Cross Country: Lananna Named West Regional Men's XC Coach of The Year

The second-year associate athletic director was honored after his men’s team scored its first pair of team wins in the Pac-10 and NCAA West Regional Championships since 1989.

Photo: goducks.com

EUGENE - The U.S, Track and Field / Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced Friday that University of Oregon men’s director of track and field and cross country Vin Lananna was named the 2006 Men’s West Regional Coach of the Year.

The Pac-10 title stood as Oregon’s 14th and first since 1995, while their regional crown was its first since 1989 and fifth since the event was held separately from the league finale beginning in 1982.

The No. 5 Duck men won last Saturday’s men’s regional team race with a score of 69 points and edged No. 6 Stanford (second, 88) and No. 9 Portland (third, 123).

The 25-team West Regional stood as the deepest of the nine regions nationally and featured nine NCAA Championships team qualifiers.

Individually, sophomore Galen Rupp (fourth, 30:15) posted UO’s highest finish in the race since Jason Hartmann finished second in 2002.

Also earning All-Region accolades, freshman Diego Mercado (11th, 30:34), senior Patrick Werhane (15th), freshman Kenny Klotz (19th, 30:41) and junior Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott (20th, 30:42) were rewarded for their top-25 finishes in the 10,000-meter race

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