NCAA West Regional Meet Preview
EUGENE ? The University of Oregon proudly welcomes one of the top cross country meets on U.S. soil to Track Town, USA as the NCAA West Regional Championships make their first trip to the Springfield Country Club, Saturday, November 10.
On that day, Eugene-Springfield is one of nine host sites across the nation that automatically advance the top two team finishers and top four individuals from non-qualifying teams to the NCAA Championships, scheduled for Monday, November 19 at Indiana State University’s LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Ind.
Another 13 at-large teams and two at-large individuals will be added from across the nation to the 31-team, 255-runner M&W NCAA fields on the evening of Sun., Nov. 11. At-large team selection criteria is based on teams’ head-to-head records against other actual and potential NCAA qualifiers.
*Thousands of fans are expected so click here to read about a special parking and shuttle system for this meet (and a parking map is available by clicking here).
More NCAA Championships information is available at the www.NCAAsports.com website.
MEN’S RACE PREVIEW
In 2006, the Oregon men scored their first regional men’s team championship since 1989 thanks to five top-20 finishers ? four of which return in ’07.
Stanford trailed UO by 19 points in that race to finish second ? the 13th straight meet they’ve finished top two, including 10 straight titles from 1995-2004 under current Duck mentor Vin Lananna. The Men of Oregon’s last win came in 1989 when they tallied a perfect score of 15 points ? the only perfect score in recent history, and they also scored wins in 1982 and ?88.
The men’s regional last year advanced a record nine teams to the collegiate finale thanks to seven at-large bids, and the region later went on to dominate the NCAA results with seven top-25 placers ? Stanford (fourth), Oregon (fifth), Washington (12th), Cal Poly (13th), Portland (18th), Arizona (21st) and UCLA (23rd).
Stanford's Nef Araia is the returning men's regional champion and the top NCAA returnee from last year after he took second in the collegiate finale.
Among other men’s individuals to watch, Oregon junior Galen Rupp was fourth in last year’s West Regional and was the Pac-10 champion and sixth in his NCAA harrier debut last fall. Last summer on the track, he finished second in the NCAA and USA Championships 10,000m and 11th in the World Championships 10,000m, and logged an American collegiate record during the regular season (27:33.48).
Additional returning men’s All-Americans from prior NCAA Championships include Cal Poly senior Phillip Reid (21st in ’06), Oregon sophomore Diego Mercado (49th in '06), Portland senior John Moore (30th in ’05) and UCLA senior Austin Ramos (48th in ’05).
In the Pacific-10 Conference Championships two weeks ago in Corvallis, Ore. (10/27), the Duck junior duo of Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott and Galen Rupp ran together for nearly the entire 8,000m contest and went 1-2 overall, and the latter ran his first race after a late-summer appearance in the World Track and Field Championships 10,000m and a subsequent rest cycle in August and early September.
In the league finale, Stanford claimed three of the next four places courtesy of Russell Brown (third), Hari Mix (fifth) and Araia (sixth). Other first-team All-Pac-10 honorees based on their league finishes included Ramos (fourth) and California's Yosef Ghebray (seventh).
In the Pac-10 men's team race, No. 1 Oregon won with 39 points for its 15 league victory in school history and second straight. No. 8 Stanford, the returning race runner-up, followed in second place with 55 points, ahead of No. 10 California (third, 70), No. 21 UCLA (fourth, 97), No. 27 Arizona State (fifth, 105), Washington (sixth, 162), Washington State (seventh, 166) and Arizona (eighth, 260).
In other West Coast action that same weekend, No. 20 Portland continued their stranglehold on the West Coast Conference Championships with five of the top 13 finishers and a 32-point score. The Pilots were led by sophomore Zuber Ahmed who finished second overall, five seconds behind San Francisco senior Cheyne Inman.
No. 28 Cal Poly posted a perfect 15-point score in the Big West Championships and were led by Reid, Troy Swier (second), Evan Anderson (third), Jeff Lease (junior) and Joe Gatel (fifth) who finished only 12 seconds apart. UC Santa Barbara followed in second place with 53 points, ahead of UC Riverside (third, 79).
Top Regional Men's Returnees - 2006 Results (10,000m) ? 1, Nef Araia, Stanford, 30:06. 4, Galen Rupp, Oregon, 30:15. 9, John Moore, Portland, 30:32. 11, Diego Mercado, Oregon, 30:34. 12, Phillip Reid, Cal Poly, 30:35. 13, David Torrence, California, 30:35. 16, Kyle Shackleton, UCLA, 30:38. 19, Kenny Klotz, Oregon, 30:41. 20, Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott, Oregon, 30:42.
Top Pac-10 Conference Men's Finishers - 2007 Results (8,000m) - 1, Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott, Oregon, 22:55. 2, Galen Rupp, Oregon, 22:59. 3, Russell Brown, Stanford, 23:09. 4, Austin Ramos, UCLA, 23:11. 5, Hari Mix, Stanford, 23:12. 6, Nef Araia, Stanford, 23:13. 7, Yosef Ghebray, California, 23:15. 8, Mark Matusak, California, 23:17. 9, David Torrence, California, 23:18. 10, Kyle Alcorn, Arizona State, 23:19. 11, Scott Wall, Oregon, 23:22. 12, A.J. Acosta, Oregon, 23:25. 13, Kenny Klotz, Oregon, 23:25. 14, Andrew Wheating, Oregon, 23:27. 15, Jeff Helmer, Arizona State, 23:28.
WOMEN’S RACE PREVIEW
The top-ranked Cardinal women have won the last eight regional team crowns (1999-present), and the last school to win the team title besides Stanford was Arizona in 1998. Oregon’s last team victory came in 1995 with their 37 points over Stanford (second, 71) and Arizona (third, 75).
Among top women’s individuals to watch, Stanford senior Arianna Lambie - the Pac-10 and West Regional champion in 2005 and '06 - is one of only two women to ever Pac-10 and West Regional times in consecutive seasons and joined former NCAA champion Amy Skieresz who won four titles in each race from 1995-98.
Lambie was a top-10 NCAA Championships placer in 2005 (eighth) and ’06 (fourth), and is one of five All-Americans back in ’07 with her two teammates - senior Teresa McWalters (31st in ’06) and junior Lindsay Flacks (25th in ’05) - and Washington State senior Haley Paul (14th in ’05).
Arizona State junior Jenna Kingma (42nd) and Stanford senior Lauren Centrowitz (47th) were also top-50 NCAA placers in 2005.
In the recent Pac-10 Championships two weeks ago, Lambie and teammate Teresa McWalters ran away from the field to finish 1-2 in the same time of 19:41.
Oregon freshman Alexandra Kosinski shined in her Pac-10 debut (third, 19:55) and maintained her gap behind the leaders the final mile after she ran much of the first 2/3 of the race with UO sophomore teammate Nicole Blood (fourth, 20:09). Blood won a spirited kick down the final stretch over Arizona State’s Jenna Kingma (fifth, 20:10) and Washington’s Anita Campbell (sixth, 20:11). ASU's Ali Kielty (seventh, 20:25) rounded out the All-Pac-10 First Team.
As a squad, the No. 1 ranked Cardinal staked their 13th straight women's team title and 15th win in 16 editions, after it stacked its top six runners in the top 22 overall to tally 48 points.
No. 2 Oregon followed in second place with 64 points for its highest finish since 1997. Close behind, No. 5 Arizona State and No. 9 Washington tied for third place (68), and were followed by Washington State (fifth, 136), Arizona (sixth, 188), Oregon State (seventh, 197), USC (eighth, 215), California (ninth, 237) and UCLA (10th, 248).
In other meets around the West Coast, Portland won the West Coast Conference Championships women's team title with 33 points and featured five of the top 14 finishers, including league individual champion Dana Morgan (20:32) and third-place finisher Sifrash Ademe (third, 21:17). San Francisco followed in second place with 43 points, and Loyola Marymount placed third with 68 points.
No. 27 UC Santa Barbara won the Big West Conference Championships women's team race with 44 points, just ahead of UC Riverside (second, 57) and UC Irvine (third, 59). The Gauchos claimed the top two finishers overall - seniors Megan Lewis (21:16) and Bethany Nickless (second, 21:36) - who were followed by UC Irvine's Laura Olvera (third, 21:46) and UC Riverside's Brenda Martinez (fourth, 21:57).
Top Regional Women's Returnees - 2006 Results (6,000m) ? 1, Arianna Lambie, Stanford, 20:59. 2, Kathleen Trotter, Stanford, 21:13. 3, Laura Olvera, UC Irvine, 21:17. 6, Anita Campbell, UC Santa Barbara, 21:18. 7, Laura Mickelson, Loyola Marymount, 21:20. 9, Jenna Kingma, Arizona State, 21:26. 11, Allie Bohannan, 21:40. 12, Cassie Rios, Arizona State, 21:42. 13, Lindsay Flacks, Stanford, 21:43. 16, Brooke Bennett, Arizona State, 21:50. 17, Sara Mickeson, UC Irvine, 21:52. 18, Haley Paul, Washington State, 21:53.
Top Pac-10 Conference Women's Finishers - 2007 Results (6,000m) - 1, Arianna Lambie, Stanford, 19:41. 2, Teresa McWalters, Stanford, 19:21. 3, Alexandra Kosinski, Oregon, 19:55. 4, Nicole Blood, Oregon, 20:09. 5, Jenna Kingma, Arizona State, 20:10. 6, Anita Campbell, Washington, 20:11. 7, Ali Kielty, Arizona State, 20:25. 8, Isley Gonzalez, Washington State, 20:27. 9, Katie Follett, Washington, 20:27. 14, Lauren Centrowitz, Stanford, 20:28. 11, Sarah Cocco, USC, 20:31. 12, Kari Hardt, Arizona State, 20:35. 13, Marie Lawrence, 20:35. 14, Kate Niehaus, Stanford, 20:36.
PAST REGIONAL CHAMPIONS
Men’s West Regional Winners
2006: 1. Oregon 69
2005: 1. Arizona 33
2004: 1. Stanford 49
2003: 1. Stanford 18
2002: 1. Stanford 21
2001: 1. Stanford 37
2000: 1. Stanford 58
1999: 1. Stanford 40
1998: 1. Stanford 37
1997: 1. Stanford 50
1996: 1. Stanford 31
1995: 1. Stanford 53
1994: 1. Arizona 46
1993: 1. Portland 56
1992: 1. Arizona 27
1991: 1. Arizona 58
1990: 1. Arizona 50
1989: 1. Oregon 15
1988: 1. Oregon 38
1987: 1. Arizona 72
1986: 1. Arizona 58
1985: 1. Arizona 58
1984: 1. Arizona 40
1983: 1. Oregon 42
1982: 1. Oregon 53
Men’s Regional Individual Champions
2006: Nef Araia, Stanford, 30:06
2005: Robert Cheseret, Arizona, 30:04
2004: Ryan Hall, Stanford, 30:07
2003: Ryan Hall, Stanford, 29:33
2002: Donald Sage, Stanford, 30:13
2001: Donald Sage, Stanford, 30:43.4
2000: Jonathon Riley, Stanford, 30:40
1999: Steve Fein, Oregon, 30:30
1998: Abdi Abdirahman, Arizona, 30:06
1997: Meb Keflezighi, UCLA, 30:15.9
1996: Karl Keska, Oregon, 30:16
1995: Karl Keska, Oregon, 30:11.9
1994: Martin Keino, Arizona, 30:50
1993: Joe Kapkory, Wash. State , 29:20.5
1992: Joe Kapkory, Wash. State , 30:41.7
1991: Joe Kapkory, Washington State , 30:11
1990: Marc Davis, Arizona, 30:08.3
1989: Brad Hudson, Oregon, 30:06.5
1988: Marc Davis, Arizona, 30:08.1
1987: Matt Giusto, Arizona, 29:42.7
1986: Aaron Ramirez, Arizona, 30:21.6
1985: Marc Olesen, Stanford, 29:51
1984: Tom Ansberry, Arizona, 31:10.2
1983, Jim Hill, Oregon, 30:08.4
1982, Jim Hill, Oregon, 28:50
Women’s West Regional/District Winners
2006: 1. Stanford 42
2005: 1. Stanford 24
2004: 1. Stanford 29
2003: 1. Stanford 45
2002: 1. Stanford 24
2001: 1. Stanford 39
2000: 1. Stanford 58
1999: 1. Stanford 29
1998: 1. Arizona 78
1997: 1. Stanford 37
1996: 1. Stanford 51
1995: 1. Oregon 37
1994: 1. Stanford 55
1993: 1. Arizona 59
1992: 1. Washington 90
1991: 1. Oregon 56
1990: 1. Oregon 49
1989: 1. Washington 75
1988: 1. Oregon 36
1987: 1. Oregon 29
1986: 1. UCLA 69
1985: 1. Oregon 63
1984: 1. Stanford 26
1983: 1. Oregon 33
1982: 1. Stanford 33
1981: 1. Oregon 52
1980: 1. Oregon 28
1979: 1. Oregon 18
1978: 1. Oregon 15
1977: 1. Oregon 36
1976: 1. Oregon 30
Women's Regional/District Individual Champions
2006: Arianna Lambie, Stanford, 20:59
2005: Arianna Lambie, Stanford, 19:30
2004: Alicia Craig, Stanford, 20:03
2003: Alicia Craig, Stanford, 20:06
2002: Alicia Craig, Stanford, 20:39
2001: Tara Chaplin, Arizona, 20:41.1
2000: Lisa Aguilera, ASU, 20:25
1999: Julia Stamps, Stanford, 16:50
1998: Amy Skieresz, Arizona, 16:26
1997: Amy Skieresz, Arizona, 16:59
1996: Amy Skieresz, Arizona, 16:13
1995: Amy Skieresz, Arizona, 16:42.3
1994: Milena Glusac, Oregon, 17:26.1
1993: Karen Hecox, UCLA, 16:41.6
1992: Louise Watson, Stanford, 17:20.3
1991: Lucy Nusrala, Oregon, 16:48
1990: Buffy Rabbitt, UC Irvine, 16:44.6
1989: Buffy Rabbitt, UC Irvine, 16:53.7
1988: Penny Graves, Oregon, 16:36.2
1987: Annette Hand, Oregon, 16:19.0
1986: Penny Graves, Oregon, 16:41.9
1985: Regina Jacobs, Stanford, 16:41
1984: Regina Jacobs, Stanford, 17:05.3
1983: Kathy Hayes, Oregon, 16:55.3
1982: Ceci Hopp, Stanford, 16:03
1981: Monica Joyce, San Diego State, 16:28.9
1980: Regina Joyce, Washington, 17:38
1979: Molly Morton, Oregon, 17:36.8
1978: Robin Baker, Oregon, 17:46
1977: Debbie Quatier, Seattle Pacific, 17:52
1976: Debbie Quatier, Seattle Pacific, 17:04
1975: Maureen Crowley, Simon Fraser, 15:51
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