.6; 59. Ben Ashkettle, Northern Ariz., 30:33.2; 60. Stephan Shay, BYU, 30:33.6.

61. Glenn Randall, Dartmouth, 30:34.0; 62. Timothy Ritchie, Boston College, 30:34.7; 63. Tyson David, Alabama, 30:34.9; 64. Richard Medina, Colorado, 30:35.3; 65. Pat Sovacool, Miami (Ohio), 30:35.8; 66. Kenny Klotz, Oregon, 30:35.8; 67. Jake Morse, Texas, 30:36.5; 68. Ciaran O'Lionard, Michigan, 30:37.1; 69. Patterson Wilhelm, William & Mary, 30:38.1; 70. Ryan Collins, Virginia, 30:38.4.

71. Mark Korir, Wyoming, 30:38.7; 72. Hugo Beamish, Villanova, 30:39.1; 73. Paul Limpf, Eastern Wash., 30:39.3; 74. Hakon Devries, Stanford, 30:39.6; 75. Andrew Wheating, Oregon, 30:40.3; 76. Diego Estrada, Northern Ariz., 30:40.6; 77. Sean McNamara, Michigan, 30:41.6; 78. Jon Grey, William & Mary, 30:43.4; 79. Michael Maag, Princeton, 30:43.7; 80. Colby Lowe, Oklahoma St., 30:43.9.

81. Kyle Dawson, Penn St., 30:45.2; 82. Jacob Gustafsson, BYU, 30:45.6; 83. Dan Busby, Syracuse, 30:46.0; 84. Zac Hine, Cornell, 30:46.2; 85. Daniel Roberts, Florida St., 30:47.2; 86. Kelly Spady, Washington, 30:47.2; 87. Mark Davidson, Tulsa, 30:47.5; 88. Jason Weller, Iona, 30:48.2; 89. Laef Barnes, UCLA, 30:48.7; 90. Craig Miller, Wisconsin, 30:49.3.

91. Hayden McLaren, Providence, 30:50.6; 92. Daniel Gonia, Cal Poly, 30:51.4; 93. Dan Jackson, Notre Dame, 30:51.9; 94. Colin Leak, William & Mary, 30:52.2; 95. Garett Jeffries, Missouri, 30:52.3; 96. Jake Walker, Notre Dame, 30:52.4; 97. Jack Bolas, Wisconsin, 30:52.7; 98. Christian Wagner, Wisconsin, 30:52.8; 99. Ryan Foster, Virginia, 30:54.7; 100. Ben Blankenship, Minnesota, 30:55.1.

101. Evan Anderson, Cal Poly, 30:55.2; 102. Chris Lemon, Dayton, 30:55.7; 103. Lewis Timmins, Tulsa, 30:56.5; 104. Ryan Hill, North Carolina St., 30:56.7; 105. Dan Hinckley, BYU, 30:57.2; 106. Michael Banks, Georgetown, 30:57.4; 107. Abraham Kutingala, Alabama, 30:57.8; 108. Jordan Swarthout, Washington, 30:58.0; 109. Kyle Dekker, Tulsa, 30:59.4; 110. Matt Leeder, Florida St., 31:00.2.

111. Lee Carey, Providence, 31:00.3; 112. Elliott Heath, Stanford, 31:00.4; 113. Drew Shackleton, UCLA, 31:00.5; 114. Vince McNally, Penn St., 31:00.9; 115. Kenyon Neuman, Colorado, 31:01.6; 116. Matt Lemon, Dayton, 31:02.2; 117. Michael Krisch, Georgetown, 31:02.3; 118. Andrew Kirwa, Alabama, 31:02.9; 119. Jean-Pierr Weerts, Auburn, 31:03.5; 120. Chris Pannone, Colorado, 31:03.5.

121. Brian Leung, Princeton, 31:04.2; 122. Ayalew Taye, Georgetown, 31:04.2; 123. Andy Biladeau, Virginia, 31:04.6; 124. Ben Massam, William & Mary, 31:04.8; 125. Alex Lundy, Maryland, 31:04.9; 126. Ryan Merriman, BYU, 31:05.3; 127. Brad Miller, Syracuse, 31:05.4; 128. Patrick Mutai, UTEP, 31:05.4; 129. Joe Gatel, Cal Poly, 31:05.5; 130. Matt Frerker Portland 31:05.7.

131. Daniel Lewis, Villanova, 31:06.2; 132. Micah Tirop, South Ala., 31:06.4; 133. David Chirchir, Oklahoma St., 31:06.7; 134. Mark Matusak, California, 31:08.8; 135. Bo Waggoner, Duke, 31:09.3; 136. Festus Kigen, TCU, 31:09.6; 137. Craig Forys, Michigan, 31:10.1; 138. Mike Haddan, UCLA, 31:10.1; 139. Scott Novack, Auburn, 31:10.6; 140. Matt Barnes-Smith, Oklahoma St., 31:10.6.

141. Tyler McCandless, Penn St., 31:10.8; 142. Jon Harding, Washington, 31:11.7; 143. Rob Mullett, Butler, 31:12.2; 144. Eddie Henshaw, Tulsa, 31:12.2; 145. Kyle Murray, St. Joseph's (Pa.), 31:12.6; 146. Matthew Tebo, Colorado, 31:13.1; 147. Troy Swier, Cal Poly, 31:13.4; 148. John Mahoney, Penn St., 31:14.2; 149. Lewis Woodard, William & Mary, 31:14.9; 150. Erick Garcia, Fresno St., 31:14.9.

151. Rich Nelson, BYU, 31:16.7; 152. Eric Fernandez, Arkansas, 31:17.1; 153. Steeve Gabart, Florida St., 31:18.7; 154. Colton Tully-Doyle, Washington, 31:19.0; 155. Mark Fruin, Northern Ariz., 31:19.7; 156. Robert Scribner, Mississippi St., 31:20.8; 157. Daniel Watts, Oklahoma St., 31:21.7; 158. Andrew Jesien, Virginia, 31:22.0; 159. Justin Houck, Portland, 31:23.0; 160. Matt Barrett, Minnesota, 31:23.6.

161. Mitch Bible, Texas A&M, 31:23.9; 162. Nick Sunseri, Florida St., 31:24.0; 163. Alexander Soderberg, Iona, 31:24.4; 164. Kari Karlsson, California, 31:24.7; 165. Kent Morikawa, UCLA, 31:25.3; 166. Adam Henken, Kentucky, 31:25.5; 167. Joe Miller, Notre Dame, 31:25.6; 168. Richard Yeates, Providence, 31:26.0; 169. Francis Kasagule, Lamar, 31:26.4; 170. Alex McClary, Arkansas, 31:26.6.

171. Mike McFarland, Minnesota, 31:27.0; 172. Jonah Lagat, Oral Roberts, 31:27.1; 173. Kevin Born, Iowa St., 31:27.4; 174. Carl Dargitz, Cal Poly, 31:29.1; 175. Julian Matthews, Auburn, 31:29.5; 176. Matt Llano, Richmond, 31:29.6; 177. Keith Capecci, Villanova, 31:29.7; 178. Gavin Coombs, North Carolina St., 31:31.2; 179. Kris Gauson, Butler, 31:31.7; 180. Justin Roeder, Butler, 31:31.8.

181. John Killian, Northern Ariz., 31:32.3; 182. Lex Williams, Michigan, 31:32.4; 183. Andy McClary, Arkansas, 31:32.8; 184. Chris Mocko, Stanford, 31:33.1; 185. Duncan Phillips, Arkansas, 31:33.8; 186. Kevin McNab, Texas A&M, 31:34.3; 187. Dominic Channon, Providence, 31:34.9; 188. Daniel Clark, Notre Dame, 31:36.3; 189. Seth Thibodeau, Michigan, 31:36.6; 190. Graham Tribble, Virginia, 31:40.2.

191. Kevin Ondrasek, Texas A&M, 31:40.8; 192. Joe Sauvageau, Texas A&M, 31:41.3; 193. Chris Vizcaino, Iona, 31:41.8; 194. Jason Pedersen, Northern Ariz., 31:43.1; 195. Tom Burke, William & Mary, 31:45.6; 196. Scott Keeney, Indiana St., 31:46.0; 197. Dennis O'Connor, Penn St., 31:46.6; 198. Brendan Gregg, Stanford, 31:47.3; 199. Carl Mackenzie, Villanova, 31:48.0; 200. Lane Boyer, Arkansas, 31:48.5.

201. Colin Longmuir, Portland, 31:48.6; 202. Nate Ogden, BYU, 31:49.1; 203. Steve Sodaro, California, 31:49.4; 204. Justin Scheid, Georgetown, 31:50.0; 205. Tom Boardman, Butler, 31:51.2; 206. Jason Lakritz, Florida St., 31:52.1; 207. Andrew North, North Carolina St., 31:54.0; 208. Christian Thompson, Colorado 31:54.7; 209. Marlon Patterson, UCLA, 31:55.6; 210. Teddy Quinn, Penn St., 31:56.1.

211. Jeff Lease, Cal Poly, 31:57.4; 212. Bobby Moldovan, North Carolina St., 31:58.1; 213. Andrew Wright, Cal Poly, 31:59.6; 214. Ben Puhl, Minnesota, 32:00.3; 215. Steven Curley, Villanova, 32:01.2; 216. Clayton Carper, Iowa St., 32:02.8; 217. Jordan McDougal, Liberty, 32:03.1; 218. Ryan Gasper, Wisconsin, 32:03.6; 219. Michael Chinchar, Arkansas, 32:07.3; 220. Fredy Torres, North Carolina St., 32:10.4.

221. Eric Harris, Tulsa, 32:11.0; 222. Seth Demoor, Colorado, 32:11.7; 223. Ryan Jacobs, Notre Dame, 32:13.7; 224. Alex Crabill, UCLA, 32:15.6; 225. James Grimes, Georgetown, 32:16.4; 226. Justin Switzer, Michigan, 32:19.3; 227. Paul Springer, Notre Dame, 32:22.2; 228. Madison Roeder, Butler, 32:22.2; 229. Tommy Davies, Butler, 32:22.2; 230. Mike Quackenbush, Portland, 32:24.5.

231. Mike Torchia, Minnesota, 32:25.0; 232. Brian Fuller, Penn St., 32:25.1; 233. Joby Peake, Auburn, 32:25.3; 234. Chris Ahl, Washington, 32:27.3; 235. Michael Anderson, Providence, 32:28.1; 236. Alec Bromka, Washington, 32:31.6; 237. Marco Anzures, UCLA, 32:36.6; 238. Trey Andrews, Florida St., 32:37.8; 239. Kevin Burnett, Texas A&M, 32:39.1; 240. Chris Williams, Villanova, 32:43.0.

241. Peter Dorrell, William & Mary, 32:45.0; 242. Yonas Mebrahtu, Iowa St., 32:49.4; 243. Brandon Fellows, Michigan, 32:55.0; 244. Matt Miller, California, 32:56.8; 245. Rico Loy, Iowa St., 32:58.3; 246. Zac Edwards, Alabama, 33:00.0; 247. Trey Miller, Virginia, 33:11.7; 248. Matt Hansdavid Miller, California, 33:16.8; 249. Stephen Hankinson, Providence, 33:20.6; 250. Daniel Lepage, Tulsa, 33:29.2.

251. Logan Sherman, Texas A&M, 33:48.2; 252. Justin Harbor, Florida St., 34:26.8.