By Drew Sibr
Arizona Daily Wildcat
The Arizona men's cross country team won the NCAA District 8 Championship Saturday at Randolph Golf Course and the women's team finished second, earning both teams automatic bids to the NCAA Cross Country Championships Nov. 21 in Fayetteville, Ark.
Wildcat All-America senior Martin Keino preserved his undefeated record this season by easily winning the men's 10,000-meter race through a wet and muddy Randolph South golf course.
"I was running relaxed," said Keino after controlling the race and finishing in 30 minutes, 50 seconds.
Keino, a native of Eldoret, Kenya, led the race from the start, and broke away at the 5,000-meter mark. He was the only runner to finish without mud covering his front side, and was one of three Arizona runners in the top 10.
Wildcat freshman Bob Keino, Martin's brother, finished fourth in 31:17 and sophomore Margarito Casillas finished 10th in 31:56, leading the Arizona men to their first District 8 Championship since 1991.
The UA women also placed three runners in the top 10, guiding them to a second-place finish behind Pacific 10 Conference Champion Stanford, which won the women's 5,000-meter race with a team score of 55. Arizona finished with 73 points.
UA senior Suzanne Castruita was the top runner for the Wildcats, finishing third in a field of 132 runners with a time of 17:42. Viola Schaffer, a sophomore, finished fifth in17:47, and junior Lisa Quaintance finished ninth in 18:07.
Strong performances from the No. 4 and No. 5 runners, however, were the keys to the Wildcat men's and women's automatic berths in the NCAA Championships.
Arizona junior Jeff Haynes finished 12th in 31:59, and Bryan Winters finished 20th in 32:17, securing the Wildcat men's first-place finish.
For the women, Ann Colonna finished 19th in 18:32, and Susan Scott was the fifth Wildcat to cross the finish line, finishing 37th in 18:57.