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Lead Stories: Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Kipyego Too Tough To Beat in Women’s NCAA XC Champs

Posted November 19th, 2007 at 6:00 PM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Cross Country, College

From gun to tape, the women’s division of today’s NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships had only one leader: Sally Kipyego of Texas Tech. The junior from Kenya ran away from the field to defend her individual title in 19:30.9 (unofficial) over the 6 km course in Terre Haute, Ind.

Last year, Kipyego sprinted to the fore at the gun and never looked back. However, Kipyego was content to run most of the first mile with a lead pack this year that included three others: Colorado’s Jenny Barringer, the 2006 runner-up, Florida State’s Susan Kuijken, and Iowa’s Diana Nukuri.

Kipyego started to edge ahead on a long downhill just past the mile passing the 2 km in 6:26. Barringer, Kuijken, and Nukuri were only a second behind at the split before the field made their way up the course’s second long incline.

From that point on, Kipyego simply extended her lead over the chase pack — passing 4 km in 13:01, 11 seconds ahead of Barringer, Kuijken, and Nukuri.
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Teresa McWalters named USATF Athlete of the Week

Posted November 14th, 2007 at 9:00 AM by Jeanie Rebb

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Teresa McWalters has been named USA Track & Field’s Athlete of the Week after winning the women’s NCAA West Regional title Saturday in Eugene, Ore.

A senior at Stanford, McWalters won the individual title, covering the 6 km course in19 minutes 57.30 seconds. Her victory led the Stanford women to the team title with 33 points over Oregon, who came in a distant second with 76 points.

Now in its sixth year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week and features the athlete on the USATF website. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.
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TFS News Briefs: 11/11/07

Posted November 11th, 2007 at 8:00 AM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Cross Country, Track & Field, TFS News Briefs

Rupp, Ducks Win NCAA West Regional X-C Championships
The #1-ranked Oregon Ducks won the 2007 NCAA West Regional Cross-Country Championships on the strength of Galen Rupp’s 1st-place 29:35:45 finish in Eugene, Oregon. The Ducks scored 47 points to 2nd-place Stanford’s 76 points. The Oregon women’s team finished 2nd with 72 points to Stanford’s 1st place 33 points. Stanford’s Teresa McWalters won the 6K race in 19:57:30, eight seconds ahead of Oregon’s Nicole Blood. Read more at: [GoDucks.com]

Michigan Ties 4th-Ranked UW Badgers In Great Lakes Regional X-C Championships
Led by Junior Lex Williams, the #23rd-ranked Michigan Wolverines men’s cross-country team tied the 4th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers in the Great Lakes Regional Cross-Country Championships on Saturday, November 10th, 2007. Both teams scored 68 points. The women’s team finished 2nd to Michigan State, scoring 63 to the Spartans’ 60 points.Read more at: [MGoBlue.com]

Scottish 1st Minister: 2014 Games “Best in History”
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond pledged to make the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, “the greatest sporting event our country has ever seen… It’s up to us all now to keep building the buzz to make sure we put on an electrifying Games and to make sure that we make the most of this wonderful opportunity.” Read more at: [ic Wales, United Kingdom]
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NCAA West Regional Cross Country Preview

Posted November 8th, 2007 at 5:21 PM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Cross Country, College

The University of Oregon proudly welcomes one of the top cross country meets on U.S. soil to Track Town, USA as the NCAA West Regional Championships make their first trip to the Springfield Country Club, Saturday, November 10.

On that day, Eugene-Springfield is one of nine host sites across the nation that automatically advance the top two team finishers and top four individuals from non-qualifying teams to the NCAA Championships, scheduled for Monday, November 19 at Indiana State University’s LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Ind.

Another 13 at-large teams and two at-large individuals will be added from across the nation to the 31-team, 255-runner M&W NCAA fields on the evening of Sun., Nov. 11. At-large team selection criteria is based on teams’ head-to-head records against other actual and potential NCAA qualifiers.

MEN’S RACE PREVIEW

In 2006, the Oregon men scored their first regional men’s team championship since 1989 thanks to five top-20 finishers – four of which return in ’07.
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Cross Country: Division I Rankings, Women

Posted October 30th, 2007 at 8:45 PM by J. R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Cross Country

Stanford maintained its top national ranking by winning a highly competitive Pacific-10 Conference women’s cross country championship race Saturday in Corvallis, Ore. The top-ranked Cardinal defeated three other teams ranked in the top seven to collect its 12th straight conference title.

Stanford received 12 of 13 first-place votes in the Division I women’s poll released today by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Fourth-ranked Princeton claimed the remaining first-place vote.
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Stanford Women Capture 12th Straight Pac-10 Title, Men Edged by Top-Ranked Oregon

Posted October 29th, 2007 at 10:00 AM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: News & Results, Cross Country

The No. 15 Stanford men ran to a second place finish this morning at the Pac-10 Cross Country championships in Corvallis, Ore. The Cardinal scored a total of 55 points, while No. 1 Oregon captured the team title with 39 points. No. 8 Cal rounded out the top three as they recorded 70 points.

Russell Brown was the first Stanford runner to cross the finish line as he earned a third place finish in a time of 23:08.7 Hari Mix was second for the Cardinal with a fifth place finish with his time of 23:11.6, followed right behind by teammate Neftalem Araia in sixth with a 23:12.1. Hakon DeVries posted a 17th place finish as he crossed the line in 23:30.0, while John McGuire was the final point scorer as he posted a 24th place finish in a time of 23:43.2.

Garrett Heath finished in a time of 23:47.7 to take 29th place in the race, while brother Elliot Heath finished in 35th with his time of 23:53.9. Lauren Jespersen recorded a time of 24:02.9 to take 39th, followed by Justin Marpole-Bird in 43rd place with a 24:09.2. Brendan Gregg was the final Stanford runner to cross the line in 51st place with a time of 24:24.1. Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott captured the individual title as he stopped the clock with a time of 22:54.9.

The No. 1 Cardinal women captured their 12th straight Pac-10 title as they scored 48 team points for the victory. Oregon claimed a second place finish as they scored 64 points, while Arizona State earned third with 68 points.
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TFS News Briefs: 10/14/07

Posted October 14th, 2007 at 4:36 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Cross Country

Oregon Men and Women Sweep Hodges X-C Invitational
Both of the Univ. of Oregon cross-country teams, #1 ranked men’s team and the #3 ranked women’s team, swept the Hodges Invitational Saturday. The men’s team scored a near-perfect 16 points while the women scored an impressive 28 points. Read more at: [GoDucks.com]

Univ. of Colorado Coach Mark Wetmore Expects Buffs’ Ranking to Drop
Competing at the Pre-Nationals Cross-Country meet this weekend, the Colorado Buffaloes men’s team, ranked #3 nationally, finished second while the women, ranked #2, finished in sixth place in the white race. After the meet coach Mark Wetmore stated that, “We basically got what we were looking for and where we hoped to be. When the rankings come out, our women will drop a lot but I am pretty sure we can put a big dent into that in the next few weeks. And our men will drop a little bit, which is about what I expected. I thought we were a little over-ranked.” Read more at: [Colorado Buffaloes]

#1 Ranked Stanford Women’s X-C Wins Pre-NCAA InvitationalThe Stanford women’s cross-country team took first place at the Pre-NCAA Invitational in Terra Haute, IN Saturday, scoring 102 points. Senior Teresa McWalters, a four-time All-American, led the Cardinals with a 2nd place finish in a time of 20:01. Susan Kuijken of Florida State won the race with a time of 19:55.5. Read more at: [Stanford Cross-Country]
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Fast times, upsets & successful title defenses highlight Friday’s NCAA action

Posted June 9th, 2007 at 8:00 AM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Fast steeplechases and 5000s, where Wisconsin’s Chris Solinsky (Pictured) defended his title, highlighted the track competition on Friday at the NCAA Division I Track & Field Championships at Sacramento’s Hornet Stadium.

First up was the men’s steeplechase which saw favorite Aaron Aguayo out fast from the gun with Arkansas’ Peter Kosgei, Florida State’s Andrew Lemoncello, and Mississippi’s Barnabas Kirui right on his heels. Aguayo continued to lead the foursome through four laps in 4:28.3, then Kirui jumped into the lead with three laps to go. Kirui easily pulled away from the field, with Lemoncello running alone in second and Aquayo, Colorado’s Bill Nelson and others battling for third. Kirui extended his through to the finish to win in a personal best 8:20.36.
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