SEATTLE -- Aisling Cuffe competed in her first competitive cross-country race in two years and proved that she's close to top form, winning the Washington Invitational on Friday.
And Joe Rosa, also out for the 2015 track season with injury, proved the same thing, finishing second in the men's race.
In the team competitions, Stanford was second among the men and the Cardinal women were third, though both teams were not at full strength. Oregon won both races, with two-time NCAA cross-country champ Edward Cheserek, now a junior, outrunning Rosa by four seconds.
Cuffe, who missed all of cross country and track during the 2014-15 academic year, covered the 6-kilometer (3.73-mile) women's course at Jefferson Park Golf Course in 19:41, leading Stanford to third with 60 points, one behind runner-up Washington.
It marked the second consecutive Stanford individual women's victory, after Elise Cranny, a current sophomore who didn't run Friday, captured the 2014 race in 20:11. This was Cuffe's first competitive race since finishing fourth in the 5,000 meters at the 2014 U.S. outdoor track and field championships.
Rosa ran 23:20.6 over 8K (4.97 miles) while Stanford scored 69 to Oregon's 52. Jack Keelan placed fourth (23:22.3) and Garrett Sweatt seventh (23:27.2), each finishing ahead of the Ducks' second runner. Among those who didn't for Stanford were Stanford Invitational winner Sean McGorty, Stanford Invite runner-up Grant Fisher, and 2013 NCAA fifth-place finisher Jim Rosa, who has yet to race this season.
Cuffe and Joe Rosa ran in the season-opening Fresno State Invitational, but Stanford treated that race as a workout. This time, the harnesses were removed, though the Cardinal remains in a heavy training phase.
Two Stanford freshmen made their first collegiate debut. Hannah Long was the Cardinal's No. 3 runner, in 14th place (20:11.6) and Catherine Pagano was the team's No. 8, in 77th place (21:44.1). Vanessa Fraser was Stanford's No. 2, in 10th in 20:08.0.
Closer representations of Stanford's full-strength squads will compete on the weekend of Oct. 16-17, at the Wisconsin Invitational (men) and Pre-Nationals (women). The Stanford men are ranked No. 2 and the women No. 4.
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Washington Invitational
At Jefferson Park Golf Course
Women (6K0
Team leaders: 1, Oregon 36; 2, Washington 59; 3, Stanford 60.
Individual leaders: 1, Aisling Cuffe (Stanford) 19:41.0; 2, Alli Cash (Oregon) 19:44.6; 3, Maddie Meyers (Washington) 19:49.7.
Stanford: 1, Cuffe; 10, Vanessa Fraser 20:08.0; 14, Hannah Long 20:11.6; 15, Molly McNamara 20:13.1; 20, Julia Maxwell 20:20.3; 27, Danielle Katz 20:29.1; 47, Sophie Chase 20:53.1; 77, Catherine Pagano 21:44.1.
Men (8K)
Team leaders: 1, Oregon 52; 2, Stanford 69; 3, BYU 70.
Individual leaders: 1, Edward Cheserek (Oregon) 23:15.4; 2, Joe Rosa (Stanford) 23:20.6; 3, Lane Werley (UCLA) 23:21.8; 4, Jack Keelan (Stanford) 23:22.3.
Stanford: 2, Rosa; 4, Keelan; 7, Garrett Sweatt 23:27.2; 19, Cameron Miller 23:38.5; 39, Steven Fahy 23:59.6; 47, Jack Bordoni 24:07.1; 56, Ryan Silva 24:13.2; 69, Patrick Perrier 24:32.2.