Search

ARCHIVES
CONTACT US
WORLD NEWS

Cross country teams ready for NCAAs

The UA men's cross country team finished second at the NCAA West Regional meet over the weekend, securing an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships. The women placed sixth, earning themselves an at-large bid to the championships.

"I am very happy with the way both teams ran over the weekend," head coach Dave Murray said.

The UA men's team finished second with 74 points, while Stanford won the title with 114 points.

Arizona's top finisher was senior Micheil Jones, who placed third with a time of 30:39 on the 10,000-meter course.

"The men's team is beginning to sound a bit like a broken record," Murray said. "They ran another solid race."

Junior David Lopez finished 12th in 30:57 and senior Brent Pedersen finished 17th in 31:06. Sophomores Steve Smith and Mike Cramer were 20th (31:10) and 22nd (31:19), respectively.

Non-scorers for Arizona were Tom Prindiville, who placed 40th at 32:01, and Jeremy Lyon, who was 54th with a time of 32:47.

The UA women finished sixth with 166 points, while Stanford won the title.

"For a young team, the women did a great job, they really rose to the occasion," Murray said.

Sophomore Tara Chaplin was the top finisher for the women's team in 12th place with a time of 17:31 on the 5,000-meter course.

Sophomores Erin Doherty and Jennifer Burris finished 33rd (18:10) and 34th (18:11), respectively. Junior Katrin Engelen placed 35th at 18:12 and freshman Kimberly Bates was 53rd at 18:26.

Freshman Mandee Ash finished 73rd in 18:50, but she did not score any points for Arizona.

"It would've been nice to beat UCLA and Oregon but we're still just as good as they are," Bates said. "We are definitely ready for the NCAA championships."

The NCAA championships will take place in Bloomington, Ind., on Monday.