University of Washington
Pac-12 Championships
Huskies Post Matching Fourths At Pac-12 Champs
October 31, 2014 | Cross Country
2014 Pac-12 Cross Country Championships
October 31 - Oakland, Calif. - Metropolitan Golf Links
Pac-12 Networks will air both races this Monday, Nov. 3, at 6:00 pm PT and 6:30 pm PT
Maddie Meyers post-race with Flotrack
Women's Results | Men's Results
OAKLAND, Calif. – Constant rain and winds proved to be fitting conditions for the Husky cross country teams to turn in a pair of impressive performances today at the Pac-12 Championships at the Metropolitan Golf Links. The Huskies ran to fourth-place in both the women's and men's races, finishing in the upper echelon of the nation's elite conference, and narrowly missing a couple big upsets. Junior Maddie Meyers was the individual standout with a fifth-place finish in the women's race.
The 12th-ranked Husky men had their best finish at Pac-12s since 2009, also the last time UW would reach the NCAA Championships. Aaron Nelson and Tyler King finished 11th and 12th, respectively, to lead the charge, as Washington made a push and held second-place halfway through the 8,000-meter race, but was passed by second-ranked Oregon and ninth-ranked Stanford, settling for fourth.
With 87 points, the Huskies finished way ahead of the team ranked right in front of them, as 11th-ranked UCLA was fifth with 168. Top-ranked Colorado won a fourth-straight team title with 30 points, followed by Oregon with 57 and Stanford with 60.
“Our men were hearing team scores early and I think they got a little fired up, and moved just a little early, but we beat No. 11 UCLA, and Oregon, Colorado and Stanford are three of the best teams in the country, and today we got closer,” Head Coach Greg Metcalf said post-race. “Tyler, that was his best race as a Husky, and Aaron is just a study in consistency for us. It was a really nice, tough effort from our men; I was proud of them.”
In the women's 6,000-meters, third-ranked Oregon had a good pack from sixth to 15th to win with 54 points. No. 11 Stanford took second with 74, and seventh-ranked Colorado was third with 82 points. Washington, ranked 17th coming in, was just 11 points behind the Buffs in fourth with 93 points. A big gap followed behind the Huskies, with 29th-ranked UCLA fifth with 143 and No. 22 Arizona State sixth at 158 points.
Meyers had a breakout day on the conference stage, as the Seattle native ran confidently with the leaders throughout. She was running third with about 400-meters to go, before getting caught right near the finish line to drop to fifth. Still, it's the best individual finish by a Husky since Katie Flood won the title in 2011. Meyers finished in 20-minutes, 21-seconds, and climbed into the top-five after finishing 40th just one year ago.
The Huskies had an entirely new top-five on the women's side compared to last year's third-place finish. Freshman Anna Maxwell had a big top-20 showing in her first conference meet, taking 17th in 20:40, and right next to her was sophomore Kaylee Flanagan in 18th in a matching time. Junior Eleanor Fulton earned the second top-25 finish of her career but first since 2011, as she was 22nd in 20:50. If Meyers' one-year jump was impressive, Flanagan's was sensational, as she was 90th last year, a 72-spot improvement, and Fulton also went from not finishing the 2013 race to the top-25 today.
“Every time Eleanor has a successful racing experience it makes her that much better each time out,” said Metcalf. “She was moving fast down the stretch. And Kaylee, a year ago she was practically last place, and she was not in a good state of mind, so for her to go out and run how she did today was a big gold-star for her development and improvement.”
Capping the scoring for the women was another true freshman, Anastasia Kosykh, who placed 33rd in a time of 21:07. A Sammamish native and Eastlake H.S. product, Kosykh was just 38th at the Washington state cross country meet last year, and now has finished higher in one of the deepest college conference races. Redshirt freshman Kelly Lawson was right behind Kosykh in 21:15 for 36th-place, while junior Erin Johnson ran at her first Pac-12 cross country race since 2011, and had a strong 40th-place finish in 21:18.
Jenna Sanders also had a 47th-place finish in her Pac-12 debut, and freshman Megan Beauchene placed 85th in 22:02.
“I think our women, the goal every week is to get a little better, and I think they're doing that right now,” said Metcalf. “Today, we thought maybe we could beat one team and finish in the top three, but our team collectively ran pretty well today. They continue to build confidence and I love where they're at right now. Maddie lost a couple spots in the homestretch, but with a kilometer to go I thought she had a shot against one of the favorites for the NCAA title. That's another fantastic race by Maddie.”
The men's race started to play out after the first 2k was in the books, with the Huskies sticking close together in the pack and beginning to move up along the outside. Halfway through the race, the Huskies had jumped the Ducks and Cardinal and were sitting in second-place, with Nelson, King, Colby Gilbert, and Meron Simon all in the top-20. But Oregon and Stanford rallied to edge past the Huskies in the second half.
Nelson finished 11th in 23:59 after taking eighth a year ago. Illustrating the depth of the field, Maxim Korolev, who won the huge Wisconsin Invitational two weeks with Nelson finishing third, was ninth today in 23:56.
King had his best race as a Husky, finishing just a second behind Nelson for 12th-place in 24:00. King had run well at this race, finishing 22nd in 2012 and 31st last year, but should earn his first All-Pac-12 honor with the effort today.
Washington was able to get its entire top-five into the top-25, with redshirt freshman Colby Gilbert taking 17th in 24:11, chased by junior Meron Simon five seconds back in 22nd-place, and junior Izaic Yorks crossing in 24:19 for 25th-place. Those were career-best finishes for all three a Pac-12s.
Redshirt freshman Johnathan Stevens had a breakthrough race, running in the top-seven for the first time, charging hard down the stretch to take 40th in a time of 24:43. Redshirt freshman A.J. Yarnall came in 49th and true freshman Fred Huxham was 51st in his official UW debut. Sumner Goodwin also finished 62nd and junior Jacob Smith was 70th.
The Huskies will come back to the Bay Area now in two weeks for the NCAA West Regional Championships, hosted by Stanford on Nov. 14, where both squads will look to power their way to the NCAA Championships on Nov. 22.
Players Mentioned
