Oregon standout Maddy Elmore returns from injury layoff to win Dellinger XC Invitational

SPRINGFIELD — Friday was supposed to be nothing more than a rust-buster for Maddy Elmore.

The Oregon senior had other plans.

In her first competitive outing in more than six months, Elmore took an early lead and was never challenged as she won the women's 6,000-meter race during the Bill Dellinger Invitational cross country meet at Pine Ridge Golf Club.

Her finish helped the No. 12 Ducks score 53 points to come in second place in the team standings behind No. 6 Utah (25), which had five runners finish in the top nine.

The No. 22 Oregon men also placed second in their 8,000-meter race, with senior Elliott Cook leading the way with an 11th-place finish in what was his first race of the season as well.

But it was Elmore who stole the show, as the South Eugene High School alum crossed in 19 minutes, 40.2 seconds on the 3.7-mile course, well ahead of runner-up Erin Vringer of Utah, who finished in 19:49.8.

Last spring, six weeks after breaking the Oregon school record in the outdoor 5,000 when she ran 15:15.79, Elmore had her track and field season shut down right before the start of postseason competition due to a calf injury.

Friday marked her first race since May 3. She said it took a little cajoling of coach Shalane Flanagan to even get entered.

"I was like, 'Shalane, it's my last cross-country season, it's in Eugene, can I please run?' And she was like, 'Fine,'" Elmore said. "But then the goal was definitely to win. I don't want to lose on my home course. I've always wanted to win this race and I've never really had a good race out here, I've felt like, so it was good to get that."

Elmore said she aggravated her injury last June trying to get back in time for NCAA Outdoors and then the U.S. Olympic Trials, leading to her take 3½ months off from running.

She looked sharp in her build-up to the Dellinger, however.

"I saw enough momentum and progress and her confidence was starting to snowball," Flanagan said. "I was like you know what, it would be much more fun to rip off that Band-Aid and get back out there, here where she's supported by family and kind of in a safe space. I knew that she was really fit."

The Ducks weren't at full strength Friday as Flanagan continued her plan to not race senior Silan Ayyildiz or Olympian Klaudia Kazimierska until the Big Ten Championships in three weeks. She also strategically sat Mia Barnett, who was Oregon's top finisher two weeks ago at the prestigious Nuttycombe Invitational.

Also for the Ducks on Friday, Anika Thompson was eighth in 20:13., Washington transfer Wilma Nielsen was 13th in 20:25.2, with freshmen Ali Ince (20:28.8) and Charlotte Sinke (20:33.3) rounding out the scoring with 14th- and 17th-place finishes, respectively.

"Knowing I have three serious bangers and serious contenders not out there, we did a really good job," Flanagan said. "Sometimes it's kind of nice to just lay in the weeds and really get ready for a really big one. The Big Tens is going to be really challenging and really exciting."

Nebraska and UCLA, two programs Oregon will see at the Big Ten meet, finished third and fifth with 105 and 148 points, respectively.

Oregon State was fourth with 135 points.

The Ducks scored 97 points to finish second in a men's race dominated by No. 2 BYU. The Cougars finished with a perfect score of 15 points.

BYU's Casey Clinger was the winner in 22:54.8 on the roughly five-mile course. He was followed across the line, in order, by teammates James Corrigan (22:55.9), Aidan Troutner (22:56.4), Creed Thompson (23:00.1) and Joey Nokes (23:00.5).

Cook, the only Duck to race in the NCAA Cross Country Championship meet last season, finished 11th in 23:21.3.

It was Cook's first race of the season after a track season that included an eighth-place finish in the Olympic Trials 1,500 final.

"He did great," Oregon coach Jerry Schumacher said. "First one out after a long summer … really nice opener for getting the rust off the legs. I thought he did a nice job."

Redhirt freshman Tayson Echohawk was next across for Oregon finishing in 14th in 23:28.4. Redshirt freshman Simeon Birnbaum was 22nd in 23:40.1, senior Quincy Norman was 25th in 23:44.6 and Stanford transfer Evan Burke was 34th in 23:50.7.

"I'm very impressed with how we did," Cook said. "We've got some kinks to work out, but overall, I'm very happy with how we did."

Chris Hansen covers University of Oregon football, men’s basketball, track and field, cross country and softball for The Register-Guard. You can reach him on X @chansen_RG or by email at chansen@registerguard.com .

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon standout Maddy Elmore returns from injury layoff to win Dellinger XC Invitational