COLFAX, Wash. — For the seventh consecutive year, the University of San Francisco will have a presence at the NCAA Cross Country National Championships.
 
This time, it will be Aoibhe Richardson, who ran herself to an individual qualifying spot with a fourth-place finish at Friday's NCAA West Regional at Colfax Golf Course.
 
WOMEN
 
Richardson was part of the lead pack the entire race. She was less than 10 seconds behind race winner Ella Donaghu of Stanford (19 minutes, 50.8 seconds), as she finished in 20:00.5 over the 6-kilometer course.
 
"She's been running with the best women in the country every race this year," said San Francisco Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Pat McCurry. "Really, for us, for her to be able to battle with the BYU women at conference and then come here and battle with the Stanford and Washington women here is just, I mean those girls are all top-10-to-15 girls at the NCAA meet. It's a fabulous preparation for her going to Terre Haute."
 
Strong performances by other veterans helped carry the USF women to their fifth consecutive top-10 finish at the West Regional meet. Grad transfer Elissa Mann finished 44th in 20:57.0, and fellow transfer Anna Tait had a big race Friday as the Dons' No. 3 runner, placing 58th in 21:07.8.
 
"I feel really good about the day, really good about the women. Sophie (Soefeldt) struggled a little bit at the start, kind of got buried [in the pack], but she did a good job battling, and other than that the girls ran spectacularly," said McCurry. "Aoibhe was fabulous up front, Elissa and Anna were great at 2-3, and then for Eve Jensen and Abby (Pradere) to be 80th and 100th at this meet as true freshmen was really, really impressive.
 
Three rookies powered the second half of the Dons' scoring. The freshman Jensen finished 81st in 21:22.9. Pradere was just outside the top-100 in 105th (21:40.8), and Soefeldt finished 114th in 21:46.6. Senior Josien Scheepens was the Dons' No. 7 runner in 22:28.1 (170th).
 
MEN
 
The USF men earned a top-15 team finish Friday, placing 14th with 458 points, only four behind West Coast Conference foe Pepperdine. It was the program's sixth straight year finishing among the region's top-15 teams.
 
A great packing job by the Dons' top-three was led by Sam Stevens, who ran 31:08.7 across the 10 km course. Andy Snyder was the Dons' No. 2 runner, coming across the line in 31:24.1 (82nd). Daniel Maneloveg was right behind him, placing 83rd in 31:26.3.
 
"We're off in a couple spots [on the men's side] and we don't have the depth to withstand that very well, but great race from Sam and Daniel," said McCurry. "Really, we were so strong at 2-3-4."
 
Hugh Nicklason was USF's No. 4, running 31:49.8 (104th). Jacob Hernandez closed out the Dons' scoring as the No. 5 runner, placing 129th in 32:16.9. Freshman Caleb Haugland finished 140th with a time of 32:27.7 in his first career NCAA Regional meet, and fellow rookie Hiruy Alemseged was 190th in 35:22.9.
 
COMING UP
Richardson will compete as an individual in the NCAA Division I Cross Country National Championship on Nov. 23. Fans can find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.