University of Washington
NCAA West Regionals
Huskies Back On Top In West With Regional Win
November 13, 2010 | Cross Country
Nov. 13, 2010
2010 NCAA West Regional Championships:
Women's Results | Men's Results
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. - For the third year in a row, the Husky women's cross country team are NCAA West Region Champions. But after two years of runaway wins as the top-ranked team, today the 11th-ranked Huskies had to upset three Top-10 opponents to defend their title at the Springfield Country Club. With the win, Washington secures an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, just nine days away in Terre Haute, Indiana.
The Husky men's team also had its best race of the season today, finishing sixth out of a field of 25 after coming into the race ranked just 15th in the West Region. The men's top-five consisted of three sophomores and two freshmen, pointing to great things for the coming years.
Today's race, hosted by Oregon, provided a quick rematch between the top four teams from the Pac-10 Championships just two weeks back in Seattle. The closest race in conference history went to Stanford, followed by Arizona and UW and Oregon in a tie for third. That put the Cardinal in the front of the national rankings at No. 4 entering today's race, with Arizona at No. 6, and Oregon at No. 7.
But it was the Huskies that came out on top today, continuing their late season push. Washington posted 73 points, edging Oregon which scored 77. Stanford was third with 86 points and Arizona was fourth with 90 out of a field of 31 teams.
Once again freshman Katie Flood led the way for the women, as she took sixth in 20:17 for the 6,000-meter race to match her Pac-10 finish. Crossing right alongside Flood was redshirt freshman Justine Johnson, who managed to top her career-best run from Pac-10s with a seventh-place finish today also in 20:17.
With a mile to go, the Huskies trailed Stanford by one point but made up ground over the final stretch. Similar to the conference meet, UW closed out its top-five before any other team, as junior Christine Babcock, senior Mel Lawrence, and senior Kailey Campbell all came across together from 19th to 21st place in that order. Babcock moved up five spots over the final mile.
This was the third-straight victory for the Husky women on Oregon's home course, as UW won the 2008 Pac-10 title here as well as the 2009 West Region Championship. This was the first win for the Huskies since the Sundodger Invitational back in September.
"It was lots of fun today," said head coach Greg Metcalf. "The women coming here the goal was to automatically qualify. We've had success on this course. It went out like the last few Regionals, controlled through the first mile. Our team stayed in the right place. Katie and Justine, for two freshmen, they continue to run very confident and ran great to the finish line. Christine and Kailey battled and ran people down. Mel was a little tired today but she will be there at Nationals. Today we added some more momentum, now there's excitement; it's always fun to win cross country meets."
The men were all but counted out after injuries led to some poor races early on, but UW has traditionally ran its best late in the year when the distance moves up to 10,000-meters. Today was proof of that once again, as the Huskies placed sixth with 216 points, finishing ahead of the likes of UCLA and Washington State which beat UW two weeks ago at Pac-10s. The third-ranked Oregon men got the win with 63 points, just ahead of second-ranked Stanford which had 65. California, Portland, and Arizona State were third, fourth, and fifth followed by the Dawgs.
For the second-straight race, sophomore Rob Webster Jr. led the men, placing 34th overall in a time of 30:50 for the 10km. UW kept things close as a team. Michael Miller was 49th and fellow redshirt frosh Gareth Gilna was 61st in 31:16, giving UW just a 26-second spread between its first and fifth scorers. Senior Jordan Swarthout was sixth for the Dawgs in 73rd-place. The only senior on the squad, the Olympia native wraps up a great cross country career which included two NCAA Championship appearances.
The fall likely concludes today for the Husky men, despite their great performance. Based on the NCAA selection process, a stronger finish from UCLA actually could have helped push UW into the national meet, something that seemed far out of reach just a few weeks back.
 Sophomore Rob Webster Jr. led the Dawgs for the second race in a row, helping UW to a strong sixth-place finish.  |
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"This was easily their best race of the year," Metcalf said of his men's group. "We've done this a lot, having our best runs at Regionals. Our guys didn't put their heads down, they paid attention and were ready to run 10k. We're a bunch of young men right now so I'm very pleased with their effort today. Look at what this team did, 26th at pre-nationals, ranked 15th in the West, for our men to come here and be sixth, obviously we didn't win but today was a very good day and great preparation for the future."
The Husky women will now look to see how much more progress they can make over the next nine days as they head back to their fourth consecutive NCAA Championships. The top four teams get a spot on the podium, which is where UW has found itself the past two years, and where they will be shooting for once again. Nationals are set for Monday, November 22, at 9 a.m. Pacific time.
Washington Cross Country
NCAA West Regional Championships
November 13, 2010 - Springfield, Ore.
Springfield Country Club
Women's Race (6,000-meters)
Team Results (Top-20): 1. Washington 73
Individual Champion: Jordan Hasay, Oregon, 20:01.
Husky Finishers: 6. Katie Flood 20:17; 7. Justine Johnson 20:17; 19. Christine Babcock 20:32; 20. Mel Lawrence 20:36; 21. Kailey Campbell 20:37; 32. Lindsay Flanagan 20:52; 73. Liberty Miller 21:32.
Men's Race (10,000-meters)
Team Results (Top-20): 1. Oregon 63; 2. Stanford 65; 3. California 78; 4. Portland 131; 5. Arizona State 179; 6. Washington 216; 7. Boise State 249; 8. UCLA 267; 9. UC Davis 272; 10. Long Beach State 280; 11. UC Santa Barbara 302; 12. Cal Poly 351; 13. San Francisco 373; 14. Washington State 396; 15. Arizona 405.
Individual Champion: Trevor Dunbar, Portland, 29:57
Husky Finishers: 34. Rob Webster Jr. 30:50; 40. Michael Miller 31:06; 61. Gareth Gilna 31:16; 73. Jordan Swarthout 31:27; 77. Taylor Carlson 31:28.
Players Mentioned
