By
Chris Martin and Ryan Finley
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Cramer, Chaplin lead the way for Arizona
UA junior Mike Cramer wasn't supposed to be this good.
A former walk-on, Cramer continued his strong running for the Arizona men's cross country team Saturday, finishing 11th at the Pre-NCAA Invitational.
"(Cramer) is definitely our No. 1 runner," UA head coach Dave Murray said. "He's made himself into one of the better collegiate runners in the country."
With Cramer leading the way, Arizona finished sixth out of 53 teams at the invitational.
"I was surprised - it was a good day," Cramer said. "As a team, we did really well. (The race) was tougher, but I could do it again."
The high finish will almost guarantee the UA an invitation to the NCAA Championship in Ames, Iowa on Nov. 20.
The Wildcats, who had 314 points, finished one point behind fifth-place Georgetown and four points behind Brigham Young.
With more than 400 runners in the men's bracket, the placing of runners got mixed up at the finish line due to heavy traffic and may have cost the Arizona men a fourth-place finish, according to Murray.
"I think we were gypped out of 50 points," Murray said. "I think we were probably fourth. They had some major problems in the chute."
The men also received strong showings on the 10,000-meter Iowa State University Cross Country Course by senior David Lopez and junior Tom Prindiville.
Lopez finished as Arizona's No. 2 runner, coming in 46th place with Prindiville crossing the finish line only five spots behind Lopez.
The high finish marks another milestone for Cramer, who has gone from walk-on to star runner in just over two seasons.
"I looked at other schools academically, but nobody was more serious," Cramer said. "I had to have my high school coach call (Murray) to get a tryout. I made the time (necessary to try out) and I walked on. Once he saw me run, he was convinced that I could run collegiately."
Junior Tara Chaplin returned to action for the women and placed 10th out of 371 runners, finishing with the 6,000-meter race with a time of 21:23.0.
The Wildcat women finished eighth overall in the invitational.
Leading throughout the first mile, Chaplin became fatigued throughout the second 800 meters and fell off the leaderboard.
"(The number of participants) probably hurt me," Chaplin said. "I probably got too into it in the beginning."
Senior Katrin Engelen finished 22nd overall, while junior Erin Doherty finished 66th.
Sophomore Kimberly Bates and Jennifer Burris finished 102nd and 110th, respectively.
Chaplin said that Engelen's running has been a factor in the Wildcats' success so far this season.
"Katrin got out really well," she said. "She's been having as great a season as I've seen her have since I've been here."
