With the SEC Championships wrapping up Monday, the weekend of NCAA cross country conference championships came to a close. From Oregon, to Iowa, to Mississippi, to Michigan, teams took to courses vying for conference bragging rights. With such fierce competition came some big surprises, setting up the last three weeks of the season as highly suspenseful.
Take a look at our conference top 10 round-up, where we touch on the ten most intriguing stories. Some stories may surprise you, others are fairly obvious, but all are successes that will impact the rest of the 2008 cross country season.
Top 10 Highlights
Washington fans have plenty to cheer about after what they accomplished at the Pac-10 Championships on Friday at Oregon (Spencer Allen)
1. The University of Washington women are simply incredible. Two weeks ago against some of the best competition in the country, the Huskies obliterated the field and won the Pre-Nationals meet rather easily. However, while the squad won doubts remained about the sqauds' ability to beat #2 Oregon. Those doubts were laid to rest Friday night, as the Huskies crushed the Ducks 15-55.
What does that mean exactly? Well, that means that UW placed 1-5 to score those 15 points, but the squad did much more. Not only did they place 1-5, led by individual race champion Kendra Schaaf, but they also placed sixth and twelvth with their 6-7 runners. Think about it. This team placed 1-6 on the #2 team in the country.
Schaaf easily beat the field by running 19:24 over the 6k course. Following her lead came the pack of Marie Lawrence, Christine Babcock and Anita Campbell, each finishing between 19:52-19:57. Coming in fifth was Katie Follett in 20:04, while Amanda Miller had her best race of the season placing sixth overall in 20:10.
With regionals two weeks away, and nationals nine days after that, Washington is hands down the favorite to win the national title. Schaaf is looking like a force to place top three, while Lawrence and Babcock have proven time and again that they might push for a top ten finish. Campbell and Follett are all-Americans, so they'll be looking to finish higher than last year, while Miller is coming on strong at the right time of the season.
2. The University of Colorado men had never lost a Big 12 championship heading into Saturday's conference meet, but that all ended at the hands of Oklahoma State. Led by race winner German Fernandez, the Cowboys placed cour in the top five and seven in the top 18, running away from Colorado and winning 26-66.
For the first time this season Fernandez was allowed to break away from his teammates early on, as he ran away to a six second victory over Texas A&M's Shadrach Songok in 23:47. LSU transfer John Kosgei placed third for the team in 24:00, while senior leader Ryan Vail placed fourth in 24:01. The surprise of the day came from Fernandez' fellow freshman Colby Lowe, who finished strong by taking fifth overall in 24:05.
Time and again this fall OSU has shown they are one of the teams contending for the national title, with many considering them the favorites. However, their one low-light of the weekend was junior David Chirchir's 13th place performance. Earlier this season at the OSU Cowboy Jamboree, Chirchir ran stride for stride with Vail and Fernandez, but on Saturday he finished more than forty seconds back from Lowe. If Chirchir can move up and run with Vail and Lowe, OSU is going to be very hard to beat.
3. Two weeks ago the women of Florida State University headed into the Pre-National meet as the favorites to win their race and show that they are solid contenders for a top three finish at nationals. Despite front runner Susan Kuijken running away to a first place finish, the Seminoles finished in a tie with Princeton, showing weakness they hadn't shown yet this season.
On Saturday the squad redeemed themselves by quickly beating the competition at the ACC Championships, placing their entire top five in the top nine, while scoring 27 points. Runner-up Boston College finished 79 points back. FSU was led by Susan Kuijken's individual win, as she outkicked Virginia Tech's Tas Fanning to the line 20:11.0-20:11.6. North Carolina's Brie Felnagle finished third in 20:23.0.
At Pre-Nationals what hurt FSU was their lack of cohesion from 1-5. On Saturday the team ran a 48 second split off of perhaps the top runner at the NCAA level in Kuijken. With positive momentum now on their side as they head towards regionals, FSU is looking better than ever and ready to take on the other contenders for a top four finish at NCAA Nationals.
4. The German Fernandez show is stealing the national headlines this fall, as the Oklahoma State freshman continues to roll through his competition. While he has yet to square off against Liberty's Sam Chelanga and Oregon's Galen Rupp, many are betting that Fernandez will be in contention for the win come the last 1k of the race.
While Fernandez' performances are outstanding, two other freshmen have lit it up as well. Oregon's Luke Puskedra and Stanford's Chris Derrick, who placed fourth and second at last year's Foot Locker Nationals, came up big at the Pac-10 Championships by placing second (Puskedra) and third overall. While Oregon's Galen Rupp ran away from the competition, Puskedra and Derrick duked it out, with Puskedra pulling away over the final quarter mile to place second in 23:32, while Derrick took third in 23:38.
Both these athletes have shown this season that they are very capable to make a run at a top ten finish at nationals. And so I pose a question...when was the last time three American freshmen finished in the top ten at NCAA Nationals? Has it ever happened? Fernandez, Puskedra, Derrick and Lowe are each showing that they have the talent to compete at the NCAA level right now. What a day it will be in Terre Haute on November 24.
Galen Rupp hasn't lost a step since we last saw him in the 10,000m in Beijing (Spencer Allen)
5. The return of Oregon's Galen Rupp Friday afternoon at the Pac-10 Championships turned out exactly as many expected. Rupp showed why he was an Olympic team member, as he simply crushed the competition at the Pac-10 Championships. The senior gapped the field early, finishing 37 seconds ahead of runner-up and teammate Luke Puskedra in 22:55.
Early last week it was reported the Rupp ran the historic Oregon 30-40 workout, which had Steve Prefontaine being the all-time record holder of the event with five miles completed. Well, Rupp showed his fitness by completing six miles, which is simply incredible. With such stellar performances over the past two weeks, Rupp seems to be rounding into shape at the perfect time.
Many anticipated Liberty's Sam Chelanga as the pre-National favorite, but Rupp seems to be in much better form than he was in last season at this time when he went on to place second at NCAA Nationals.
6. #5 West Virginia v. #6 Villanova. That was the match-up in the women's race at the Big East Championships this past weekend, and it did not disappoint. Leading up to the meet many knew what to expect out of Villanova after they ran well at Pre-Nationals two weeks ago. However, West Virginia laid low leading up to the conference championships, electing to stay local rather than travel to Terre Haute.
With the stage set, both teams ran strong up top, with West Virginia placing three in the top four while Villanova palced four in the top nine. The final team scoring came down to Villanova's fifth besting WVU's 4-5, as Wildcat sophomore Sarah Morrison placed 17th to help Villanova to a 40-48 victory.
Individually up top WVU's Marie Loui Asselin beat 'Nova's Frances Koons to the line in the last 100m, winning by three seconds in 20:09. These two teams will undoubtably square off again, and next time the outcome could be different as these two teams are so evenly matched.
7. While Colorado and Arkansas (see below) ended their conference domination this past weekend, the men of Wisconsin kept their streak of Big Ten Championships alive at ten. Despite a sub-par performance from senior Matt Withrow (23rd overall), the Badgers placed five runners in the top 14, giving them a 40-57 victory over runner-up Michigan.
All season long Wisconsin has kept quiet, running smaller meets rather than Pre-Nationals and a few other more prominent invitationals. Conference is always their first major showing of the season as a full squad and they certainly didn't disappoint. Sophomore Landon Peacock came up big with a second place showing, while Christian Wagner and Jack Bolas placed fourth and seventh respectively. Stuart Eagon and Craig Miller placed 13th and 14th.
The X factors to Wisconsin's success this fall rest on the shoulders of Eagon and Withrow. Both athletes have been injury prone over the course of their careers, but always seem to come up big at nationals. If both can round into form over the next three weeks to be competitive for all-American finishes, the Badgers hope of a trophy finish become very real.
8. The Crimson Tide of Alabama stopped the glorious reign of Arkansas at the SEC Championships Monday, stopping the streak of 34 consecutive conference cross country championships. While many would rank this feat as perhaps the biggest news of the weekend, this was certainly seen very early in the year, as Arkansas has fallen from its perennial perch into the same league as the rest of the conference.
While Auburn placed three in the top four, Alabama placed five in the top ten, led by junior Tyson David, who finished second overall in 23:16. Alabama beat runner-up Auburn 32-62, while Arkansas placed third overall with 75 points. Alabama's key to success was fifth man Andrew Kirwa, who stepped it up and finished only ten seconds behind fourth man Abraham Kutingala. The split from David to Kirwa was a mere 37 seconds, which means Alabama is closing their 1-5 gap and should make a push for a top four finish at NCAA Nationals in three weeks.
9. With seven ranked teams in the top 21, the women of the Big Ten are quickly staking their claim as the powerhouse conference in the country. On Sunday those seven teams battled it out for top billing in the conference, making for quite the event. Once again the pack running tactics of the University of Minnesota prevailed, as they outkicked Wisconsin to the finish line 63-67.
The X factor for Minnesota was the finish of #2 runner Gabriele Anderson, who kicked past two Wisconsin runners in the final straight of the race to capture tenth place overall. Megan Duwell placed fourth overall for the Gophers and Amy Laskowske led their 3-5 runners in 14th place, while running a nine second 3-5 split.
Wisconsin performed quite good as well. Gwen Jorgensen has become a national top 15 type runner, finishing second for her squad in 20:27. Hanna Grinaker, Caitlin Comfort and Ashley Beutler each placed 11-15. Meanwhile, Michigan State placed third with 83 points and Illinois placed fourth with 101 points. Overall the Big Ten is looking strong heading into regionals and it would not be surprising to see seven teams at nationals.
10. The Portland Pilots continued to fly high at their conference meet, winning their 30th straight conference championship with a conference squad that certainly didn't have many of their top runners on it. However, unlike in years past, Portland did run their top guy, as David Kinsella won the individual title by nearly a minute.
Portland has been quiet this season, running in state and keeping a low profile. While the squad flashes signs of being a top five team, question marks remain as to just how good is this team. Kinsella gives Portland an obvious threat up top, as he seems to be rounding into top shape at the right time. This squad gets a major test in two weeks at regionals, where they'll face Oregon and Stanford among others.
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post comment
Girma
01:21, Tuesday, November 4, 2008
.. Posted by Anonymous
i dont see why people keep leaving out girma when talking about the best frosh in the nation. he just won a tough SEC conference and theres no reason why he shouldnt be mentioned with the likes of Derrick, Puskesdra, and Fernandez.
Untitled Comment
02:28, Tuesday, November 4, 2008
.. Posted by Anonymous
great article Scott--very thorough
Untitled Comment
03:47, Tuesday, November 4, 2008
.. Posted by Anonymous
Bob Kennedy won the NCAA title as a true freshmen. Do some research.
girma
04:16, Tuesday, November 4, 2008
.. Posted by Anonymous
Girma is not a true freshman age wise.
German
04:39, Tuesday, November 4, 2008
.. Posted by Anonymous
I do not think German was allowed to break away from his team early on rather he threw it down the last mile or so to erase a 50m or so deficit to win the race. We have yet to see the real German Fernandez.
Kipchumba
04:43, Tuesday, November 4, 2008
.. Posted by Anonymous
Alfred Kipchumba from Portland also deserves mention. He was 2nd at Dellinger ahead of Puskedra.
Goucher
01:44, Tuesday, November 4, 2008
.. Posted by Anonymous
Wasn't Goucher 2nd or 3rd as a true Frosh as well?
Puskedra/Derrick, Mesecho
02:16, Tuesday, November 4, 2008
.. Posted by Anonymous
"Puskedra and Derrick duked it out, with Puskedra pulling away over the final quarter mile to place second in 23:32"
This is completely untrue. Puskedra pulled away early in the race, then Derrick was closing in fast, running the last 2k 6 seconds faster than Puskedra. Extend the race to 10k and it looks like Derrick may have the edge. Top final splits:
6:17.81 Galen Rupp
6:22.27 Chris Derrick
6:24.39 Garrett Heath
6:26.57 Yosef Ghebray
6:27.83 Jake Riley
6:28.98 Luke Puskedra
Regarding Girma Mesecho, there is no shortage of non-American freshmen frontrunners in the NCAA. I think people are more excited about the athletes who will eventually represent the U.S. in World Championships and Olympics. However, while Mesecho is Ethiopian, he did attend high school in Lilburn, GA, placed 9th in the 2006 Footlocker Championships, and 9th at the 2007 NON 2 mile in 8:56. There is a chance he may be on the road to getting citizenship.
Freshmen
02:32, Tuesday, November 4, 2008
.. Posted by Anonymous
"when was the last time three American freshmen finished in the top ten at NCAA Nationals? Has it ever happened?"
It has never happened. Bob Kennedy did win, but that wasn't what the question. In 2001, Dathan Ritzenhein was 4th, Alan Webb 11th, Jason Sandfordt 32nd. Ryan Hall was a bit off that fall, in 76th.
This year's freshmen class will likely be the best ever, and not just the top 3 guys. There will probably be 5 in the top 30, and 12 in the top 100.
Husky Women
09:41, Tuesday, November 4, 2008
.. Posted by waterboarder
These gals are sick. Hell their 8th and 9th finished 23rd and 26th.
Washington fans have plenty to cheer about after what they accomplished at the Pac-10 Championships on Friday at Oregon (Spencer Allen) 
Galen Rupp hasn't lost a step since we last saw him in the 10,000m in Beijing (Spencer Allen) 