University of Washington
NCAA West Regional Championships
Huskies Win Fourth-Straight Regional Title
November 12, 2011 | Cross Country
Nov. 12, 2011
PALO ALTO, Calif. - The Husky women's cross country team cruised to another NCAA West Regional championship today at the Stanford Golf Course, the fourth consecutive Regional title for the Dawgs. The sixth-ranked Huskies distanced themselves from the other thirty teams in the field, including five ranked teams, to secure an automatic bid to the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Nov. 21. The Husky men came up short in their NCAA bid, placing 11th, but will return everyone from today's group.
The Husky women's Regional title streak started in 2008. The four-meet run is the third-longest in meet history. Stanford had won nine in a row from 1999-2007 until UW broke that string, and Oregon won the first six Regional titles from 1976-81.
Washington placed all five of its scoring runners in the top-14 in a field of more than 200, to win with a very impressive 50 points. 16th-ranked Arizona was second with 98 points, then No. 8 Stanford was third with 111. The 11th-ranked Oregon Ducks were fourth with 120, followed by 26th-ranked Cal in fifth with 141.
With the Huskies well on their way to the team win, Head Coach Greg Metcalf had sophomore Pac-12 Champ Katie Flood let the leaders go, saving as much energy as possible for Nationals. Flood coasted across the line in fifth-place, in a time of 20-minutes, 14-seconds. Right behind her was sophomore Megan Goethals, who had her best run at Pac-12s and improved upon that again today, finishing eighth in 20:17.
Junior Lindsay Flanagan bounced back in a big way from an off-day two weeks ago, as she had a career-best 10th-place finish as the third Husky finisher. Sophomore Justine Johnson had her second-straight top-15 Regional run, placing 13th in 20:38. And senior Christine Babcock was a step behind Johnson top cap UW's scoring with a 14th-place finish in 20:39. Freshman Eleanor Fulton had a strong first Regional run, placing 31st, and Chelsea Orr placed 73rd.
"We ran well. One to five we were twenty-five seconds. Katie Flood was in control and we told her early on to let the leaders go and the team was running great behind her and it wasn't about going after the win today," said Metcalf. "I thought that was the best run of the year for Justine, Christine, Lindsay, and Megan, and a real solid run from Katie. It was a really good day and I think they walk out of here excited and with some momentum."
The men were coming off their best effort at the Pac-12 meet, and were hoping to make another step up at Regionals, but they did not get the run they needed today, and their season will come to a close although the future looks bright as UW did not have any seniors competing today.
"We have no seniors here and at the Regional Championships it kind of hurts you. It's disappointing because I think the group could have been better today. But we'll return everyone, and one year from now this race is in Seattle and we want to walk away from that race feeling much better about what we did.
The men had a new frontrunner, as redshirt freshman Aaron Beattie led the team for the first time, in just his second race with the top group. Beattie was 43rd overall in a time of 30:23 over 10,000-meters. Junior Rob Webster, Jr. was a few seconds back in 48th-place, and another newcomer, true freshman Aaron Nelson, was third for UW in 67th-place in 30:49.
Junior Joey Bywater had an off-day after placing 16th at Pac-12s two weeks ago. He was 71st today in 30:53. Sophomore Gareth Gilna suffered a fall early on and that dropped him back, as he finished 113th, with the places combining to produce 329 team points, which put the Huskies in 11th-place overall. Stanford got the win with 50 points, edging out Portland which scored 53 to get the other automatic bid.
The Husky women will now head back to Terre Haute, Indiana for their fifth straight NCAA Championships appearance. On Monday, Nov. 21, a total of 31 teams will run over the LaVern Gibson Championship Course for the title.
Washington Cross Country
2011 NCAA West Regional Championships
Palo Alto, Calif. - Stanford Golf Course
Women's 6,000-meters
Team Results (Top-20): 1. Washington 50
Individual Champion: Jordan Hasay, Oregon, 19:44.
Husky Finishers: 5. Katie Flood 20:14; 8. Megan Goethals 20:17; 10. Lindsay Flanagan 20:27; 13. Justine Johnson 20:38; 14. Christine Babcock 20:39; 31. Eleanor Fulton 21:07; 73. Chelsea Orr 21:50.
Men's 10,000-meters
Team Results (Top-20): 1. Stanford 50; 2. Portland 53; 3. Cal Poly 122; 4. Washington St. 141; 5. California 173; 6. Oregon 175; 6. UCLA 175; 8. Arizona State 214; 9. Long Beach St. 288; 10. UC Santa Barbara 322; 11. Washington 329; 12. Idaho 396; 13. Santa Clara 406; 14. Boise St. 418; 15. San Francisco 425; 16. UC Riverside 426; 17. UC Davis 449; 18. Gonzaga 510; 19. UC Irvine 530; 20. Sacramento St. 532.
Individual Champion: Lawi Lalang, Arizona, 28:34
Husky Finishers: 43. Aaron Beattie 30:23; 48. Rob Webster, Jr. 30:28; 67. Aaron Nelson 30:49; 71. Joey Bywater 30:53; 113. Gareth Gilna 31:46; 126. Taylor Carlson 31:59; 145. Michael Miller, Jr. 32:44.
Players Mentioned
