2009 Pac-10 Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships Preview

2009 Pac-10 Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships Preview
Courtesy Pac-10

Oct. 26, 2009

THE COURSE . . . The men’s course will cover 8,000 meters at Sky Links Golf Course, Long Beach, Calif.. The women, meanwhile, will run a course of 6,000 meters. The flat terrain for both the men’s course and women’s course will be run over grass, with short sections run across cart paths.


HEAR WHAT THEY HAVE TO SAY . . . Listen to what STANFORD’s Jake Riley and WASHINGTON’s Mel Lawrence have to say about the Pac-10 Championships. Check out the following link for their podcast interview: http://cstvpodcast.cstv.com.edgesuite.net/pac10/102309_pac10_xc.m4a


2008 PAC-10 CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS . . . Following the championships, final results for the men’s and women’s races will be available on the USC web site (www.usctrojans.com) and the Pac-10 web site (www.pac-10.org).


CAN’T MAKE IT IN PERSON? . . . Delayed video streaming of the Pac-10 Championships will be available on the Pac-10 website (www.pac-10.org). The link will be posted the following week.


WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? . . . The NCAA West Regional Championships will be in Eugene, Ore., Sat., Nov. 14 (hosted by the University of Oregon), while the NCAA Championships will be Mon., Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Ind. (hosted by Indiana State).


NEXT YEAR . . . The University of Washington will host the 2010 Pac-10 Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010.


MEN’S RACE (41st annual). . . STANFORD and OREGON each won their respective races at the NCAA Pre-Nationals and enter the Pac-10 Championships ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the latest USTFCCCA polls... Look for senior Dylan Fitzpatrick and junior Mohamud Ige to pace ARIZONA at this year’s championships... ARIZONA STATE veteran runners senior Brandon Bethke and junior Ben Engelhardt will keep the Sun Devils in contention. Bethke finished sixth (23:49.4) in the White Race at the NCAA Pre-Nationals... CALIFORNIA will count on junior Kari Karlsson and freshman Collin Jarvis to lead the Golden Bears... OREGON, the defending Pac-10 and NCAA champions, are coming off a successful NCAA Pre-National showing with a first-place finish in the Blue Race. Sophomore Luke Puskedra, who took individual honors (23:40.2) in the Blue Race, junior Danny Mercado and senior Andy Klotz will lead the Ducks... STANFORD, currently the top-ranked team in the nation, was equally as impressive at the NCAA Pre-National meet with a first-place finish in the White Race. Sophomore Chris Derrick, who took top honors (23:27.1) in the White Race, will be joined by juniors Elliott Heath and Justin Marpole-Bird in leading the Cardinal... Senior Marlon Patterson was the top Bruin at the NCAA Pre-National, and will be joined by fellow seniors Marco Anzures and Alex Crabill in leading UCLA’s charge at the Pac-10 Championships... WASHINGTON seniors Jake Schmitt and Colton Tully-Doyle have led the 13th-ranked Huskies this season and will look to contend in Long Beach... WASHINGTON STATE was impressive at the NCAA Pre-Nationals with a seventh-place finish in the Blue Race. The Cougars entered the latest polls ranked No. 26 and will look to sophomore Jono Lafler and junior Dan Geib to score well at the Pac-10’s.

LAST YEAR (MEN) . . . OREGON won its third consecutive Pac-10 title and 16th overall with a 19-point margin of victory over STANFORD. The Ducks then went on to successfully defend their national title with the sixth NCAA title in school history. Oregon senior Galen Rupp swept postseason titles by capturing his second Pac-10 title (22:55), took top honors at the NCAA West Region (27:41) by more than 50 seconds, then won his first NCAA individual title (29:04). For his efforts, Rupp was named the Pac-10 Athlete of the Year, as well as the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year. Freshman teammate Luke Puskedra was tabbed Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year after placing second at the Pac-10’s (23:32), sixth at the NCAA West Region (28:45), and fifth at the NCAA Championships (29:28). Oregon coach Vin Lananna was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year, then picked up national honors when he was awarded the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Division I National Coach of the Year.

2008 PAC-10 CHAMPIONSHIP - MEN (Springfield Country Club, Eugene, Ore.)

MEN - Team Results
1. Oregon 1, 2, 5, 9, 11, 12, 17 28
2. Stanford 3, 4, 7, 13, 20, 23, 35 47
3. Washington 10, 15, 16, 31, 32, 40, 41 104
3. California 6, 14, 21, 29, 34, 48, 49 104
5. UCLA 8, 19, 22, 27, 30, 36, 42 106
6. Washington State 18, 25, 37, 39, 50, 52, 53 169
7. Arizona 24, 28, 33, 44, 51, 55, 56 180
8. Arizona State 26, 38, 43, 45, 46, 47, 54 198

MEN - Top-10 Individuals
1. Galen Rupp, ORE 22:55.14
2. Luke Puskedra, ORE 23:32.11
3. Chris Derrick, STAN 23:38.17
4. Garrett Heath, STAN 23:41.18
5. Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott, ORE 23:42.50
6. Yosef Ghebray, CAL 23:43.03
7. Jake Riley, STAN 23:44.29
8. Drew Shackleton, UCLA 23:45.89
9. Andrew Wheating, ORE 23:46.79
10. Jeremy Mineau, WASH 23:47.40

WOMEN’S RACE (24th annual). . . What should be a competitive race that features four teams ranked among the nation’s Top 17... ARIZONA jumped from nowhere to 17th in the latest USTFCCCA polls with a surprising sixth-place finish in the Blue Race at the NCAA Pre-Nationals. Junior Maggie Callahan has led the Cats in each race this season and will be joined by freshman Lauren Smith... ARIZONA STATE will contend with senior Kari Hardt, who finished 11th (20:58.8) in the White Race, and sophomore Lindsay Prescott... CALIFORNIA sophomore Deborah Maier has run well this season, finishing 13th in the White Race (21:00.3) and posted a fourth-place finish at the Stanford Invitational. She’ll be pushed by freshman teammate Ellie Keene... OREGON placed third in the Blue Race behind the performance of freshman Jordan Hasay, who finished third (20:33.0). The Ducks will look to seasoned runners senior Nicole Blood and junior Alex Kosinski to score well at the Pac-10’s... Juniors Abby Chesimet, OREGON STATE’s top finisher at the NCAA Pre-Nationals, and Jennifer Macias will contend for the Beavers... STANFORD will push the Ducks and Huskies behind junior Alexandra Gits, and freshmen Kathy Kroeger and Alex Dunne. The Cardinal placed fifth in the Blue Race at the NCAA Pre-Nationals... Contending for UCLA will be junior Shannon Murakami, who has paced the Bruins in each meet this season, and sophomore Sadee Martinez... USC, the host of the Pac-10 Championships, will count on juniors Zsofia Erdelyi and Christine Cortez to lead the way for the Women of Troy.. Can WASHINGTON duplicate its impressive record-setting performance in defending its Pac-10 crown? The Huskies, who finished 1-2-3-4-5-6 at last year’s championshps, will turn to sophomore Kendra Schaaf, the defending individual Pac-10 champion, senior Katie Follett and sophomore Christine Babcock... WASHINGTON STATE will be paced by seniors Lisa Egami and Chelsea VanDeBrake. Both have been the top two finishers for the Cougars in each meet they’ve competed in this season.

LAST YEAR (WOMEN) . . . The WASHINGTON Huskies captured their first NCAA title with a commanding victory, posting a 52-point margin of victory over second place OREGON. At the Pac-10 Championships, freshman Kendra Schaaf led Washington to the most convincing of victories. The Huskies posted the minimum 15 points in capturing their first Pac-10 title, and second overall, in the most dominating performance in Pac-10 history. Schaaf, who took top individual honors at the Pac-10 Championships with a time of 19:24, was named the Pac-10 Athlete of the Year. Freshman teammate Christine Babcock was honored as the Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year as she posted consistent finishes at the Pac-10 Championships (3rd - 19:53), NCAA West Region (3rd - 20:02) and NCAA Championships (7th - 20:02). Washington coach Greg Metcalf was tabbed the Pac-10 Coach of the Year and the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Division I National Coach of the Year.

2008 PAC-10 CHAMPIONSHIPS - WOMEN (Trysting Tree Golf Course, Corvallis, Ore.)

WOMEN - Team Results
1. Washington 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12 15
2. Oregon 7, 8, 11, 14, 15, 16, 30 55
3. Stanford 13, 19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 27 99
4. Arizona State 9, 10, 23, 28, 35, 36, 40 105
5. Washington State 18, 29, 38, 51, 52, 53, 67 188
6. Oregon State 26, 31, 33, 45, 57, 58, 59 192
7. Arizona 20, 34, 41, 48, 56, 63, 65 199
8. California 37, 39, 43, 44, 46, 49, 61 209
9. USC 17, 32, 47, 54, 62, 68, 70 212
10. UCLA 42, 50, 55, 60, 64, 66, 69 271

WOMEN Top-10 Individuals
1. Kendra Schaaf, WASH 19:24.05
2. Marie Lawrence, WASH 19:52.76
3. Christine Babcock, WASH 19:53.71
4. Anita Campbell, WASH 19:57.06
5. Katie Follett, WASH 20:04.66
6. Amanda Miller, WASH 20:10.16
7. Lindsey Scherf, ORE 20:15.64
8. Nicole Blood, ORE 20:25.28
9. Kari Hardt, ASU 20:26.57
10. Ali Kielty, ASU 20:26.96