Five Washington runners earn All-America honors at NCAA XC Champs in Tallahassee...
TALLAHASSEE, Florida--Lake Stevens native Taylor Roe of Oklahoma State finished fifth at the NCAA cross country championships at Apalachee Regional Park to lead Washington affiliated collegians across the line Saturday morning.
Roe, who finished second in the delayed 2020 championships on her home course in Stillwater in March, ran 19:34, after spending the first half of the 6k race stuck in the high 20s before moving up some 20 places in the last three kilometers. She led Oklahoma State to a 13th place team finish.
Markezich, who attended the Bear Creek School and finished second last week in the Great Lakes regional race, ran 19:38. She finished two places behind her teammate and regional champ Maddy Demmer, as the Irish finished fifth in the team championship.
Washington's Allie Schadler earned her second straight All-America certificate with her 25th place finish to lead the number 23 ranked Huskies to a 11th place finish, running 19:50.
Schadler worked her way from 69th place at the 1170m mark to cross the line one position better than her 26th place finish in the 2020 championships in March.
Behind Schadler for the Dawgs were Haley Herberg in 72nd in 20:27, Sophie Cantine in 102nd in 20:32, Madison Heisterman in 114th in 20:35, and Naomi Smith finished 127th in 20:39 to round out the five scorers.
Washington worked their their way as a group from the high teens past the 1k mark, as only two Huskies were even in the top 100.
"It was really a pretty good day," said UW director Maurica Powell. "Even though we were ranked 23rd, we thought we could be top-10 and we came up just short. The attitude and the effort were on point and they kept battling the whole way. We are healthy and I think it sets us up really well for track season."
"Schadler probably had the best race of her career. She ran great not far off the leaders. Haley got off the line poorly and never got good positioning but she didn't ever give up, she kept scraping, and I think she showed her character to fight for her teammates today. Sophie and Madi and Naomi were all right about where I thought they'd be, so good, solid runs by those women."
Former Seattle Pacific standout Kaylee Mitchell of Oregon State, who was an All-American last season, finished 77th in 20:21, while Gonzaga's Kristen Garcia finished 90th in 20:27 in her second straight appearance in the national championships.
Brigham Young's Whittni Orton surged over the last half mile to win the individual championship, running 19:26.
North Carolina State, the nation's number one team going into the national championships, won the team title with 84 points, as all five scorers finished inside the top 35.
BYU finished second with 122, followed by New Mexico at 130, and Colorado at 187 to round out the podium finishers.
 |
| Brian Fay of Washington and James Mwaura of Gonzaga (Abdullah Khawaja/Lumen Global photo) |
In the men's 10k championship, Gonzaga's James Mwaura was the first Washington runner across the line, as the Lincoln/Tacoma grad earned his first All-America certificate, finishing 36th in 29:30.
Washington grad transfer Brian Fay finished 38th in the same time to also earn All-America honors, which go to the top 40 finishers.
While the Huskies started off well as a team, placing themselves in seventh at the 2000 meter mark, they could not hold their position as the race progressed.
Washington, the nation's 12th ranked team entering the championships, finished 13th with 373 points, while Gonzaga, who was ranked number 21 after the regionals, finished 26th with 612 points.
After Fay, Tibs Proctor was the Huskies' number two finisher, as the former All-American was 75th in 29:59. He was followed by Canadian grad transfer Kieran Lumb, who was 87th in 30:06. Lumb hit a rough patch between 6 and 8k, losing 76 places, before making up 45 places in the last two kilometers.
Joe Waskom was 99th in 30:10, and Leo Daschbach was the last scorer for Washington in 134th place in 30:29, giving the Huskies a 59-second 1-5 split.
Behind Mwaura's 36th place finish, Kyle Radosevich was 59 seconds back in 30:29 to finish 133rd. Cullen McEachern was 145th in 30:34, followed by Riley Moore in 179th in 30:59, and Jake Perrin in 233rd in 32:03.
Gonzaga men's coach Pat Tyson said that Mwaura fell down in the first 50 meters of the race, and spent a better part trying to work his way into a position to earn an All-America berth.
"James is the low stick -- he's steady. I don't think he's really satisfied with his place today, you know, and he was hoping, hoping for a top 10 finish, but hey, he struggled early falling down, came back, and still made it. That is a feat in of itself."
"Incredible run by James to come back from the fall and win AA! Tough day for Wil, he will be back. Cullen and Kyle ran their hearts out! Riley too! Perrin and Bates wanted more! Probably not the result as a team we were hoping for, but proud of them for moving up a couple spots in the last K."
Among notable Washington runners in the race, Gig Harbor's Bradley Peloquin of the University of Portland was 149th in 30:36, and Washington State's Amir Ado was 195th in 31:07.
Former Husky Cruz Culpepper, who transferred to Mississippi after his freshman year, did not finish.
BYU's Conner Mantz successfully defended his national championship, surging over the last 600 meters to win in 28:34. Northern Arizona defended as national team champions with 92 points, as all five scorers placed inside the top 40. They were followed by Iowa State's 137, Oklahoma State's 186, and Arkansas with 195.
From a team standpoint, both Husky squads improved on their finishes from the 2020-21 championships, which were held in March due to the pandemic. Last time out the women were 13th, and improved to 11th. The men moved up from 25th in the spring to 13th. The last time both UW teams were in the top-15 was 2018 when the men were sixth and the women were ninth. Prior to that the Dawgs did it in 2015, but from there it's all the way back to 1989 to find the next pair of top-15 finishes.
The link to complete results is available here.
MONAGHAN EARNS D3 ALL-AMERICA HONORS
At the NCAA Division III championship race in Louisville, Kentucky, the University of Puget Sound's Colin Monaghan (photo courtesy UPS Athletics) finished 34th in the men's 8k race to earn All America honors.
Monaghan, a senior from Puyallup, ran 24:20, as John Carroll's Alex Phillip won the race in 23:28.
Monaghan becomes the first UPS runner to earn All-America honors since 2009, when Francis Reynolds earned that honor.
The link to complete results is available here.
NOTE: The USTFCCCA and the sports information offices of Florida State University, the University of Washington, Gonzaga University, Washington State University and the University of Puget Sound contributed to this report.
paulmerca.blogspot.com may receive a commission for any purchases made from links clicked. Please support this site and our sponsors by clicking on the links.
Comments