By Jason A. Vrtis
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Third-place showings for the Arizona men's and women's cross country teams at the District VIII Championships on Saturday in Woodland, Wash., brought mixed results yesterday from an NCAA-selection committee.
The UA women's squad was one of six at-large teams from around the country selected to run in the NCAA Championships next Monday in Ames, Iowa, but the men were denied a berth despite running in a strong division all season.
"I expected our women's team to qualify, but I was very discouraged for our men because we feel we should have gone," UA head coach Dave Murray said.
Brigham Young, Michigan and Southern Illinois were all picked ahead of Arizona. Ironically, Arizona defeated Southern Illinois on Sept. 16 at the Illinois Invitational, but that win did not qualify under NCAA-committee rules. The rule states team results after Sept. 23 count in the selection process.
Arizona finished third with 91 points behind runner-up Oregon's 69 points and Stanford's 53. The Arizona women's team's 75 points put it one point behind Stanford and well behind district champion Oregon's 37. Freshman Amy Skieresz captured her fourth individual title in a row Saturday, becoming the first Arizona woman ever to win a district championship. She covered the 5,000-meter course in 16 minutes, 42 seconds.
"Amy just dominated the entire field," Murray said. "After the 2-mile mark, she ran away from the pack and was never contested."
Murray also said Skieresz should be a factor at the NCAAs and has a chance to finish in the top five. Arizona is hoping to improve on its 10th-place showing at last year's championships.
Skieresz was followed by junior Viola Schaffer, who finished 11th in a time of 17:32. Other UA women finishers and their times: senior Ann Colonna, 18th, 17:51; sophomore Virginia Camacho, 21st, 17:54; senior Lisa Quaintance, 29th, 18:08; freshman Emily Nay, 49th, 18:38; and junior Tone Bratteng, 51st, 18:41.
Sophomore Bob Keino finished sixth overall despite falling down in the first mile of the race. Since the top 10 individuals from each district also qualify, Keino will join the women's team at the NCAAs. Keino finished the 10,000m race in a time 30:40.
Other UA men finishers and their times: junior Margarito Casillas, 11th, 31:09; freshman Jeff McLarty, 25th, 31:39; senior Jeff Haynes, 28th, 31:49; senior Art Jimenez, 29th, 31:50; junior Jon Pillow, 35th, 32:08; and senior Chad Wenger, 45th, 32:36.