University of Washington
NCAA Championships
Cross Country Takes 16th At NCAA Championships
November 22, 2010 | Cross Country
Nov. 22, 2010
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - With winds whipping across the LaVern Gibson Championship Course, the Husky women's cross country team had a tough finish to the 2010 season, finishing 16th overall at the NCAA Championships. The were right with the other West Region teams they have battled over the past month, but none of the four Pac-10 squads ranked in the Top-10 coming in were able to crack the Top-10 today.
Washington, the West Region Champions, got out slow over the 6,000-meter course. The Huskies had been building momentum in the previous two postseason races, moving from 20th to fourth in the national rankings on the heels of strong runs at the Pac-10 and West Region Champoinships. But the intense team battles from those races may have taken a toll on the conference as a whole.
Freshman Katie Flood was the top UW finisher in her first national meet, placing 78th overall in a time of 21:11. Senior Mel Lawrence and redshirt freshman Justine Johnson crossed together in 101st and 102nd places, respectively. Junior Christine Babcock was the fourth Husky to finish in 21:25, good for 114th place. Sophomore Lindsay Flanagan completed the Husky team score as she finished 160th. Senior Kailey Campbell was close behind in 171st place and freshman Liberty Miller was 238th.
Flood was still sixth out of all Pac-10 runners, the same spot she was at the conference championships, but the Pac-10 was not up where most predicted it would be.
No. 1-ranked Villanova repeated as team champions, but it was a much closer result than a year ago. Villanova scored 120 points to hold off Florida State which scored 154. Texas Tech was third with 165 followed by Georgetown (167) and New Mexico (227) in fourth and fifth. The top West Region team was Arizona, which finished in 11th-place with 372 points. The Huskies scored 413 total, finishing out of the Top-10 for the first time since 2006, coming in 16th out of 31 teams. Sheila Reid of Villanova was the individual winner in a time of 20:06, a very slow time due to the windy conditions.
After a national title in 2008 and a third-place finish in 2009, the Huskies were definitely aiming for another top-four finish that would earn a spot on the podium.
"Coming in here, I think on a good day we could have scored under 200 points," said Greg Metcalf, the West Region Women's Coach of the Year. "It was out slow and we just were on the wrong side of it. When it breaks up and everyone's accelerating, then you're not getting by people like you should. We just didn't feel like ourselves today. We ran great at the last two races and then just didn't have much gas left today."
All-Americans a year ago, Lawrence and Babcock did not have full offseasons of training as they recovered from injuries. Without the two, UW could not have won a third straight West Region title, but neither were their usual selves today, just nine days after the hard run at Regionals. Campbell also was affected by an achilles injury since Pre-Nationals, but ends her outstanding UW career as an All-American on the track and two-time All-West Region performer in cross country. Lawrence will still have two full track seasons remaining.
"We'll return lots of pieces, walk away from this and learn," said Metcalf. "Katie, Justine, Libby, and Lindsay had never run at the NCAA meet before and for most runners it takes getting some experience to run well here. But I'm proud of our young women. We were dead at the Pre-National Meet, and came back to life."
The Husky distance runners will be back in action starting in January as the indoor track season begins with another slate of outstanding meets at UW's Dempsey Indoor.
Washington Cross Country
NCAA Cross Country Championships
November 22, 2010 - Terre Haute, Indiana
LaVern Gibson Championship Course
Women's Race (6,000-meters)
Team Results (Top-20):
Individual Champion: Sheila Reid, Villanova, 20:06.
Husky Finishers: 78. Katie Flood 21:11; 101. Mel Lawrence 21:20; 102. Justine Johnson 21:21; 114. Christine Babcock 21:25; 160. Lindsay Flanagan 21:48; 171. Kailey Campbell 21:56; 238. Liberty Miller 23:04.
Players Mentioned
