Carmela Cardama Baez, Jackson Mestler Win First Outings Of 2021

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Oregon runners Carmela Cardama Baez and Jackson Mestler won the individual titles Friday at the Oregon XC Invite, but it was a purple wave from the University of Portland that swept the team victories at Lane Community College in Eugene, Ore. in a meet without spectators. 

Cardama Baez, who does not have cross country eligibility but will compete later this spring for the Oregon track team, competed unattached and won the 5,000-meter women's race in 16:41.0. Cardama Baez, a native of Spain, was set to compete in two events at the 2020 NCAA Indoor Championships when the event was stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic last March. 

RESULTS

Mestler, a Eugene native and Oregon senior, returned to familiar territory from his high school days at Sheldon and won the men's 8,000-meter race in 24:01.3, pulling away late to create a six-second margin over Portland's Sam Niesten (24:07.9).

“I’ve got a different schedule than some of the other guys, considering my eligibility," Mestler said. "It’s still a great opportunity to be out there competing and I want to take advantage of that. My focus is on fitness and that fitness will translate to good times and performances.

“As a (distance) group, we have worked very hard and consistently on being fit. I think these first two weeks have shown that fitness will translate from 800 (meters) to an 8K.”

The Portland men put 14 runners in front of Oregon's fifth and scored 20 points. 

Kaylee Mitchell, a sophomore from Oregon State, collected one point in the team scoring with her runner-up finish in 16:51.2. 

But again, Portland's depth took over and the Pilots put five runners across the finish line in the top 11. 

Portland scored 32 points to San Francisco's 47 and Oregon State's 48. Gonzaga scored 108 points and host Oregon was fifth with 136. 

San Francisco runners MacKenzie Yanek and Eve Jensen place third and fifth, respectively, to lead the Dons. 

Anna Pataki (fourth), Stella Gilman (sixth), Victoria Weir (seventh) and Emma Jenkins (ninth) all placed in the top 10 for Portland. The Pilots' top five split 15.1 seconds. 

OSU put five runners in the top 16 and had a 1-5 spread of 43 seconds. 

Mestler ran with teammate Jack Yearian through the first half of the race as a host of Pilots trailed them early on. Yearian dropped out after the 5K mark. 

Portland claimed the 2-7 spots, which included a sixth-place finish for highly touted freshman Matt Strangio. 

Oregon freshmen Quincy Norman and Abdinasir Hussein finished eighth and ninth.