Analysis of the 2003 NCAA
Division I Women's Cross Country Championships
by Mike Scott,
University of Rhode Island
Updated: 27 November
For the 7th consecutive year, I analyzed the NCAA Division I Cross Country scene. In this post-season analysis, I have listed teams according to their finish order at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. In parentheses behind each team's name is that team's ranking in the final edition of the FinishLynx/NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY NATIONAL POLL, as conducted by the Women's Intercollegiate Cross Country Coaches' Association.
Notes: Places listed in parentheses refer to finish at the 2002 NCAA D-1 XC Championships at Indiana State University, unless otherwise noted. Performances are from the 2002-03 year, unless otherwise noted. Performances at the Foot Locker High School Cross Country Championships are denoted by "FL".
As always, I appreciate additions, corrections, and updates. Please send them to me at miscott@att.net
The NCAA Championships:
The NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships were hosted by the University of Northern Iowa in Waterloo and featured 21-degree temperatures, although the 15-25 mph winds helped drop the windchill down to around zero.
Using splits obtained from the official results, I have estimated team scores and standings at the 3-kilometer and 5-kilometer marks. The official results do not list a 5-kilometer split for about 50-runners, so it is was impossible to accurately estimate team scores for several of the teams.
The Battle for the Titles: BYU versus Stanford, Smith vs Flanagan
Although Providence's Kim Smith
kept pace with her during the opening mile, North Carolina's Shalane Flanagan
simply ran away from the field at the 2003 NCAA Division 1 Women's Cross
Country Championships to defend her title -- a feat that hadn't been
successfully accomplished in 10 years since Villanova's Carol Zajac won
back-to-back titles in 1992-1993.
By 3K, Flanagan had opened a
5-second margin over Smith, 9:46 to 9:51.
The defending champ extended her margin to 7 seconds at the 5K, 16:23 to
16:30.
Flanagan narrowly missed her own
course record -- set five weeks earlier at the Pre-NCAA event -- and ran 19:31
while battling 21-degree temperatures and the 15-25 mph winds. Smith claimed
second twelve seconds back in 19:43, while Stanford's Sara Bei (19:50)
outdueled Brigham Young's Michael Mannova (19:53) and Providence's Mary Cullen
(19:53) for third-place honors.
Bei's narrow victory over Mannova
presaged the team battle, which featured a nail-biter between top-rated and
defending champion Brigham Young and second ranked Stanford. Stanford's Alicia
Craig (19:55) finished 6th, but was quickly followed by BYU's Kassi Anderson
(20:15) and Laura Turner (20:16) in 13th and 14th. Stanford countered with Katy
Trotter (20:30) and Ari Lambie (20:32) in 21st and 24th, while BYU's Breanne
Sandberg (20:47) claimed 37th. Although BYU's Suzanna Larsen (89th in 21:11) edged
the Cardinal's Amanda Trotter (92nd in 20:13), Stanford helped BYU meet its,
well, Waterloo in Waterloo by a 120 to 128 margin.
Kim Smith's runner-up finish,
which was matched by an equally impressive fifth-place effort by teammate Mary
Cullen, helped spark a strong third-place performance by the Friars. Deirde
Byrne (20:56), Fiona Crombie (21:05), and Lisa Cappello (21:35) combined with
Smith and Cullen to give Ray Treacy's squad their highest placing since they
won the team crown in 1995.
Note: There was apparently
a pileup involving as many as 20+ runners about 150-meters into the women's
championship race. Although I did
not personally witness the chain-reaction spill, various news sources have
reported that at least following individuals were involved in the pileup: Molly
Landreth (PnSt), Hanna Bremler (WF), Chris Tye (Tol), Magdalena Sandoval (Or),
Tiffany McWilliams (MsSt), Cack Ferrell (Prin), Natalie Florence (Co), Shilo
Whiting (Ark), Alison Costello(UCLA), Ann Clinton (FlSt), Megan Cauble (Tn),
and three Duke runners including Laura Stanley.
1. Stanford
(#2)
Stanford, which has appeared to run their best team races
mid-season, showed that they could put together a team championship in
November. First-year
head coch Dena Evans' Stanford squad, which was clearly the best team in the
country at Pre-NCAAs, improved their team time slighty from a 20:29 at
Pre-NCAAs to a 20:23.5 at NCAAs, enough of a margin to help them nail down
their end of a Cardinal sweep of both team titles -- a feat that they had also
accomplished in 1996 -- and only matched by Wisconsin in 1985. The Cardinal's title came off an 83-sec
1-5 split, with Bei and the Trotter twins both improving upon their Pre-NCAA
performances, Craig running essentially the same time, and Lambie dropping off
about 16 seconds. Bei, Craig, Katy
Trotter, and Lambie all earned All-American honors.
Stanford got out strong early in
the race, with estimated scores of 119 at 3K and 115 at 5K. Although Lambie and Amanda Trotter each
lost a few places late in the race, Bei and Katy Trotter both finished strongly
to make up for the lost points.
Stanford returns their entire top
seven, plus the injured Teresa McWalters who was running top-5 for the Cardinal
early season.
Despite coaching changes
and the loss of 3-time NCAA 5k champion Lauren Fleshman and mile standout
Malindi Elmore, the Cardinal appears set for another run at the NCAA harrier
crown. Following the departure of
Stanford mentor Vin Lannana for greener pastures (well, at least Ohio), former
All-American Dena Evans was promoted to Head Women's Coach.
NCAA 10k champ Alicia Craig
finished 3rd in Terre Haute last fall and will lead Stanford this fall and
should be joined up front by teammate Sara Bei (57th). Jeane Goff and Anita Siraki round out
the NCAA returnees for the Cardinal.
Coach Evans scored big with this year's recruiting class, nailing down
one of the fastest prep milers of all time Ari Lambie -- who also won the
ever-competitive Foot Locker NE regional before succumbing to illness at the FL
finals -- along with the talented Trotter twins -- Kathleen (2nd at Foot Locker
championships) and Amanda.
Stanford dominated its season opener at the 8/30 Bronco Invite with Sara
Bei, Katy Trotter, Jeane Goff, and Amanda Trotter all finishing together in the
top four spots; Craig and Lambie didn't appear at the opener.
Like their rivals at BYU,
Stanford's team's first serious outing -- at their own 9/27 invite -- didn't
quite turn out as planned. Coach
Evans split her squad between the 4K (Bei, Lambie, A. Trotter) and 6K (Craig,
McWalters, K. Trotter, Goff, Siraki) races -- both teams, incidentally, would
likely qualify as "A" teams under NCAA guidelines -- and were upset
by Cal and UCLA respectively. Bei
and Lambie simply dominated the 4K, while Craig destroyed the field (and course
record) over 6K. The Cardinal
demonstrated their strength the following weekend with a dominating
1-2-3-4-5-6-7 finish at the 10/4 Murray Keating Inv; although they were racing
a passel of unranked teams, Stanford's Seven crossed the finish line together
with a 13-sec lead over the next runner.
Stanford's run in the
Pre-NCAA Gold race moved them from mere contenders for the NCAA team crown to
the favorite. Craig and Bei
finished 1-2 in the Pre-NCAA Gold Race with the 2nd and 3rd fastest times of
the day, while Lambie finished 5th (9th fastest time); backing up this
exceptional trio were Katy Trotter (23rd, 48th fastest) and Jeane Goff (35th,
75th fastest) who helped the Cardinal to a 1:26 1-5 split. Missing from the Stanford lineup was
McWalters, who claimed 2nd a couple weeks ago at the Stanford Inv 6K and would
be expected to finish among the overall top 15 (who ran this weekend). Stanford's Bei, Craig, and Lambie
claimed 1-2-3 at the Pac-10 champs; that trio combined with the Trotter twins
(McWalters was missing again from the lineup) for a 50-sec 1-5 split over
6K. With Lambie a "little
dinged up" and sitting out and McWalters comfirmed out for the remainder
of the season, Craig and Bei led the Cardinal to an easy win at the West
regional and combined with the Trotters and Goff for a 52-sec 1-5 spread. With Lambie back in the lineup, the
Cardinal will rely upon Craig, Bei, and Lambie to finish in the top 15 and the
Trotters and Goff.
Returnees: Alicia Craig (3rd,
28th '01; 15:25.75, 32:40.03, NCAA 10k Champ), Sara Bei (57th, 89th '01; '00 FL
Champ; 16:03.08; 13th out 5k; USA Jr '01 3k champ), Jeane Goff (128th, 4:26,
10:23.08s/c), Anita Siraki (110th, 2nd '00 FL' 9:47i); Kristen Cohoon
(10:04.77; 17:08), Yfa Kretzschmar (2:10.05, 5:01.95y);
Newcomers: Ari Lambie (22nd
FL, 1st FL NE; 2:45.46NR, 4:20.2, 4:37.23y, 10:11.9y), Kathleen Trotter (2nd
FL, 2:11.32, 4:50.32y, 10:30.47y, ) Amanda Trotter (2:11.37, 4:54.43y,
10:32.11y), Teresa McWalters, Julie Allen (11th '01 FL; 4:59.27y, 10:37.75y),
2. Brigham
Young (#1)
BYU mentor Patrick Shane, who
prefers to focus on the process rather than outcomes, can take solice in the
fact that his Cougars improved their average team time from a 20:44 at
Pre-NCAAs to a 20:28 at NCAAs. BYU's Anderson, who had struggled earlier this
fall, returned to top form to help the Cougars (improving from 21:35 at
Pre-NCAAs to 20:15 at NCAAs), but both Larsen (20:55 to 21:11) and Antonelli
(21:09 to 21:20) were behind where they had been at Pre-NCAAs. BYU's scoring quintet split 79-sec at NCAAs; if they had
managed to maintain their 67-sec 1-5 split from Pre-NCAAs, then they would have
edged the Cardinal by about 12 points.
Other than Mannova, who spent most
of the race running in the top five before claiming fourth, the BYU squad moved
up well during the second half the race.
At the 3K, the BYU scoring five totaled 164 points but Anderson (19th to
13th), Sandberg (66th to 37th), and Larsen (106th to 89th) each moved up
strongly to lower the Cougars' score to 127 at 5K and 128 at the finish.
With Mannova graduating and
Sandberg off on a LDS mission, Shane needs a good recruiting year to reload to
make another run at an NCAA title.
Patrick Shane's defending
champion BYU Cougars have now won 4 of the last six NCAA team titles ('97, '99,
'01, '02), including the last two crowns.
NCAA steeplechase champs Michaela Mannova ('02) and Kassi Andersen ('03)
return to lead the Cougars.
Mannova, who finished 5th in both the '01 and '02 NCAA harrier races,
redshirted the outdoor season but notched a swift 9:42.01 steeple while winning
silver at this summer's Euro under-23 meet. In her absence, '02 USA Junior 1500 champ Andersen (7th) ran
away with the steeple title in an NCAA meet record 9:44.95 before claiming
silver at the USA championships.
Also returning for BYU are Breanne Sandberg (41st), Lisa Antonelli
(10:14.37s/c), Shalice Pugmire (10:32.88s/c), as well as a possible key for the
Cougars' hopes of a three-peat: former two-time cross country All-American
Laura Turner (26th '99, 31st '98) who served on an LDS mission in 2000 and
2001. Foot Locker finalists Ruth
Graham (12th FL) and Amber Harper (13th FL) could help bolster the Cougars'
lineup.
BYU opened by running a
"B" squad (BYU's website stated that they held out the top 5 or 6
runners) at the BYU Alumni Inv, where they 1-2-3-4-5'd the field with
Antonelli, Suzanna Larsen, and Breanne Sandberg finishing together. Breane Sandberg won the 9/13 BYU Autumn
Classic to lead a mostly "B" squad to an easy team win over cross
state rival Weber State. Sandberg,
Larsen, Rena Williams, Antonelli, and Jami Caldwell scored for the
Cougars. BYU ran completely different
"B" squad in Hawaii and fell to UCLA; of note for the Cougars were
seasonal debuts for Michaela Mannova's (easy win) and Foot Locker finalist
Amber Harper's (a bit back in 10th).
"In over 20 years of
coaching, I've never had a team miss a race," declared a still stunned
Coach Shane when interviewed following his BYU squad missing the 9/26 Great
American Race of Champions. "I can't blame anyone but myself. The other 15 teams all made it to the
starting line on time." The
understrength and likely demoralized Cougars -- still sans Anderson and
Turner-- dominated the "B" race a little over an hour later, but
their times would have likely placed them behind NC State and UNC.
The Cougars' full squad
debuted in the Pre-NCAA Purple race, where they won with a 13-point margin over
North Carolina. Mannova claimed
runner-up honors (5th fastest of the day) behind UNC's Flanagan, while Turner
demonstrated that she only gets better with age, claiming 7th (17th
fastest). Larsen and Sanberg
finished together in 22nd and 23rd (37th and 38th fastest), while Lisa
Antonelli wrapped up the scorers with her 32nd place finish (62nd fastest) that
helped the squad to a 67-sec 1-5 split.
The surprise of the day for BYU was Anderson's poor showing, a
55th-place effort. Shane, in
comments to journalists following the race, blamed himself for working her too hard
over the last couple weeks and leaving her tired.
With Anderson missing again
from the lineup, BYU scored a miserly 19 points to win the Mountain West
Conference; Mannova, Turner, and Samberg finished 1-2-3 and combined with
Antonelli and Williams for a 69-sec 1-5 split. Anderson returned to the BYU lineup at the Mountain
regional, where she helped the Cougars record an easy win; Mannova won the
regional by about 15-seconds and led Turner, Anderson, Sandberg, and Antonelli
to a 70-sec 1-5 split. For the
Cougars to turn back the Cardinal challenge for the crown, Shane needs to have Anderson back to last
year's top-10 form and can't have bad days by any of his other scorers. Even then, he may have to hope that
Stanford's juggernaut falters.
Returnees: Michaela Mannova (5th, 5th '01, 148th '00; 9:42.01s/c; '02
steeplechase champ), Kassi
Andersen (7th; 2:08.10, 4:18.04 '01, 9:44.95s/c, '03 steeplechase champ, 2nd
USA s/c, 1st '02 USA Jr 1500), Breanne Sandberg (41st; 16:22.59), Shalice
Pugmire (10:32.88s/c), Aneta Lemiesz (2:05.30), Lisa Antonelli (10:14.37s/c),
Laura Turner (26th '99, 31st '98; 16:38.67)
Newcomer: Ruth Graham (12th FL; 10:02.7 3k, 10:46.87y); Amber Harper (13th FL;
4:37.95, 9:54.44 3k); Julie Cameron (2:12.83, 5:10.45i), Whitney McDonald (CA)
3.
Providence (#8)
The Friars definitely saved their best for
last, with Smith claiming individual runner-up honors and Cullen finishing 5th
to lead PC to third in the team standings. Providence was out strongly from the gun and ran third the whole
way, with team scores of 175 at 3K, 195 at 5K, and 222 at the finish. Most of the increasing total was due to
Cappello, who faded from 101st at 3K to 154th at the finish. Providence returns their top four, so
they will return as a contender in 2004.
Perennial top-10 power
Providence returns four from their sixth-place squad, and gain two impact
runners. All-American Mary Cullen
(28th) blossomed last year to twice break 16:00 and garner 4th in the NCAA outdoor
5k. Deirdre Byrne, Lisa Cappello,
and Roisin Quinn also return from last year's NCAA squad. Kimberly Smith and Fiona Crombie, a
pair of New Zealand imports, should immediately help the Friars; Smith ran
9:09.96 and 15:47.92 this spring, while Crombie competed outdoors for PC. PC opened by hosting Rhode Island and
New Hampshire on 9/5; Smith and Cullen "jogged" away from the field,
while Byrne and Crombie were 20 secs back with Cappello another 40 seconds
behind. PC then dominated the 9/12
BC Select meet, with Cullen, Smith, Crombie and Byrne finishing 1-2-5-6; with
Cappello sitting out the race, Katie Twarog was the Frairs' 5th. Smith controlled the Griak Gold race to
notch the individual win, while Cullen claimed 8th; however, this was not enough
to compensate for the Friar's lack of a quality fifth runner (2:15 1-5 spread)
as PC could only muster 4th behind Arizona State, Michigan State, and
Columbia. Coach Treacy worked his
magic on his squad between Griak and the 10/18 Penn State Invite, where the
Friars not only finished 1-2 overall, but Lisa Cappello improved significantly
to finish 4th among the PC squad helping reduce the Friars' 1-5 spread down to
a respectable 71-sec off of two potential top-10 contenders. Although Smith and Cullen finished 1-2
at Big Easts, the Friars fell short of Notre Dame's winning effort; Smith,
Cullen, Crombie, Byrne, and Cappello were spread out over 2:19. Smith and Cullen also claimed the top
two individual spots at the NE regional to lead the Friars to the regional
title over Columbia; Smith and Cullen combined with Crombie, Byrne, and
Cappello.
Returnees: Mary Cullen (28th, 214th '01; 9:09.13, 15:56.96; 5th 5k), Deirdre
Byrne (71st, 114th '01; 4:26.86), Lisa Cappello (176th, 196th '01, 180th '00),
Roisin Quinn (249th), Ashley Jensen, Katie Twarog
Newcomers: Kimberly Smith (NZL; '02 & '03 WXC; 4:18.09, 9:09.96, 15:47.92);
Fiona Crombie (NZL; 4:48y, 9:45);
4. Michigan
(#6)
Michigan also got out fast early and held on,
notching team scores of 181 at 3K, 212 at 5K, and 232 at the finish. Walter and Allen-Young maintained their
places over the second half, while Pizzo moved up from 67th to 52nd and Gallo
(41st to 75th) and Erdman (80th to 120th) each fell back. Still, the Wolverines maintained a
57-sec 1-5 split and improved their team time from 21:02 at Pre-NCAAs to 20:52
at NCAAs.
The Wolverines finished 15th
at the NCAA champs. In addition to
returning Rebecca Walter (51st), Lindsey Gallo (108th), Andrea Parker (159th),
and Chelsea Loomis (16:37/35:48), Michigan gained Dartmouth graduate transfer
Jessie Allen-Young (140th '01).
Allen-Young led the Wolverines to an easy win at the 9/13 Miami Invite
and to 10th at Griak; at the latter meet, Allen-Young finished 11th, but her
scoring teammates were spread out over 78-secs. Walter and Allen-Young finished 1-2 at the Michigan
Intercollegiates 4K race and combined with Gallo, Parker, and Feldkamp for a
27-sec 1-5 split. Walter (13th)
and Allen-Young (18th) led an excellent 4th-place team effort by the Wolverines
in the Pre-NCAA Purple race behind BYU, UNC, and Notre Dame; Walter,
Allen-Young, Gallo, Sarah Pizzo, and Parker combined for an excellent 37-sec
1-5 split. Walter upset Michigan
State's Michelle Carson to win the Big Ten individual crown and lead the Wolverine's
to the team victory; Walter led Allen-Young, Gallo, Pizzo, and Erdman to a
61-sec 1-5 split. Michigan then
claimed the 2nd auto berth at the Great Lakes regional behind Notre Dame, with
Walter, Allen-Young, Gallo, Pizzo, and Erdman splitting 53-sec.
Returnees: Rebecca Walter
(51st; 25th WXC; 16:18.29), Lindsey Gallo (108th; 4:16.35; 4:44.52iy, 9:30.05i,
16:39.03), Andrea Parker (159th; 10:38.18s/c; 16:39.51i), Jennifer Frudden ('01
Iowa champ), Chelsea Homan (4:29.87), Chelsea Loomis (16:37.27i, 35:48.60),
Katie Erdman (2:07.2, 4:52)
Newcomers: Jessie Allen-Young (GR x-fer from Dartmouth; 140th '01); Jackie
Gaydos (MI D-2 XC Champ; 4:55.2y)
5. Colorado
(#7)
The Buffalos faced adversity early in the
season, when NCAA 5000 indoor champ Sara Gorton was forced to have surgery to
repair a torn tendon -- and again at the start of the harrier championships
when Big-12 Champ Natalie Florence became entangled in a major pileup about
150-meters into the women's race.
Florence, who finished 22nd last year and was expected to finish even
better this fall, worked her way back up to 147th at the 3K and 138th at the
finish to score 5th for the Buffs.
Fortunately, the rest of the Buffs had great days to help the Buffs to
improve from 8th in team standings at 3K with 294 points, to 5th at both the 5K
(285pts) and finish (269pts).
Transfers Renee Metivier ('01 NCAA runner-up) and Kalin Toedesbusch
(67th) both claimed All-American honors, while Laura Zeigle's strong second
half (105th to 88th) helped give CU a top five finish.
If one plays the "what might have been" game (Florence stays on her feet and finishes top 20, a healthy Gorton finishes top 5 giving the Buffs a team total of, oh, about 120 points) and notes the fact that CU returns everyone next fall, one realizes that the NCAA had better not just mail Stanford the championship trophy for 2004.
NCAA indoor 5k champ Sara
Gorton will miss the season due to a Sept 19 surgery to correct a torn tendon
in her left foot. All-American
Natalie Florence (22nd) returns to lead the Buffs and is joined by Jackie Zeigle
(138th), and Christine Bolf (186th) from the '02 NCAA harrier meet, as well as
Laura Zeigle who missed most of last fall's campaign due to injuries, but
showed good fitness while competing unattached last spring. 2001 NCAA runner up Renee Metiever transferred
from Georgia Tech after missing all of last year due to a medical redshirt
while Villanova transfer Kalin Toedesbusch will also help the Buffs. At the CU Time Trial, it's traditional
for the returnees to keep cranking up the pace until only 7 runners remain,
then permit the youngest among them to "win". This year, newcomer Shannon Sparks
earned that honor followed by Bolf, Toedebusch, Florence, Gorton, and Metivier;
Jackie Zeigle finished about 50 seconds behind, while neither Laura Zeigle nor Erika
Odlaug appeared. The Buffs then
finally came out of their training stint to race the 10/4 Rocky Mountain
Shootout; Florence and Metivier finished 2-4 among some of the top D-II runners
from Western State and Adams State, while Bolf finished 14 secs behind Metivier
and Toedebusch an additional 17 secs back; Sparks was the 5th Buff, 42-seconds
behind Toedebusch (and 82 total seconds behind Florence). The Buffs showed in the Pre-NCAA Gold
race, where they finished 3rd behind Stanford and NC State, that with Gorton
they would have contended for the NCAA team title; Florence finished 7th,
Metivier 9th, Bolf 25th, and Toedebusch 30th while newcomer Sparks helped CU to
a 1:32 1-5 split. Florence and Metivier finished 1-2 to lead the Buffs to the
Big-12 title, with Toedebusch, Zeigle, and Bolf combining with that
front-running duo for a 70-sec 1-5 spread. CU finished 2nd to claim the 2nd auto berth in the Mountain
region; Metivier, Toedebusch, Bolf, Florence (in an apparent "off
day"), and Kendal Ggras-Wheeler combined for a 1:30 1-5 spread while Laure
Zeigle appeared to struggle and Sparks was absent from the lineup.
Returnees: Natalie Florence
(22nd, 100th '01; 16:21.41, 33:40.46), Jackie Zeigle (138th, 7th FL; 5:02.45y,
9:41.23), Christine Bolf (186th); (returning from injuries): Erika Odlaug (2nd
'01 FL; 17th '01 World XC; 10:35.13y '02), Laura Zeigle (3rd '00 FL, '01 USA Jr
Champ; 4:28.85, 9:51.28), Redshirting: Sara Gorton (Sept 19 surgery for
posterior tibialis in right legl 10th, 8th '00; 4:15.48, 15:24.97; ind 5k
champ, 3rd out 5k),
Newcomers: Shanna Sparks; Renee Metiever (x-fer from GaTech; 2nd '01), Kalin
Toedesbusch (x-fer from Villanova; 67th, 95th '01;)
6. North
Carolina State (#5)
Kristin Price's return from bursitis in
the Achilles tendon (which caused her to miss almost a month of training
between Great America and ACCs) helped spark the Wolfpack to a sixth-place
finish with an impressive 10-sec 1-5 split. NC State's score remained fairly steady during the 2nd half
the race, with the squad totaling 292 points (7th in team standings) at 3K, 287
at 5K (5th), and 293 at the finish.
Lehigh transfer Lucinda Hull was the team's MVP, moving up from 127th at
3K to 67th at the finish -- a move that compensated for fades by Price (65th to
95th), Renee Gunning (52nd to 68th), and Julia Lucas (54th to 79th). The Wolfpack was slower at NCAAs (21:08
team average) than at Pre-NCAAs (20:55).
Not quite able to match
their runner-up performance from '01, the Wolfpack finished 13th in Terre Haute
behind 2002 NCAA 10k champ Kristin Price.
In addition to the talented Price, NC State fields a nice mixture of
proven veterans and talented newcomers. NC State easily downed Wisconsin and host Tennessee in
a tri-meet, with Price running away with the race and Renee Gunning, Lucinda
Hull, Josi Lauber, and Megan Coombs packing it in together nicely to cement the
win. The Wolfpack's "B"
team won the 9/20 Raleigh Inv. The
Wolfpack's pack running overcame UNC's strong front runners as NC State won the
9/26 Great American Festival. Julia Lucas and Price led Renee Gunning, Lucinda
Hull, and Josi Lauber to a 44-second spread. Despite the absence of Kristin Price from their lineup, the
Wolfpack still claimed runner-up honors (behind Stanford) in the Pre-NCAA Gold
race; Lucas finished 6th, Gunning 11th, Lauber 16th, Hull 28th, and Roth 40th
as NC State split 69-sec for their top 5 (Kara Price ran 7 secs faster in the
Open race than Roth here). With
Kristin Price again missing from the squad, the Wolfpack finished second by just
4 points to North Carolina at the ACC champs; Lucas, Hull, Gunning, Amy Arnold,
and Lauber notched a 29-sec 1-5 spread.
Gunning, Lucas, Hull, Roth, and Lauber combined for a 36-sec 1-5 split
at the SE regional to finish 2nd behind archrival UNC. Assuming a healthy Kristin Price, the
Wolfpack could challenge for the NCAA crown if Stanford and BYU falter.
Returnees: Kristin Price
(29th, 4th '01; 9:28.80, 16:08.25i, 32:50.01; '02 10K champ), Megan Coombs
(13th '01), Kristina Roth (65th; 10:26s/c), Josi Lauber (70th, 173rd '01),
Diana Henderson (167th, 141st '00), Janelle Vadnais (182nd; 4:29.21), Abigail
Nelkie (185th), Julia Lucas (205th; 41st WXC; 4:27), Amy Arnold ('01 Ohio
Champ); Renee Gunning (4:29.92; 16:53.13), Kara Price, Erin Swain
Newcomers: Sara Powell (21st FL;
MA XC champ; 5:05.38y, 10:54.8y), Jennifer Boyd (VA champ; 4:56.64y, 10:03.64),
Jessica Yester (5:00.62y), Lucinda Hull (x-fer from Lehigh; 10:32s/c)
7. UCLA
(#11)
The Bruins continued to improve all
season, with a close third to Arizona State at Pac-10s, a second to Stanford at
the West regional, and a superb seventh-place effort at NCAAs. The team's #2 runner, Alison Costello,
got tangled up in the pileup early on in the race and wasn't able to move up
enough to score for the Bruins.
However, Valeria Flores and Ashley Caldwell both claimed All-American
honors, while Melissa McBain moved up from 102nd at 3K to 50th at the finish to
help UCLA advance from 10th (305pts) at 3K to 9th (327) at 5K and 7th (293) at
the finish. UCLA's 21:00 team time
at NCAAs was a definite improvement over their 21:13 average at Pre-NCAAs.
The Bruins finished 25th
in Terre Haute. 2002 NCAA 1500
champ Lena Nilsson claimed 17th individually at last year's NCAA meet but has
yet to appear in UCLA's lineup.
Newcomer Allison Costello led the Bruins "B" team at the 9/13
Aztec Invitational, with Ashley Caldwell, Sarah West, Carolyn Shea, and Emily
Haigh rounding out the UCLA scorers.
With only a BYU "B" team to contend with in Hawaii (9/20), the
Bruins notched a win with Caldwell leading Jenny Timinsky, Costello, Valerie
Flores, and West to a 27-sec 1-5 spread over 4K. UCLA continued on their streak the following week with a
convincing win over an understrength (but still strong) Stanford squad; Flores
led Costello, Timinsky, Ashley Caldwell, and McBain to a 43-sec 1-5 split over
6K. Carmen Winant and West led a
UCLA "B" squad edged UC Irvine for the win at 10/11 UC San Diego
Triton Classic; interestingly, Alejandra Barrientos ran unattached and finished
7th (ahead of Winant) at Triton.
Flores finished 8th in the Pre-NCAA Gold race to lead the Bruins to 5th
behind Stanford, NC St, Colorado, and Wake Forest; Flores combined with
Costello, Caldwell, Hall, and Timinsky for a 73-sec 1-5 split. UCLA claimed a close 3rd at Pac-10s
behind Stanford and Arizona State; Flores led Caldwell, Costello, McBain, and
Winat to a 72-sec 1-5 gap. The
Bruins claimed runner-up honors and an auto berth at the West regional behind
Stanford; Flores, Caldwell, Costello, Timinsky, and McBain combined for a
41-sec 1-5 split.
Returnees: ?Lena Nilsson
(17th, 135th '01; 4:07.69, '01 1500 champ, 2nd '02 1500), Alejandra Barrientos
(86th, 125th '01), Valerie Flores (180th, 127th '01; 19th FL '99), Jenna
Timinsky (206th; 2:07), Carmen Winant (207th), Allison Hall (224th), Lori Mann
(245th, 190th '01), Ashley Caldwell (), Sarah West ()
Newcomers: Allison Costello
8. North
Carolina (#3)
"I wanted to do my best for the
team" said defending champion Shalane Flanagan. "I guess I did the
best I could."
Unfortunately, Flanagan's repeat win, combined with a seventh-place individual finish by Carol Henry, and an additional All-American honor by Erin Donohue wasn't enough to get UNC a trophy. Despite the fact that the Tarheels were only marginally slower at NCAAs (20:42) than at Pre-NCAAs (20:37), UNC slipped from 6th (239) at 3K to 7th (287) at 5K, and 8th (294) at the finish. The Megans, Kaltenbach (136th to 157th) and Owens (137th to 170th), both fell back during the second half of the race while Jessica Perry was reportedly injured during the race and didn't score for the Tarheels.
Shalane Flanagan won her
first NCAA title on her third try, running away from the field in Terre
Haute. This season Flanagan hopes
to not only defend her title, but also lead the Tar Heels to a spot on the
awards podium during her final collegiate harrier campaign. Joining Flanagan up front will be Carol
Henry, the '02 NCAA steeple bronze medallist, two-time NCAA 800 champ Alice
Schmidt, and incoming Foot Locker finalists Megan Kaltenbach and Meghan
Owen. At their 9/13 season opener,
Erin Donohue and Henry finished 1-2 with Owen, Kaltenbach, and newcomer Kristin
Stroupe rounding out the scorers.
With NCAA champs Flanagan and Schmidt sitting out, UNC ran a 62-second 1-5
spread. The full lineup toed the
line at the 9/26 Great American, but despite a tremendous 1-3-4 finish by
Flanagan, Henry, and Donohue, the Tar Heels fell short of archrival NC State. Newcomers Owens and Kaltenbach finished
59- and 76-seconds respectively behind Donohue. Flanagan dominated the Pre-NCAA Gold race, passing 1/2-way
in 9:44 to basically even-split a 19:30 course record as she led the Tar Heels
to runner-up honors only 13 points behind defending national champion BYU;
Flanagan led Henry (4th) and Donohue (8th) to top individual finishes, while
Kaltenbach and Owen closed on the top 3 and gave UNC a 1:53 1-5 split (and a
60-sec 2-4 split off Henry).
Flanagan and Henry finished 1-3 at ACCs to lead the Tarheels to a narrow
40-44 victory over an understrength NC State squad; that duo combined with
Jessica Perry, Owen, and Kaltenbach for a 1:47 spread -- Donohue appeared to
have an off day and finished 11 seconds behind Kaltenbach. Flanagan, Henry, and Donohue swept the
top-3 places at the SE regional, leading the Tarheels to a 52-64 win over
archrival NC State; that trio combined with Perry and Owen for a 1:20 1-5 split
(and a 61-sec 2-5 split). With
Perry, Kaltenbach, and Owen providing some depth behind the outstanding trio of
Flanagan, Henry, and Donohue, the Tar Heels have an outside shot to make a run
for the team title.
Returnees: Shalane Flanagan (Defending NCAA XC Champ, 22nd '01, 4th '00; '00
USA Jr Champ; 4:11.60, 15:20.54; Ind 3k Champ, 2nd out 5k, 2nd USA 5k), Carol
Henry (38th '01; 4:19.32, 10:03s/c; 7th s/c, 3rd '01 s/c), Erin Donohue (91st,
60th '01; 4:19.09), Alice Schmidt (140th; 2:01.16, '02 & '03 out 800
Champ), Jessica Perry (213th), Cassie King (219th), Jennie Sucher (252nd)
Newcomers: Megan Kaltenbach (20th FL; 4:49.28y, 9:44.21, 10:28.81), Meghan Owen
(8th FL, 2:53.19i 1k, 4:50.58y)
9. Princeton
(#14)
Emily Kroshus came through during her
final NCAA harrier appearance to claim eighth individually, while Cack Ferrell
may have been even more impressive when she got up from the pileup in the first
150-meters and fought her way to a 22nd-place finish. In addition to All-American efforts by Kroshus and Ferrell,
Carrie Strickland (160th to 122nd), Marian Bihrle (167th to 124th), and Laura
Petrillo (174th to 158th) each moved strongly over the final half to help the
Tigers move up from 16th (430 pts) at 3K to 10th (357) at 5K and 9th (348) at
the finish. Princeton's team time
at NCAAs (20:59) improved from Pre-NCAAs (21:09).
Princeton, who finished
5th at the '02 Mid Atlantic regional, dominated the 9/13 Battlefield Invite and
a relatively weak 9/26 Iona MOC.
Emily Kroshus and Cack Ferrel finished 1-2 at Iona to lead Carrie
Strickland, Claire Filloux, and Marian Bihrle to a 57-sec 1-5 spread over
6k. Princeton won the 27th annual
HYP meet by sweeping the top 5 places; Kroshus (17:08 on Franklin Park's
oft-run course), Ferrel (17:12), Carrie Strickland, Marian Bihrle, and Mia
Swenson finished 1-2-3-4-5 with a 37-sec 1-5 spread. Ferrel (6th) and Kroshus (11th while battling a cold) had
superb efforts in the Pre-NCAA Purple race to lead the Tigers to a 6th-place
finish in the team standings; Ferrel, Kroshus, Strickland, Laura Petrillo, and
Bihrle combined for a 1:23 1-5 spread.
Although Kroshus and Ferrell finished 1-2 at Heps, the Tigers lost a
narrow decision to Columbia; Kroshus and Ferrell led Strickland, Petrillo, and
Mullen 54-sec 1-5 gap over 5K.
Kroshus finished 2nd to lead the Tigers to the second auto berth behind
Georgetown at the Mid Atlantic regional; Kroshus combined with Ferrell,
Petrillo, Strickland, and Lambert for a 1:22 1-5 spread.
Returnees: Emily Kroshus
(124th), Cack Ferrel, Carrie Strickland, Laura Petrillo, Meredith Lambert
(10:13.80, 10:54.06y), Jordan Wagenseller (2:13.55)
Newcomers: Mia Swenson (4:58y, 9:59), Claire Filloux
10. Notre
Dame (#4)
The Irish appeared to struggle as a team
at this year's NCAA meet. Last
fall, Molly Huddle's story-book frosh season helped to lead Notre Dame to 3rd
at the harrier championships. This
fall, Huddle had some up and down days -- both of the off days coming in
Waterloo. At this year's NCAA
meet, Huddle ran 12th at the 3K, but faded to 29th at 5K and 41st at the finish
-- with Notre Dame's standings appearing to fade along with the young star's --
the Irish were 5th (231 points) at 3K, 7th (290) at 5K, and 10th (352) at the
finish. Stephanie Madia (89th at
3K, 111th at finish) and Kerry Meagher (83rd to 169th) also had rough second
halfs. Lauren King claimed her
third NCAA cross country All-American certificate, finishing 28th overall in
what was her best effort this fall.
The Irish, who recorded a 67-sec 1-5 split, fell off to a 21:08 team
average at NCAAs after a 21:00 effort at Pre-NCAAs.
The Irish came through
big-time at the NCAA championships to claim 3rd behind the leadership of Molly
Huddle (6th as a frosh!) and 2-time Cross Country All-American Lauren King
(19th). Loryn King (76th),
Stephanie Madia (78th), and Katie Wales (225th) also return from the '02 NCAA
meet, while Megan Johnson is back after a redshirt year. Notre Dame opened by running a mostly
"B" squad at the Valparaiso Inv, which won behind Jean Marinangeli's
individual win. The Irish also won
the 9/19 National Catholic Inv with a "B" squad, with Kerry Meagher
leading Notre Dame with an individual win. Huddle and Lauren King debuted at the 10/3 Notre Dame Invite
to lead the Irish to a win over Wake Forest (who were missing their #1; had
All-American Bersagel ran, it would have been a virtual dead-heat); neither
Loryn King nor Madia appeared at the Notre Dame Inv leaving the Irish with a
72-second 1-5 split consisting of Huddle, Lauren King, Meagher, Johnson, and
Jean Marinangeli. Despite
"off" days by Huddle and Lauren King (who were among the leaders at
3K), the Irish still claimed 3rd behind BYU and UNC in the Pre-NCAA Purple
race; Huddle finished 10th, Meagher 12th, Lauren King 19th, Johnson 29th, and
Madia debuted at 57th as the quintet notched a 58-sec split. Huddle finished 3rd individually a t
Big East to lead the Irish to the team title; Huddle, Meagher, Lauren King,
Johnson, and Madia combined for a 67-sec 1-5 split. Huddle's individual win led Notre Dame to victory over
Michigan at the GL region, with Huddle combining with King, Meagher, Johnson,
and Madia for a 64-sec 1-5 spread.
Returnees: Molly Huddle (6th,
4th '01 FL; 4:20.50, 15:36.95), Lauren King (19th, 27th '01; 4:14.72), Loryn
King (76th), Stephanie Madia (78th, 23rd '01 FL; 4:26.98), Katie Wales (225th);
Megan Johnson (130th '01), Rachel Endress, Jean Marinangeli (17:12), Elizabeth
Webster
Newcomers: Amy Kohlmeier
(CAN; 2nd Can Jr XC; 4:29.43, 9:52.01), Kerry Meagher (4:28), Jean Marinangeli
(17:12)
11.
Villanova (#15)
Although they didn't unveil their full
lineup until Pre-NCAAs, the Wildcats continued to improve over the course of
the season with a strong third-place performance at regionals and an 11th-place
effort at nationals off a 1:22 1-5 split.
Between Pre-NCAAs and NCAAs, 'Nova improved their team time from 21:42
to 21:06. The Wildcats ran 9th
(303) at 3K, then slipped to 14th (393) at 5K before rebounding to 11th (380th)
at the finish.
'Nova finished 8th in Terre
Haute. Marina Muncan, Ioana
Parusheva, and Rebecca Mitchell should lead the Wildcats; Kalin Toedesbusch
transferred to Colorado, but the Wildcats gain Hungary's Zita Mezei (4:16.97,
9:24.24). The Wildcats
"B" squad took the Haverford Invite, then finished well back at the
9/27 Iona MOC and 10/4 Paul Short. Villanova's "A" squad finally debuted
in the Pre-NCAA Gold race as the Wildcats finished 11th; Parusheva (17th),
Muncan (20th), Juliette Kenny, Colleen Taylor, and Mitchell combined for a 1:50
1-5 split; newcomer Mezei apparently DNF's after running with Taylor at
4K. Muncan and Parusheva led 'Nova to 4th at Big Easts behind Notre
Dame, Providence , and Georgetown; that duo led Kenny, Talor, and Smith to a
50-sec 1-5 split with Mezei not appearing. The Wildcats edged Penn State for 3rd at the Mid Atlantic
regional behind Georgetown and Princeton and Penn State's at large wins were
enough to push 'Nova into the NCAA meet; Parusheva, Muncan, Kenny, Mitchell and
Taylor combined for a 1:23 1-5 split.
Returnees: Marina Muncan
(Serbia; 35th; 2:06.29, 4:11.33, 9:33.26), Ioana Parusheva (BUL; 44th, 209th
'01; 4:30.89, 10:37.72s/c), Rebecca Mitchell (83rd, 110th '01, 140th '00;
2:06.24, 4:21.00), Liz Gesel (116th, 19th '01 FL; 4:58.42y), Carre Joyce
(217th, 180th '01, 202nd '00; 4:30.20, 10:52.53s/c), Kirsty Smith (227th;
9:39.06i, 10:55.01s/c); Transferred: Kalin Toedesbusch (x-fer to Colorado;
67th, 95th '01;),
Newcomer: Zita Mezei (HUN; 2:06.76, 4:16.97, 9:24.24), Denise Mazzeo,
12. Missouri
(#20)
The Tigers stepped up at nationals despite
a disappointing season for Valerie Lauver (54th '02). Amanda Bales claimed All-America honors, moving up from 34th
at 3K to 23rd at the finish, while Jill Petersen moved up from 116th to 94th
over the second 1/2. Missouri was
running 15th (415pts) at 3K and 5K (est 395), but moved up to 12th (383) over
the final kilo to finish with a 91-sec 1-5 split. The Tigers improved their team time from 21:23 at Pre-NCAA
to 21:12 at NCAAs.
Mizzou won the MW regional
before finishing 16th in Terre Haute.
Sophomores Amanda Bales and Valerie Lauver return to lead the
Tigers. Despite holding out Lauver
and Katherine Bonugli, the Tigers still finished 1-2-3 to dominate their 9/6
home meet; Bales led Jill Petersen and Serena Ramsey to the sweep. The following week, Mizzou sat out
Bales, but Lauver returned to lead the Tigers to a win at the Bradley Open over
Marquette. At Bradley, Lauver,
Petersen, Ashley Patten, Kristin Hansen, and Bonugli combined for a 42-second
1-5 split -- a figure that should be reduced when Bales returns to the
lineup. Bales led the Tigers to a
distant 9th at Griak, with Lauver appearing to struggle; Mizzou could only
muster a 65-sec 1-5. Bales (12th)
led Missouri again in the Pre-NCAA Gold race as the Tigers claimed 6th; Bales
combined with Ramsey, Lauver , Petersen, and Bonugli for a 1:37 1-5 gap (1-4
gap is 36-sec). Missouri finished
3rd at Big-12s behind Colorado and Baylor; Bales, Lauver, Petersen, Ramsey, and
Bonugli combined for a 1:23 1-5 split.
The Tigers were upset by Nebraska 60-63 at the MW regional despite
Bales' individual win; Bales led Ramsey, Lauver, Petersen, and Hansen to a 1:23
1-5 split.
Returnees: Amanda Bales
(53rd), Valerie Lauver (54th, 8th '01 FL; USA Jr WXC), Serena Ramsey (172nd),
Katherine Bonugli (191st, 219th '00), Jill Petersen, Jackie Pirtle
Newcomers: Kate Bundy, Merry Uchiyama, Kate Greer, Allison Werner
13. Columbia
(#9)
Columbia was 11th (351) at 3K, but slipped
to 12th (381) at 5K and 13th (401) at the finish. Caitlin Hickin ran well to claim All-American honors, while
Melissa Stellato (58th to 74th), Lisa Stublic (77th to 93rd), and Tenke Zoltani
(126 to 156) each lost position over the second half of the race to finish with
a 21:13 team time and a 65-sec 1-5 split.
The Lions won their first
ever Heps title in 2002 before winning the regional title and claiming 11th at
the NCAA meet. Columbia adds Duke
transfer Caroline Bierbaum (34th), Cal champ Laura Meyers, and top Foot Locker
regional performers Genevieve Chavez and Susannah Shaw to the strong returning
quintet of Loretta Kilmer, Caitlin Hickin, Melissa Stellato, Tenke Zoltani, and
Lisa Stublic; according to the Columbia Spectator, Trish Nolan will miss the season due to a stress
fracture . The Lions featured a
strong 33-second 1-5 gap at Griak to claim 3rd behind Arizona State and
Michigan State; Bierbaum finished 247th out of 248 in the official
results. Columbia's "B"
squad won the 10/3 METs the following weekend. Columbia switched from Pre-NCAAs to Penn State at the last
minute, and fell to Providence 49-58.
The Lions' 1-5 split (Hickin, Stublic, Zoltani, Stellato, Guerrero)
increased a bit to 47-seconds. Columbia
edged Princeton 33 to 38 at the Heps, with Hickin, Stublic, Stellato, Kilmer,
and Zoltani combining for a 39-sec 1-5 split over 5K. Columbia was unable to overcome Providence at the NE
regional, but claimed the 2nd auto berth; Hickin, Stublic, Zoltani, Kilmer, and
Dicrescenzo combined for a 54-sec 1-5 split.
Returnees: Loretta Kilmer
(48th, 163rd '01; 34:47.46), Caitlin Hickin (97th, 20th '01, 90th '00; 16:32.66
'02), Melissa Stellato (101st, 152nd '01, 164th '00; 4:30.67, 16:47.41), Tenke
Zoltani, (142nd), Lisa Stublic (144th; 16:52.75); Redshirting: Trish Nolan
(stress fracture; 62nd, 165th '01; 16:45.50 '02),
Newcomers: Caroline Bierbaum
(x-fer from Duke; 34th), Nicci Fish (10:50), Genevieve Chavez (10th FL S),
Susannah Shaw (10th FL W; 4:53), Laura Meyers (CA D-4 XC Champ; 11:00)
14. Arizona
State (#23)
ASU rebounded well from a disappointing
regional performance to claim 14th at NCAAs, especially considering Amanda Lyon
missed the NCAA meet. The Sun
Devils ran fairly consistently at NCAAs, sitting in 13th (378) at 3K and 5K
(382) and 14th (406) at the finish with a 1:22 1-5 spread. Amy Hastings and Desi Davilla claimed
All-American honors.
The Sun Devils finished
23rd in both '01 and '03 and return six from last year's NCAA squad. Amy Hastings, the USA 5000m Junior
Champ, will lead Arizona State this fall just as she led the US Junior Team at
last spring's World XC Champs. ASU
dominated their cross-state rivals Arizona at the 9/19 Dave Murray Invitation,
with Amy Hasting leading a tightly-packed 22-second 1-5 spread (4.3K) that
included Anna Masinelli, newcomer Jessica Crate, Desiree Davila, and Amanda
Lyon. The same quintet surprised
at Griak, notching a comfortable win with a 65-sec 1-5 spread over 6k; Hastings
finished 3rd individually while Masinelli was 7th. The Sun Devils dominated their 10/10 home meet over a weak
field; Hastings, Crate, and Masinelli went 1-2-3, with Davila and Lyon also
finishing within 50-secs of Hastings.
The Sun Devils were a distant second to Stanford at Pac-10s and narrowly
edged 3rd place UCLA by a single point; Hastings finished 4th and led
Masinelli, Davila, Lyon, and Crate to a 1:40 1-5 gap. Arizona State struggled at the West regional and could only
finish 4th, but still advanced with an at large berth; Hastings finished 2nd
individually to lead Masinelli,
Davila, Randall, and Crate to1:51 1-5 split (Lyon had an off day).
Returnees: Amy Hastings
(92nd, 20th WJrXC), Desiree Davila (150th, 205th '01), Anne Marie Masinelli
(157th), Jessica Scalzo (169th), Amanda Fitz-Gustafson (209th), Liz Lindgren
(223rd)
Newcomers: Jessica Crate
15. Northern
Arizona (#17)
The Nilsson sisters looked like Siamese
twins at this year's NCAA champs; never separated by more than a couple feet
the entire race and finishing 9th and 10th individually. Their top-10 finishes spurred the
Lumberjacks, who were running as high as 12th (367) on to 15th (407) at the
NCAA meet with a 1:50 spread. NAU
ran virtually identical team times at Pre-NCAAs and NCAAs, 21:04 vs 21:03.8.
The Lumberjacks claimed
10th last fall and return 6 runners from their NCAA squad. Two-time NCAA steeple runner-up Ida
Nilsson and her sister Johanna, the NCAA indoor mile champ, lead Northern
Arizona, which also gained English graduate transfer Laura McCreesh. At the 9/6 George Kyte, the Lumberjacks
swept the top six individual places, w/ Erika Edwards and Johanna Nilsson
running 1-2 and Ida Nilsson apparently sitting out the effort. The following weekend, Johanna Nilsson
lead the 'Jacks with a win at the Aztec Invite (Sister Ida apparently sat out
this meet too); Erika Edwards, Natalie Rogers, Julia Fisher, and Ariel Latimer
rounded out the scorers (1:28 1-5 spread). The Sisters Nilsson finished and uninspired 9th and 10th
(Johanna and Ida respectively) at the 9/26 Great American to lead the
Lumberjacks to 3rd behind NC State and UNC; NAU displayed a 59-sec 1-5
spread. Ida rebounded in the
Pre-NCAA Purple race, finishing 3rd to lead the 'Jacks to 5th behind BYU, UNC,
Notre Dame, and Michigan; Ida, Johanna (15th), and Edwards (17th) combined with
Rogers and McCreesh 1:49 1-5 split.
The Nilssons and Edwards finished 1-2-3 to lead Northern Arizona to an
easy win at the Big Sky meet; Ida, Johanna, Edwards, Fischer, and McCreesh
combined for a 1:41 1-5 split. Northern Arizona was upset by Colorado State for
3rd at the MW regional, but still received an at large berth; Ida and Johanna
Nilsson combined with Edwards (in an apparent off day), Rogers, and McCreesh
combined for a 2:06 spread.
Returnees: Ida Nilsson (8th,
12th '01; 9:10.48i; 9:49.94s/c, 15:51.71), Johanna Nilsson (12th; 4:10.72,
4:32.49iy, NCAA ind Mile champ), Erika Edwards (82nd, 143rd '01), Jinny Hanifan
(139th, 63rd '01; 10:25.23), Natalie Rogers (179th, 49th '01 World Jr XC),
Julie Fisher, Jodie Denike
Newcomers: Natsha Wicks (2nd NV), Ariel Latimer (32nd FL W; 5:04, 11:08), Laura
McCreesh (GR x-fer from GBR; 17th GBR Champ; 16:40),
16.
Georgetown (#10)
The tenth-ranked Hoyas faded along with
their front-runner, Mid-Atlantic regional champ Treniere Clement, who had
recorded the 10th fastest time at Pre-NCAAs but dropped back from 39th at 3K,
66th at 5K, and 103rd at the finish of the NCAA meet. Amanda Pape (86th to 59th), Nicole Lee (152nd to 132nd), and
Colleen Kelly (146th to 137th) each moved up over the second half to help make
up for Clement's off day. The
Hoyas, who finished 16th with 427 points and recorded a 41-sec 1-5 split, ran
as high as 11th (379) at 5K.
The Hoyas won trophies
each of the last two years, claiming 3rd in 2001 and 4th last year. Treniere
Clement (58th), Nicole Lee (68th), Jodee Adams-Moore (88th), and Jill
Laurendeau (104th, 14th '01) all return from last year's NCAA squad, while
Amanda Pape and Colleen Kelly return from the '01 bronze medallists. The Hoyas were surprised by a
better-than-expected Arkansas team at the 9/13 Georgetown Invite as Arkansas
tied the hosts in a wet and wild competition; Georgetown missed Amanda Pape
(sinus infection) from their lineup, but was otherwise fielding their
"A" squad. The Hoyas returned with a mostly "B" squad the
following week to win the George Washington Inv. Georgetown dominated the 10/4 Paul Short Invite with at easy
win over West Virginia, Tennessee and a host of unranked squads; Clement led
Lee, Malloy, Pape, and Kelley to a 40-sec 1-5 split over 6K. Clement finished 5th to lead the Hoyas
to 7th in the Pre-NCAA Purple race behind BYU, UNC, Notre Dame, Michigan,
Northern Ariz, and Princeton; Clement, Lee, Pape, Clock, and Wetzel combined
for a 1:45 1-5 split, but were missing Adams-Moore and Malloy from the
lineup. Clement finished 5th in
the loaded Big East field to lead the Hoyas to 3rd, only 4 points behind
runner-up Providence; Clement led Lee, Pape, Adams-Moore, and Kelly to a 71-sec
1-5 split with Malloy (back pains, according to The Hoya) still missing from
the lineup. The Hoyas upset
favored Princeton to win the Mid Atlantic regional, with Clement winning and
leading Lee, Pape, Adams-Moore, and Kelly to a 76-sec 1-5 split.
Returnees: Treniere Clement
(58th; 2:07.90, 4:15.00), Nicole Lee (68th, 84th '01; '01 US World XC Team;
16:49.11, 34:26.03), Jodee Adams-Moore (88th, 112th '01), Jill Laurendeau
(104th, 14th '01; 4:22.64 '01), Amanda Pape (46th '01, 98th '00; 16:39.39 '01),
Colleen Kelly (145th '01, 143rd '00; 4:26.64, 16:42.22), Maura McCusker
(4:29.64), Diana Clock (16:50i), Kelley Otstott, Sabine Knothe
Newcomers: Elizabeth Maloy (2:12.82, 4:24.26, 4:52.15y, 9:45.45), Jayne Penn,
Sarah Isbitz (2:56.42 1k)
17. Michigan
State (#12)
Michigan State's Michelle Carson moved up
from 17th to 12th over the second half of the NCAA race to narrowly miss top-10
individual honors in her final collegiate harrier race. The Spartans, who ran 20th (488pts) at
the 3K, also moved up as a squad to claim 17th with 435 points and a 1:40 1-5
split. Seniors Jamie Kryzminski (103rd to 73rd), who never seemed to approach
the form that garnered her 5th in the NCAA 10,000 with a swift 32:52.87), and
Susan Pepera (151st to 116th) also both moved up well over the last couple
kilos to help Michigan State advance in the team standings.
The Spartans finished
11th in '01 and 12th in '02.
Michelle Carson and Jamie Kryzminski lead all seven members back from
last year's NCAA squad. Katie Anderson led Sarah Pepera, Brittany Ballard,
Natalie Stein, and Cindy Durocher to a 1-5 sweep at the Saginaw Valley Open,
with all five Spartans finishing together; neither Carson nor Kryzminski
appeared. All-American's Carson
and Kryzminski finished 1-2 at the Spartan Invite to lead Peppera, Stein, and
Anderson to all finish among the top 7 with a 55-second 1-5 gap over 6k. The Spartan claimed runner-up honors at
Griak behind Arizona State, with Carson finishing 4th and Kryzminski 9th; the
1-5 gap for Michigan State was 67-sec. Carson led a partial "A" squad
to an easy victory at the 10/10 Michigan Intercollegiates, with Carson
combining with Pepera, Stein, Durocher, and Michelle Rafferty for a 70-sec 1-5
split over 6K; Krysminski and Anderson didn't appear for the Spartans. The Spartans finished 2nd to
cross-state rival Michigan at Big Tens, with Carson claiming individual
runner-up honors to lead Krzyminski, Pepera, Durocher, and Rafferty to a 69-sec
1-5 split over 6K. Michigan State
claimed 3rd at the GL regional behind Notre Dame and Michigan and was awarded
an at-large berth; Carson's individual runner-up finish led Krysminski, Pepera,
Durocher, and Stein to a 91-sec 1-5 spread.
Returnees: Michelle Carson
(27th, 34th '01; 16:24.59i), Jamie Kryzminski (47th, 106th '01; 9:31.35i,
16:17.50i, 32:52.87; 5th 10k), Sarah Pepera (95th, 10:27.37s/c), Cindy Durocher
(124th, 208th '01, 62nd '99), Natalie Stein (173rd, 147th '01), Gail Stec
(230th), Brittany Ballard (240th); Katie Anderson (116th '01), Megan
Radermacher Michelle Rafferty
Newcomers:
18. Florida
State (#30)
The 'Noles held fairly steady over the
course of the NCAA race, running 18th (485pts) at the 3K and 18th (455) at the
finish. Vicki Gill used her
additional season of eligibility well as she claimed 11th, while Natalie Hughes
(73rd to 43rd), Rachel Marsh (217th to 193rd), and Anne Clinton (224th to
203rd) -- who reportedly fell in the early pileup -- all moved up well over the
2nd half. Florida State improved
from a 21:33 team time at Pre-NCAAs to a 21:16 at NCAAs, with a 1:58 spread at
the championships.
Florida State finished 28th
at NCAAs. The Seminoles finished
2nd to Wake Forest at the 8/29 Mountaineer Open then won the 9/12 Florida
Intercollegiates. All-American
Vicki Gill learned 12 minutes prior to the start of Great American that she had
won her appeal for an additional year of eligibility and celebrated by claiming
individual runner-up honors behind defending NCAA champ Shalane Flanagan to
lead the Seminoles to a 4th-place performance. Gill finished 3rd individually in the Pre-NCAA Gold race to
lead Florida State to 10th in the team standings; Gill combined with Hughes
(18th), Hofstede, Clark, and Clinton for a 2:27 1-5 spread off a top-5
contender. The Seminoles claimed 5th at ACCs behind UNC, NC State, Wake Forest
and Duke; Gill earned runner-up honors behind NCAA favorite Flanagan and led
her teammates to a 2:26 1-5 spread. Gill won the South regional to lead her
teammates to the runner-up spot and an automatic berth; Gill combined with
Hughes, Clinton, Hofstede, and Marsh for a 2:13 1-5 split.
Returnees: Natalie Hughes
(197th; 4:16.33), Ann Clinton (231st; 17:11), Laura Melendez (251st), Jenny
Gomez (254th), Suzanne Shepard, Cathleen Willy (10:46 3200 '02), Rachel Marsh
Newcomer: Helen Hofstede (NED; 4:23.5), Heather Clark (5:04.66y), Carla Agnew
(CAN; 4:43.1)
19.
Washington (#22)
The Huskies recorded their best effort of the year at regionals to claim third
and get pushed into the NCAA meet with an at large berth -- then proceeded to
run as well at NCAAs. The Huskies,
who recorded a 22:10 team average at Pre-NCAAs improved to a 21:28 average at
NCAAs with a 65-sec 1-5 split. UW
was running 17th (445) at the 3K, but fell back a bit over the final half to
claim 19th (486). While team
leader Ingvill Makestad faded from 59th to 96th, Lindsey Egerdahl moved up over
the final kilo from 114th to 85th.
Washington finished 31st
at the 2002 NCAA meet. The Dawgs
won the 9/6 Emerald City meet and the 9/27 Sundodger meet; at the latter meet,
Amy Lia led Lindsey Egerdahl, Laura Hodgson, Brianna McLeod, and Marie Foushee
to an excellent 15-second 1-5 split.
Egerdahl led the Huskies to 6th at the 10/3 Notre Dame Invite behind
Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Penn State, Duke, and Vanderbuilt; Egerdahl was joined
by Lia, Foushee, Gibbs, and Touren for a 37-sec 1-5 spread. Norwegian recruit
Makstad (9:25 3k) finally appeared in the Pre-NCAA Gold race as the Huskies
claimed 16th; Egerdahl, Lia, Gibbs, Makstad, and Hodgson combined for a 1:30
1-5 spread (most of that due to a strong 32nd-place effort by Egerdahl). The Huskies claimed 4th at Pac-10s
behind Stanford, Arizona State, and UCLA; Makstad stepped up to lead Lia,
Williams, McLeod, Egerdahl to a 1:34 1-5 split. The Huskies surprised a flat Arizona State team to grab 3rd
in the West region and were pushed into an at large berth by the Sun Devils;
Makestad claimed 5th individually in the competitive region and led Egerdahl,
Lia, Williams, and McLeod to a 73-sec 1-5 split.
Returnees: Lindsey Egerdahl
(156th; 2:10, 4:32), Laura Halvorsen (216th), Laura Hodgson (228th; 2nd USA Jr
XC, WXC Team), Jamie Gibbs (242nd; 113th '01; 9:58, 16:58), Camille Connelly
(235th '01; 9:58, 10:52s/c) Chessa Adsit-Morris
Newcomers: Brianna McLeod (3x OK champ; 3rd Jr 3000, 4:50y, 9:45), Ingvill
Makestad (NOR; NOR XC runner-up; 2:04.38, 9:25 '02), Marie Foushee (Wa AAA XC
Champ; 5:04, 11:00), Dallon Williams (6th CA XC; 2:15, 5:01y); Kira Harrison
(2:12, 5:01, 11:16), Amy Lia (2:15, 5:05),
20. Duke
(#27)
Despite having several runners including
Laura Stanley tangled up in the pileup at the start, the Blue Devils ran one of
their best team efforts to move up well over the race. At 3K, the team was only 27th (620) in
the team standings but a strong second half by Paige Miller (129th to 80th),
Sally Meyerhoff (165th to 107th), Natasha Roetter (138th to 112th), Lindsay Van
Alstine (175th to 159th), and Stanley (183rd to 187th) aided Duke in claiming
20th with 492 points; Rowbury finished out of the scoring for the Blue
Devils. Duke's scoring five split
only 42-seconds and improved their team average from 21:47 at Pre-NCAAs to
21:26 at NCAAs.
Duke finished 17th in
Terre Haute. The Blue Devils will
lose their top two runners from last season, with Caroline Beirbaum
transferring and Clara Horowitz redshirting. However, Natsha Roetter is competing this year after taking
a year away from the sport. Laura
Stanley led Paige Miller, Shannon Rowbuy to 1-2-3 finish and a win at the 9/5
Covered Bridge Open. The following
weekend, Roetter finished second in her collegiate debut to lead Duke to wins
over William & Mary and Virginia.
Roetter, Sally Meyerhoff, newcomer Elle Pishney, Liz Wort, and Phebe Ko
combined for a 29-second 1-5 spread.
Meyerhoff finished 16th to lead her teammates to 6th at Great American;
Roetter dropped out with asthma problems, while Rowbury, Stanley, and Miller
didn't appear. Roetter finished
6th individually at the 10/3 Notre Dame Invite to lead a different Duke squad
than ran at Great American to 4th behind Notre Dame, Wake Forest, and Penn
State; Roetter led Stanley, Miller, Rowbury, Lauren Matic, and Meaghan Leon to
a 69-sec 1-5 spread. Roetter
appeared to struggle in the Pre-NCAA Purple race (reportedly asthma problems),
while the Blue Devils finished 12th; Stanley, Miller, Pishny, Rowbury, & Ko
combined for a 45-sec 1-5 split off of Stanley's 43rd-place effort (according
to the Duke Chronicle, Meyerhoff didn't run due a back injury suffered during
the course preview). Duke finished
4th at ACCs behind UNC, NC State, and Wake Forest; Roetter led Meyerhoff,
Stanley, Rowbury, and Hullinger to a 29-sec 1-5 split. The Blue Devils claimed 4th at the SE
regional behind UNC, NC State, and Wake Forest and garnered one of the final
at-large berths; Stanley, Rowbury, Roetter, Miller, and Meyerhoff combined for
a 30-sec 1-5 split.
Returnees: Shannon Rowbury
(119th; 2:09.90, 4:41.85iy, 9:32.51i), Sally Meyerhoff (163rd, 12th '01 FL;
4:29.44, 16:42.51), Laura Stanley (195th, 5th '01 FL; 16:43.82), Phebe Ko
(200th), Heidi Hullinger (222nd; 16:58.10); Meghan Leon (4:26.27), Elizabeth
Wort (10:49.09s/c), Lauren Matic (4:24.62), Sheila Agrawal (7th '00, 28th '99;
'00 USA World XC Team; 16:29.54), Paris Edwards (9:53.37), Paige Miller
(9:38.34, 17:03.89); Redshirting: Clara Horowitz (85th, USA Jr XC Champ, 39th
WJrXC; 4:28.32, 9:27.53i, 16:26.15i)
Newcomers: Lindsay Van Alstine (27th '01 FL; 5:00y, 10:02.16, 10:31.6y;
17:24.89), Rachel Umberger (2:09.67, 2:54.16 1k), Lindsey Owen (2:12.35), Elle
Pishny (10:06.13, 17:18.77)
21. Wake Forest (#13)
The Demon Deacons struggled at the NCAA
meet, with #2 runner Anna Sherman missing from the lineup and top 5 runner
Hanna Bremler getting hurt during the pileup at the start and not being able to
finish (newcomer Selina Sekulic was also photographed at the 1k with a bloody
nose). Annie Bersagel repeated as
an All-American, while Erin Franklin (104th to 84th) moved up well during the
last 3K to help Wake move up from 22nd (494) to 21st (496). With Sherman and Bremler not scoring
for the Deacons, Wake's team time of 21:13 at Pre-NCAA dropped to 21:28 at
NCAAs.
The Demon Deacons were
one of the break-through teams of the '02 season, winning ACCs and the SE
regional before finishing 9th on an off day at NCAAs. All-American Anne Bersagel should lead a deep squad. Foot Locker finalist Michelle Sikes won
both the Mountaineer Open and the 9/13 Wake Forest Alumni Invite leading mostly
"B" squads to wins at both meets. Surprisingly, the Deacons debuted their "A" squad
at Griak (sans Danielle Coon and Jill Miller) and looked flat as they finished
a distant 8th in Minnesota; Bersagel claimed 5th, but Wake could only muster a
90-second 1-5 split. Although they
ran without Bersagel, Anna Sherman finished 3rd overall to lead Wake Forest to
2nd at the 10/3 Notre Dame Inv behind the hosts but ahead of Penn State;
Sherman led Sikes, Bremler, Gibbs, and Franklin to a 52-second 1-5 spread. Bersagel returned to the lineup and
claimed 10th in the Pre-NCAA Gold race, leading the Deacons to 4th in the team
standings behind Stanford, NC St, and Colorado; Bersegal led Sikes, Sherman,
Bremler, and Franklin to a 63-sec 1-5 split. Wake finished 3rd at ACCs behind UNC and NC State; Sherman,
Sikes, Bersagel (off day?), Bremler, and Franklin combined for a 27-sec 1-5
split. Wake claimed a close third
behind UNC and NC State at the SE regional, with Bersagel, Sikes, Sherman,
Franklin, and Bremler notching a 40-sec 1-5 split.
Returnees: Anne Bersagel
(25th, 57th '01; 4:26.26, 16:19.16, 33:23.52), Anna Sherman (72nd; 4:19.77),
Erin Franklin (120th), Danielle Coon (146th), Jill Miller (218th; 16:11),
Nikeya Green (220th; 2:04.56, 4:26.53), Lisa Gibbs (35th '01; 34:34.79 '02),
Newcomers: Michelle Sikes (15th FL; 4:58.66y, 10:54.03y), Hanna Bremler (x-fer
from Hawaii; 4:29.1), Selina Sekulic (5:00.01iy)
22. Marquette (#28)
The Golden Eagles ran a fairly consistent
race at NCAAs, sitting 23rd at 3K before finishing 22nd with a 76-sec 1-5
split. Audrey Schlitz moved up
from 197th to 167th to help offset slight fades by Brianna Dahm (48th to 60th),
Jodi Jakubek (53rd to 69th), and Michaela Courtney (134th to 145th) while Heidi
Lindeman failed to score for the Golden Eagles. Marquette's team time improved from 21:38 at Pre-NCAAs to
21:28 at NCAAs.
The Golden Eagles
graduated their top three from last year's 18th-place squad, but return Brianna
Dahm from redshirt. Newcomer Heidi
Lindemen won the Bradley Invite to lead Marquette to second behind Missouri;
Wisconsin transfer Michael Courtney, Jamie Haro, Shannon Oster, and Susie
Edmond rounded out the team's scorers, who notched a 42-second 1-5 gap in
Dahm's absence. Jodi Jakubek led
the Golden Eagles to 11th at Griak; Jakubeck's 24th helped the squad to a
58-sec 1-5 spread. Marquette
narrowly edged Nevada, 50-52, at the 10/4 Willamette Inv, with Jakubek leading
Lindeman, Dahm, Haro, and Courtney to a 47-sec 1-5 spread. Jakubek claimed 13th in the Pre-NCAA
Gold race to lead the Golden Eagles to 8th; Jakubek, Lindeman, Dahm, Schiltz,
and Emond combined for a 90-sec 1-5 spread. Marquette won the Conference USA with Jakubek, Lindeman,
Dahm, Haro, and Schlitz splitting 61-sec.
Marquette claimed 5th at the Great Lakes regionals and was able to push
Indiana in the NCAA champs to claim an at large berth; Jakubek, Dahm, Lindeman,
Schlitz, and Courtney combined for a 71-sec 1-5 spread.
Returnees: Brianna Dahm (51st
'01; 107th '00; 4:23.93, 9:22.07, 10:04.14s/c, 16:50.84), Jodi Jakubek (98th;
16:59.18), Jamie Haro (181st), Alli Sauer (198th; 35:53), Susie Edmond (244th),
Tara Hinke ('01 Wisc Div 1 champ), Audrey Schlitz
Newcomers: Heidi Lindemen (10:30),
Oster (10:20 3k), Michaela Courtney (x-fer from Wisconsin; 4:52y)
23. Penn
State (#18)
The Lions got out in 18th (485pts at the
3K, but a strong move by team leader Molly Landreth (74th up to 56th) wasn't
enough to offset a fade by Tara Johnson (144th to 171st) that left Penn State
in 23rd (509 pts).
The Nittany Lions
finished 25th at the NCAA meet.
Team leaders Tracey Brauksieck (96th) and Molly Landreth (134th) both
were steeple finalists at the NCAA champs. Landreth led her teammates to a sweep of the top 8 places at
the 9/13 Spiked Shoe Invite; Landreth ran away to a 27-second win, with Chelsea
Lenge, Katy Hillard, Maureen Thomas, Brauksieck, Jenny Stevens, Tara Johnson,
and Kayla Matrunick all finishing within 13 second of each other. Landreth finished 6th overall to lead
the Nittany Lions to 6th in the team standings at Griak with a 73-sec 1-5
gap. At the 10/3 Notre Dame
Invite, Landreth's 4th place individual effort again led Penn State to 3rd
behind Notre Dame and Wake Forest; Landreth, Thomas, Hillard, Stevens, and
Lenge combined for a 42-second 1-5 gap -- although 29-sec of that total was
between Landreth and Thomas. The
Nittany Lions claimed 3rd at their home meet behind Providence and Columbia,
with Landreth, Lenge, Thomas, Stevens, and Johnson notching a 69-sec 1-5 split;
Brauksieck appeared to struggle and finished out of Penn St's top 7. Penn State claimed 3rd at the
competitive Big Ten meet behind Michigan and Michigan State with Landreth,
Stevens, Thomas, Johnson, and Wale splitting 58-secs over 6K. Although Penn State finished 4th at the
Mid Atlantic regional, their seasonal record was enough to push themselves and
Villanova (who had no notable wins) into the NCAA champs; Landreth led Wale,
Lenge, Stevens, and Johnson to a 1:30 1-5 spread (Brauksieck appears to be
rebounding and was only 10secs behind the Lions' 5th).
Returnees: Tracey Brauksieck
(96th; 10:16.91s/c), Molly Landreth (134th; 10:07.78), Michelle Wale (137th,
134th '01), Jenny Stevens (161st; 4:31), Katy Hillard (187th; 4:35), Tara
Johnson (192nd), Maureen Thomas (229th; 35:49), Chelsea Lenge (16:58)
Newcomers: no significant newcomers
24.
Tennessee (#26)
Brooke Novak (84th to 58th), Lindsay Hyatt
(171st to 100th), Elizabeth McCally (162nd to 155th), and Megan Cauble (186th
to 166th in an off day) all moved up strongly from 3K to 6K to help the Lady
'Vols improve from 26th (616pts) to 24th (513).
The Lady Vols claimed
28th at last year's NCAA championships.
Brooke Novak (103rd) returns to lead the Lady 'Vols. Novak's runner-up finish to only NC
State's Kristin Price at the NC State-Wisconsin-Tennessee Tri shows that she
fit this fall. Georgia Tech
transfer Carly Matthews, Megan Cauble (164th), Liz McCalley (250th), and
Jessica Southers (238th) rounded out Tennessee's scorers in their season
opener; Several Lady Vol's sat out the meet including Felicia Guliford and
Stanford transfer Lindsay Hyatt.
Although Guliford and Hyatt joined Tennessee's lineup at the 9/19 Crimson
Classic, Novak and Matthews
apparently didn't run; in their absence, Cauble led the Lady 'Vols to an easy
victory. Cauble led Tennessee
again at the 10/4 Paul Short as the Lady Vols finished 3rd behind Georgetown
and West Virgina; with Guiliford and Hyatt again missing from the lineup,
Cauble combined with Novak, Matthews, McCalley, and Southers for a 51-sec 1-5
gap. Novak stepped up to lead
Tennessee to 5th behind Providence, Columbia, Penn St, and Colorado State at
the 10/18 Penn State Inv; Novak combined with Cauble, Hyatt, McCalley, and
Matthews (Guilford didn't appear again) for another 51-sec 1-5 gap over
6K. Tennessee won the SEC champs,
with Nowak, Cauble, Sullivan, Hyatt, and McCalley splitting 65-sec over 6K. The Lady Vols then won the South
regional; Novak, Cauble, and Hyatt combined with McCalley and Flaute for a
50-sec 1-5 split.
Returnees: Brooke Novak
(103rd), Megan Cauble (164th); Jessica Southers (238th), Felicia Guilford
(246th; 6th FL; 8th USA Jr); Liz McCalley (250th), Erin Anderson (253rd), Mindy
Sullivan (17th '01 FL), Christy Baird, Katie Flaute
Newcomers: Lindsay Hyatt (GR x-fer from Stanford), Carly Matthews (x-fer from
GaTech, 5:13.75y, 10:09.62), Leslie Treherne
25. Baylor
(#25)
Baylor faded from 21st (489pts) at 3K to
25th (516) at the finish as team leader Brockman could only finish 181st and
Erin Dixon slipped from 78th to 99th and Angela Marvin from 111th to
125th. The Bears improved their
team time from 21:39 to 21:28 with a 53-sec 1-5 split.
The Bears finished 4th at
regionals last fall and will be led by Erin Dixon and US Junior steeple champ
Angela Marvin. Baylor won the 9/13
North Texas Invite, then finished 5th at Griak behind Arizona State, Michigan
State, Columbia, and Providence.
Lisa Cornelius, a 17:13 5000 performer last spring, led Brittany
Brockman, Marvin, Dixon, and Monique Ortega to a 43-sec 1-5 spread in
Minnesota. Brockman stepped up to
lead the Bears to 10th in the Pre-NCAA Purple race; Brockman, Marvin,
Cornelius, Dixon, and Ortega split 54-sec from 1-5. Baylor claimed runner-up honors at Big 12 behind Colorado;
Marvin, Brockman, Cornelius, Ortega, and Dixon combined for a 49-sec 1-5
spread. Despite being upset by
Texas at the SC regional, the Bears claimed an auto berth as Cornelius, Marvin,
Brockman, Ortega, and Dixon split 60-sec for 1-5.
Returnees: Erin Dixon,
Angela Marvin (USA Jr s/c champ; 6:37.48 2k), Jessica Chance, Lisa Cornelius
(17:13)
Newcomers: Brittany Brockman (4:54, 10:36), Monique Ortega (4:59, 10:35),
Brittany McGuire (5:04)
26. Wisconsin (#35)
In Peter Tegen's swan song, the Badgers
finished 26th (528 pts) with a 1:28 1-5 split after sitting 24th (509 pts) at
3K. Sarah Kolpin and Heidi Lane
(DNF) were both tangled up in the pileup, although Kolpin did manage to move up
to 176th from 198th at 3K.
Two-time All-American Maggie Guiney slipped back from 38th at 3K to 62nd
at the finish in her final collegiate harrier race as the Badgers recorded
essentially the same team time at Pre-NCAAs (21:29) as at NCAAs (21:33).
The Badgers look to send off
Coach Peter Tegen (retiring end of '03-04 season) with a bang and improve upon
their 19th-place finish in 2002.
Maggie Guiney, a graduate transfer from Boston College, is reportedly
fit and should boost Wisconsin's chances.
Michelle Lilienthal and Hilary Edmondson finished 3-4 to lead the
Badgers as they lost to NC State, but beat host Tennessee on 9/12; Guiney,
Heidi Lane, and Linsey Blaisdell wrapped up Wisconsin's scorers. Edmondson and Lilienthal switched their
order at the 9/27 Stanford meet to lead the Badgers to 3rd behind UCLA and a
portion of Stanford's "A" team; Blaisdell, Guiney, and Lane helped
Wisconsin to a 43-second 1-5 split over 6K. The Badgers, running w/out Lilienthal in the lineup, edged
Nebraska by a single point the following weekend at the 10/4 Loyola Lakefront Inv,
with Edmondson leading Guiney, Lane, Blaisdell, and Kolpin combining for a
42-second 1-5 split. The following
weekend, Guiney finished 2nd to Wartburg's Missy Buttry by 58-secs and led
Edmondson, Kolpin, Blaisdell, and Ahavahla Haynes to a 40-sec 1-5 split over 4K
at the Wartburg Inv; the understrength Badgers were easy winners over the D-III
field. Guiney and Edmondson
finished 27th and 31st respectively to lead Wisconsin to 7th in the Pre-NCAA
Gold race; Guiney, Edmondson, Lilienthal, Blaisdell, and Kolpin combined for a
51-sec 1-5 split. Wisconsin
finished 5th at Big Tens, with Guiney, Edmondson, Lilienthal, Blaisdell, and
Kolpin splitting 71-sec. Guiney
led the Badgers to 6th an at large berth at the GL regional, with Guiney,
Edmondson, Kolpin, Haynes, and Blaisdell splitting 84-secs (Lilienthal finished
as Wisconsin's 6th runner, while Lane is reported to be out for the season).
Returnees: Hilary Edmondson
(93rd, 161st '00; 4:22.33), Linsey Blaisdell (121st), Heidi Lane (143rd),
Michelle Lilienthal (147th, 113th '00), Jackie Mulrooney (179th)
Newcomer: Maggie Guiney (GR x-fer from Boston College; 9th '01, 13th '00),
Ahavahla Haynes
27. Indiana (#24)
Indiana slipped from 25th (559pts) at 3K to 27th (571) at the finish with a
1:31 1-5 split. Mindy Petersen
moved up from 58th at 5K to earn All-American honors with a 46th-place finish
and help her squad improve from 22:16 team time at Pre-NCAAs to 21:38 at NCAAs.
The Hoosiers stepped it
up in 2002 to claim 14th at the NCAA meet. Mindy Peterson and Audrey Giesler
should lead Indiana. IU easily
dominated its own 8/29 Indiania Opener, with Giesler, Lindsay Hattendorf,
Peterson, and newcomer Kristin Whitezell placing 2-3-4-5. The Hoosiers also dominated the 9/19
Indiana Intercollegiates, with Giesler winning and leading a 51-second 1-5
spread. However, Indiana could
only muster a 15th-place effort at Griak; Geisler's 16th-place finish led a
69-second 1-5 split. Giesler led
the Hoosiers again at the 10/10 Auburn Inv, as Indiana suffered a narrow loss to
Mississippi State; Giesler, Peterson, Whitzell, Siefker, and Shields combined
for a 93-sec 1-5 spread; Hattendorf doesn't appear in the results. Giesler finished 28th in the Pre-NCAA
Purple race to lead the Hoosiers to 22nd and a 1:55 1-5 split. Indiana stepped
things up at Big Tens to claim 4th behind Michigan, Michigan State, and Penn
State; Giesler, combined with Siefker, Petersen, Overton, and Whitezell for a
70-sec 1-5 split. Indiana claimed
4th at the GL regional and was pushed into the NCAA meet by Marquette; Giesler,
Peterson, Siefker, Whitezell, and Overton split 55-sec.
Returnees: Mindy Peterson
(59th; 4:26.43), Audrey Giesler (77th, 10:24.19s/c), Jessica Gall (113th;
16:49.53), Lindsay Hattendorf (145th; 16:53.88), Becky Obrecht (153rd), Alison
Miller (235th), Kelly Siefker (247th; 10:51.24s/c)
Newcomers: Kristin Whitezell (5:00.85y)
28. Colorado
State (#16)
Colorado State continued their tight pack
running at NCAAs, notching a 28th-place finish with a 28-sec 1-5 split.
The Rams claimed 20th at the
'01 NCAA meet, but failed to advance to NCAAs last year. CSU won the Lobo Inv, then finished 7th
at Griak. Nicole Feest led the
Rams at Griak as they notched a 30-sec 1-5 split in Minnesota. Katie Yemm (80th '01) improved to lead
Colorado St to 4th at the 10/18 Penn State National Invite behind Providence,
Columbia, and Penn St; Yemm combined with Crystal Clark, Feest, Michelle
Carmen, and Sarah McKay for an excellent 18-sec 1-5 spread over 6K. The Rams claimed runner-up honors at
the Mountain West Conference behind BYU; Yemm, Carmen, Clark, Blair, and Feest
split 42-sec. CSU upset Northern
Arizona for 3rd at the MW regional and claimed an at large berth; Clark,
Blaire, Feest, Kintzley, and Carmen combined for a 22-sec 1-5 gap while Yemm
appeared to struggle.
Returnees: Katherine Yemm
(80th '01, 156th '00; 4:44.14iy), Jennifer Kintzley (129th '01, 127th '00),
Colleen Blair (150th), Michelle Carman (x-fer from Boise St; 16:52), Brittany
Saunders (2:14, 5:07, 11:08 at altitude); Crystal Clark (17:19), Nicole Feest
Newcomers: April Thomas, Rebekah Yetzer (2:16, 5:01, 10:59), Valerie McGregor,
Emily McGregor, Nicole Feest (x-fer from Oregon)
29. U.C.
Santa Barbara (#36)
The Gauchos claimed 29th in their first
team appearance at NCAAs, running a 21:40 team time at NCAAs that was virtually
identical to their 21:39 from Pre-NCAAs.
UC Santa Barbara finished 2nd
at the Big West Champs and 8th at regionals in 2002. UCSB took the 9/19 Riverside Invite with Desiree Leek
leading a 36-second 1-5 gap. The Gauchos
finished 7th at the 10/3 Notre Dame invite, with Lauren Christman, Cosette
Smith, Stephanie Rothstein, Desiree DeJesus, and Lindsay Christman combining
for a 58-second 1-5 split. The
Gauchos finished 9th in the Pre-NCAA Purple race off a 68-sec 1-5 spread by
Christman, Rothstein, Smith, Desiree Leek, and Tiffany Armel. UCSB won the Big
West meet, with Rothstein, Christman, Smith, and Leek sweeping the first 4
individual places and combining with Martin for a 1:22 1-5 spread. The Gauchos claimed 5th at the West
regional to advance to the NCAA championships for the first time in school
history; Rothstein, Christman, Smith, Christman, and Martin split a 75-sec 1-5
split.
Returnees: Desiree Leek
(4:33.18), Cosette Smith (16:44.18), Desiree DeJesus (17:05.30), Tiffany
DeJesus, Lauren Christman (4:36.89), Lindsay Christman, Stephanie Rothstein
(17:47.01),
Newcomers: Bethany Nickless (10:44.50y)
30. Nebraska
(#19)
The Midwest regional champs claimed 30th
at NCAAs; Anne Shadle ran third for the 'Huskers despite being sick on two days
before the meet and being uncertain whether she would even be able to
race. Ann Gaffigan moved up from
94th at 3K to 71st at the finish.
The Cornhuskers finished 13th
at the 2002 MW regionals. Nebraska
won the 9/20 Woody Greeno Invite and finished 12th at Griak; Anne Shadle's
19th-place effort led Kayte Tranel, Kathryn Handrup, Ann Gaffigan, and Kim
Pancoast to a 64-sec 1-5 gap in Minnesota. The following weekend, Nebraska lost by a single point to
Wisconsin at the 10/4 Loyola Lakefront Inv; Shadle led the 'Huskers to a 42-sec
1-5 split of 5K. Gaffigan finished
30th to lead Nebraska to 8th in the Pre-NCAA Purple race; Gaffigan, Handrup,
Tranel, Shadle (who appeared to have an off day), and Pancoast combined for a
77-sec 1-5 split. Nebraska claimed
6th at Big-12s, with Shadle combining with Gaffigan, Tranel, Pancoast, and
Handrup for a 40-sec 1-5 split.
The Huskers upset favored Missouri 60-63 to win the MW regional;
Gaffigan led Handrup, Shadle, Tranel, and Pancoast to a 57-sec 1-5 split.
Returnees: Ann Gaffigan, Anne
Shadle, Kayte Tranel, Kathryn Handrup
Newcomers: Finker (x-fer from Col St), Farah Jadran (Ill runner-up), Kim
Pancost
31. Texas
(#21)
Talis Apud-Martinez stepped up at NCAAs to
lead the surprise South Central champs, who struggled at NCAAs and finished
last despite improving their team time from 21:50 at Pre-NCAAs to 21:44 at
NCAAs.
The 'Horns improved to claim
22nd in Terre Haute last fall. The 'Horns won the 9/13 Texas St Inv, then a
"B" squad finished 9th at the 9/20 A&M meet. Texas then dominated the 10/4 Texas St.
Inv, winning with 16 points. Talis Apud-Martinez, who missed the 1st part of
the season due to injuries, debuted at Pre-NCAAs and helped the 'Horns to 15th
in the Pre-NCAA Purple, with Kristin Walter, Apud-Martinez, Jones, Ross, and
Scarlett combining for a 1:31 1-5 split.
Texas finished 5th at Big-12s, with Walter, Apud-Martinez, Ross, Jones,
and Scarlett splitting 1:36. The
'Horns surprised the field at the SC regional to take home the team title and
an automatic berth; Walter, Apud-Martinez, Ross, Jones, and Scarlett combined
for a 46-sec 1-5 spread.
Returnees: Talis
Apud-Martinez (36th, 153rd '01), Sarah Ross (190th), Jodi Jones (233rd), Katie
Scarlett (237th), Evelyn Dwyer, Erin Budd, Dee Dee Cortez
Newcomers: Brooke Stewart, Grace Ann Nathanson