University of Washington
NCAA Championships
Campbell, Follett Lead UW to 8th at NCAA Championships
November 19, 2007 | Cross Country
Nov. 19, 2007
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The Washington women's cross country team established a new high for the program today with an 8th-place finish at the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind. Junior Anita Campbell and sophomore Katie Follett both earned All-American honors, the first for UW since 2001.
In the previous 31 years of UW women's cross country, the Huskies' best finish was 9th-place in 1998. This year's team topped that effort by one spot this morning at the LaVern Gibson Championships Course. Stanford won the women's title for the third-straight year with 145 points, followed by Oregon with 177, and Florida State with 236. The Huskies were eighth with 358 points, one single point behind Northern Arizona (357) for seventh. Texas Tech's Sally Kipyego successfully defended her 2006 crown, winning the 6,000-meter race in a time of 19:30.
Campbell and Follett finished in matching times of 20:43, with Follett getting the slight edge at the end to place 19th while Campbell was 20th. They become the eighth and ninth women's All-Americans in Husky history, and the first since Lisa Gibbs in 2001. It is also the first time the Huskies have had two All-Americans in the same season. Furthermore, Campbell and Follett's performances were the first top-20 showings since Tara Carlson was 8th in 1995.
Next among Husky finishers was junior Amanda Miller, who placed 108th in a time of 21:36. Freshman Mel Lawrence was fourth for UW in 117th-place, clocking 21:42. Running fifth for the Huskies was senior Trisha Rasmussen, who placed 201st in her first NCAA Championships that doubled as her final run for the Dawgs. Junior Dani Schuster and freshman Lauren Saylor rounded out UW's top-seven.
"Honestly, the end result where we finished was good. It was our best finish ever, two All-Americans, that's great, but I think we could have been fifth and the opportunity was there to win a trophy," said 11th-year Head Coach Greg Metcalf. "But one thing that I've learned that NCAA meet is that crazy things happen. Overall, you walk out of there and the result was pretty good."
Campbell, the only Husky win NCAA experience after competing as an individual the last two years, improved her finish for the third-straight year. After finishing 94th as a freshman, and 89th as a sophomore, Campbell vaulted up to 20th, adding her first All-American honor to a season which already included first team All-Pac-10 honors and All-West Region. Follett's 19th-place run also capped a breakthrough season in which the sophomore jumped from 79th to 9th at the Pac-10's, and from 82nd to 7th at NCAA Regionals, becoming one of the nation's elite runners in just a year's time.
"Those two gals individually, that's the best one-two finish we've ever had at this meet, and it was great," said Metcalf. "We kind of thought coming in that's what they could do. Katie didn't even know that she finished in front of Anita until they announced it at the awards, she kind of turned and went, `What?!'
Washington will be poised for even greater things in 2008, as they return six of their top-seven, losing only Rasmussen.
"That was the one thing we talked about after the meet," Metcalf said. "The opportunity was there, but we hadn't been at the meet in two years, to come back and be eighth, we walked away and I said to our women next year we should be standing on the podium, we should win a trophy, and we have the ability to do that."
In the men's race, No. 1-ranked Oregon captured the team title, and Liberty's Josh McDougal won the individual crown. For complete results from the NCAA Championships, visit www.ncaasports.com.
NCAA Cross Country Championships
Terre Haute, Ind.; LaVern Gibson Course
Nov. 19, 2007
Women's Results (6,000m)
Individual Champion: Sally Kipyego, Texas Tech, 19:30.
Husky Finishers: 19. Katie Follett, 20:43; 20. Anita Campbell, 20:43; 108. Amanda Miller 21:36; 117. Marie Lawrence 21:42; 201. Trisha Rasmussen 22:26; 236. Dani Schuster, 23:07; 253. Lauren Saylor, 24:25.
