UA runners win titles, despite rainy conditions

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Amy Skieresz

Cold and rainy conditions during race-time did not hamper Abdirahman, who broke the course record by 20 seconds, and Skieresz, who missed the course record by only nine seconds for her record fourth-consecutive Pac-10 title.

Led by Abdirahman and Skieresz, both the Wildcat men's and women's teams placed third in the meet.

Abdirahman, who finished seventh last year, started the race strong and pulled away from the field along with last year's champion, Washington State's Bernard Lagat.

The two were alone in front of the field until Abdirahman made a surge at the four-mile mark.

"Abdi ran according to plan," UA head coach Dave Murray said. "We knew Lagat would be there and he kept up with Abdi when he made a surge at two miles, but couldn't keep up when at four miles Abdi broke away."

Asked about his performance, Abdirahman commented that he felt great and didn't feel he had to reserve himself during the race.

"This was the end of the season and I was prepared for this race," he said. "The other races I was holding myself back, but this is the one that counts and I ran well."

Abdirahman's finishing time was a course record 23 minutes, 23 seconds - which was an incred-ible feat considering the unfavorable con-ditions.

"This is the most impressive cross country race that Abdi has ever run," Murray said.

Skieresz's title marked a feat no runner, man or woman, has ever accomplished. A muddy and sloppy course failed to slow Skieresz, who pulled in front of the pack at the half-mile mark and never looked back.

"The course record is 16:50 and she (Skieresz) ran 16:59 under muddy and sloppy conditions," Murray said. "She definitely could have ran in the 16:30 range under normal conditions."

Skieresz was her humble self after the race, though she did say she was feeling happy with her performance.

"I have to admit, I'm really pleased," she said.

Her feeling was buoyed by Abdirahman's performance as well.

"We both did a good job. It's so great," Skieresz said.

There were no surprises in the men's team competition. No. 1 Stanford, No. 3 Oregon and No. 5 Arizona finished in the order of their national rankings, followed by Arizona State and Washington State.

Besides Abdirahman, a host of Wildcats finished impressively, including junior Micheil Jones in 10th place, freshmen Steve Smith in 23rd place and sophomore David Lopez in 24th place.

"Micheil Jones probably ran his best race ever," Murray said. "He really ran a great race and really was a plus for us."

The women's team finished a disappointing third behind Stanford and Washington. Following Skieresz were freshman Tara Chaplin in 12th place, junior Claire Becker in 17th place and junior Kristen Parrish in 21st place.

"On the women's side we thought we could have run a little bit better," Murray said. "The conditions were miserable but we still placed four runners in the top 25."

Absent from her usual perch near the top of the leader board was Chaplin, whose 12th place finish was unchar-acteristic of her consistent and strong running all year long.

"Before the start of the race she was shaking uncontrollably and our trainer said she might have hypothermia," Murray said. "But she really gave an outstanding effort."

While the team scores were not as high as Murray would have liked, the individual performances and the effect of the weather conditions were enough to leave him pleased.

"Overall we accomplished pretty much everything we thought we could do. We won two individual tittles and did fairly well in team competition," he said.

Skieresz agreed with her coach.

"We didn't run as well as we could have, but we have another week to prepare. We'll be ready," she said.

The Wildcats have a week off and are then slated to compete in the NCAA West Regionals on Nov. 14 in Fresno, Calif.

Brian Wahlund can be reached via e-mail at Brian.Wahlund@wildcat.arizona.edu.