By Scott Bergen, USFDons.com
(Palo Alto, CA) – The University of San Francisco men's and women's cross country teams took their second highest and highest finishes in school history at the 2011 NCAA West Regional at Stanford. The men were 15th and the women sixth in arguably the toughest region in the country.
USF's women entered the meet ranked No. 27 nationally and No. 5 in the West and were looking to secure an at-large bid into the NCAA Nationals. They placed 6th in a field of 31 teams, including six nationally ranked teams. The highest a Dons' women's team had ever finished previously was 7th in 2010.
Pac-12 Champion No. 6 Washington dominated the women's race, placing all five scoring runners among the top 14 overall. Arizona was second and the Huskies and Wildcats will represent the West as the two automatic qualifiers. The top two teams from each of the nine regions win automatic bids, and thirteen other teams receive at-large bids. USF, ranked in the West's top six throughout the season, is considered a "bubble" team for one of the at-large bids and the NCAA will officially announce the NCAA Finals field Sunday afternoon.
The Dons were once again led on the 6k course by newcomer Laura Suur, who became only the third USF runner in history to earn All-Region honors. Suur placed 25th in a time of 20:55. Finishing next for the Dons were Alice Baker (21:06, a personal best) and Sophie Curl (21:08) in 30th and 32nd places, respectively. Curl improved considerably on her 62nd place finish at the 2010 West Regional.
Chloe Treleven and Maor Tiyouri also dramatically improved from their 2010 placing. Treleven (21:18) finished 39th, improving from 92nd, and Tiyouri (21:24) placed 43rd, improving from 70th. Hayley Niles, competing in her first NCAA Regional, set her career best time at 22:05 and placed 89th. Kate Jamboretz also set her personal record at 22:35 and placed 128th in her first Regional.
"We were a little disappointed to not finish higher," said head coach Helen Lehman-Winters after the meet. "But I think that shows how good these women are – that our highest finish in school history and several personal bests didn't satisfy us. I think that we've shown all year that we deserve a spot at the National meet and I hope that we did enough today to guarantee it."
The men's race featured four teams ranked among the top 21 in the country as the Dons looked to hold onto their No 14 Regional ranking. Some bad luck trumped some exceptional performances and the Dons wound up finishing 15th, two places behind WCC Rival Santa Clara, whom the Dons bested two weeks ago at the WCC Finals.
Stanford's men, beaten by just 2 points in the 2010 West Regional by host Oregon, defending its own turf and took home top honors. The Cardinal held off Portland by just three points and placed three men in the top six. No. 6 Stanford and No. 8 Portland will represent the West with the automatic bids, and like in the women's division, several other schools are expected to win at-large bids.
Sophomore Jose Madera took his familiar spot at the front of the pack for the Dons, placing in a school record 26th place, just one second away from the school's first men's All-Regional selection. Previously, the Dons' best individual finish was Ganbileg Bor's 38th in both 2008 and 2009. Madera's 30:09 was also a 10k school record.
"Shoeless" Jeremy Grace ran a heroic race, finishing in 42nd (101st in 2010) in a time of 30:37 (1:10 faster than last year) despite running in only one shoe for over three-quarters of the race. Grace's heel was stepped on by another runner early in the race and he continued to complete the muddy, gravelly, grassy, wet course despite having lost the shoe.
Jesus Romo (31:44) was third for the Dons in 107th place in his first Regional meet. Jordan Baker (31:55) was 119th in his first, and Will Marquardt (31:57 – personal best 10k) was 121st, improving on his 131st finish in 2010. Jason Waldram (32:04) and Michael Barnes (32:19) were 126th and 137th, respectively, in their first trips to the Regionals.
"Jose had a great day and finished so strong," said Lehman-Winters. "If Jeremy hadn't lost a shoe, he might have finished much higher up and we'd be looking at matchup last year's [school record] finish. I think we know that even with these good races, we are still better than what we showed today."
NCAA Nationals are scheduled for Monday, November 21 at the Lavern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course just outside Terre Haute, Indiana.
