Cherotich Covers Pine Ridge Golf Club 6k Course Under 19 Minutes, Guiding No. 4 Oregon Women To Near Perfect Team Score; Benjamin Balazs, No. 14 Oregon Men Also Nearly Perfect, Handling No. 23 Air Force With Ease

By Keenan Gray of DyeStat

Kim Spir photos

RESULTS | VIDEOS

Diana Cherotich is a master of first impressions.

Six months since her collegiate debut on the track at the Stanford Invitational, where she broke the Oregon school record at the 10,000 meters distance in 31 minutes, 45.22 seconds, Cherotich delivered another jaw-dropping performance Friday afternoon at the Bill Dellinger Invitational.

The freshman from Bungoma County, Kenya, ran an astonishing 18 minutes, 58.9 seconds for the 6-kilometer race, winning by nearly 45 seconds at the Pine Ridge Golf Club in Springfield, Ore.

Cherotich opened the first kilometer in 3:09.5 and settled in the second kilometer in 3:14.3 to go through the first third of the race in 6:23.8. Over the next two kilometers, Cherotich cut down her splits to 3:12.3 at 4k and 3:08.4 at 4k, bringing her to the last 2k in 12:44.5. At 5k, she came through in 15:58.2 before concluding the final kilometer in 3:00.61 to take the win.

It was Cherotich's first time running cross country for Oregon, but she has a history of success on grass. She was fifth at the World U20 Cross Country Championships for Kenya in 2024.

As perfect as Cherotich was, the No. 4 Oregon women were nearly perfect, too, in the team race.

Following Cherotich, Juliet Cherubet finished second in 19:42.93, Dalia Frias in third in 19:57.05 and Anika Thompson in fourth in 20:03.7 to put four Oregon women across the line before any other team's individual.

Air Force's Ella Johnson broke up Oregon's bid of a perfect 15 points, finishing fifth in 20:09.26. Ella Thorsett was Oregon's fifth scorer across the finish line in sixth in 20:17.18, capping the Ducks' score at 16 points.

Ali Ince broke into the top 10 for the Ducks, finishing ninth in 20:27.91 to place six Oregon women in the top 10.

Air Force, led by Johnson, finished second with 72 points. India Jones, another Air Force athlete, rounded out the top 10 individuals in 20:34.07.

Oregon State's Kate Laurent finished seventh in 20:25.56 and California's Sophie Tau finished eighth in 20:27.55. 

On the men's side, Oregon native Benjamin Balazs delivered an individual win while leading No. 14 Oregon past No. 23 Air Force.

Balazs, a graduate of Sunset High in Beaverton, Ore., broke away from teammates Evan Bishop and Abdel Laadjel in the home straightaway to win the 8k race in 23:08.2. In doing so, Balazs begun the Oregon sweep of individual and team titles that was followed by Cherotich and the women's team.

Just like the women, Oregon put five scorers in the top six, scoring 16 points. Bishop finished second in 23:09.89 and Laadjel finsihed third in 23:11.47 after Balazs took over at the end. Aiden Smith finished fourth in 23:15.46 and Michael Mireles finished sixth in 23:25.61.

Juan Gonzalez, an Oregon freshman, finished seventh in 23:27.81 while competing unattached.

Peter Visser of Weber State finished fifth in 23:17.6, standing in between of Oregon's bid of a perfect score.

Air Force, second with 50 points, were led by Jayden Nats (23:31.05, ninth) and Saketh Rudrarju (23:27.29, 10th) finishing in the top 10. The Falcons' top five had a spread of 12 seconds.

UC Davis' Muhammed Ahmed claimed eighth in 23:30.66.