Evans Kurui of WSU hangs on to earn All-America medal at NCAA D1 cross country champs...
VERONA, Wisconsin--Washington State freshman Evans Kurui (Paul Merca photo) ran an aggressive race, taking the lead through the first 3 kilometers of the race, and ultimately finished 36th to earn his first All-America medal at the NCAA Division I men's and women's cross country championships hosted by the University of Wisconsin at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course Saturday morning.
The Kenyan positioned himself near the front of the pack and took the lead before the 3000 meter mark, which he crossed in a blazing 8:36.
At the halfway point, Kurui found himself in seventh, going through 5k in 14:32, as many of the contenders, including eventual champion Graham Blanks of Harvard put themselves at the front.
Kurui dropped fifteen places in the next kilometer that featured two climbs in a span of three kilometers. At the 8k mark, he found himself in 27th place.
Despite his aggressive front running, Kurui managed to hang on to finish in 36th place, four positions inside All-America honors, as he clocked 29:24 over the 10k course.
The last Cougar to earn All America honors was Michael Williams in 2016, who finished 30th in Terre Haute.
The Washington men finished in 16th position, which was a bit of a disappointment after entering the meet ranked number 12.
Nathan Green, in his NCAA cross debut, continued his season-long trend of powerful closing kicks. The 2023 1500m national champion gained a whopping 50 places over the final 2k, including 38 spots in the last kilometer alone. He finished 54th in 29-minutes, 34-seconds for the 10k.
Sophomore Tyrone Gorze was 84th in his first NCAA meet in 29:49, and sophomore Evan Jenkins was 103rd at 29:57, also in his NCAA debut. They combined to gain 25 places over the final kilometer. Leo Daschbach, the one Husky with NCAA experience, placed a career-best 117th as the fourth Husky finisher in 30:00. Ronan McMahon-Staggs came up big to cap the scoring with a 164th-place finish in 30:24.
The Huskies had a 1-5 split of 49 seconds.
Gonzaga's Wil Smith, competing in his fifth NCAA title race, finished in a career high 59th place in 29:37.
According to Gonzaga coach Pat Tyson, "Wil ran a near perfect race! He is disappointed in that last K, (but) could not make that last move that would bring him into the top 40."
Graham Blanks of Harvard won his second career NCAA cross country crown, running 28:38.
Brigham Young hung on to win the men's team title with 124 points, outlasting Iowa State's 137, with third ranked Arkansas third at 202, and number seven Wisconsin fourth with 212 points.
WOMEN'S RECAP...
Sixth ranked Washington, which had aspirations of contending for a trophy, did not have the race many experts hoped to have, finishing 13th with 364 points.
At the 2k mark, the Huskies found themselves in 15th place, with a lot of room to make up over the next 4 kilometers.
The Huskies were stuck in 15th at the 4k mark, with Maeve Stiles (Paul Merca photo) leading the way in 75th place.
Over the last 2k, the Huskies managed to make up 47 places.
Stiles led the way in 59th-place finish in a time of 20-minutes, 18-seconds for the 6k distance.
Julia David-Smith was the second Dawg to cross, placing 73rd in 20:25. Amina Maatoug was just 225th at the first 1k split but moved up 52 spots over the next kilometer, then continued to climb by at least 18 places every split thereafter to finish 98th overall in 20:32.
India Weir had her best NCAA finish, placing 113th overall in 20:38, and Sophie O’Sullivan capped the scoring, placing 135th in 20:46. The Huskies ran a 1-5 split of 27 seconds.
In their second ever team appearance at the NCAA championships, the women of Gonzaga replicated their 25th place finish in 2015.
Team leader Rosina Machu led the way for the Zags in 45th in 20:09.
Willow Collins was the second scorer for Gonzaga, placing 137th in 20:46. Jessica Frydenlund (166th, 20:55), Jade Rypkema (175th, 21:00), and Logan Hofstee (201st, 21:11) rounded out the scoring five on Saturday to sum the Zags' 574 team points.
Gonzaga finished with a 1-5 team split of 62 seconds.
Washington State freshman Zenah Cheptoo finished 47th, seven spots and four seconds short of All-America honors, running 20:09.
Like Kurui in the men's race, Cheptoo ran aggressively at the start, finding herself in 22nd place at the 2k, and 30th at the 4k checkpoint.
Alabama's Doris Lemngole ran away over the final 2k to take home the individual title in a time of 19:21.
Like their male counterparts, top ranked BYU took home the national championship with a score of 147 points.
Number four West Virginia was second with 164, followed by 11th ranked Providence in third with 183 points, and third ranked Northern Arizona finished fourth with 206 points.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The recap of the NCAA Division II championships from Sacramento will be posted later on this evening. Apologies for the delay, as we are in transit from the Division I championships.
NOTE: The USTFCCCA, NCAA, and the sports information offices of Gonzaga University, the University of Washington and Washington State University contributed to this report.
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