Posted: November 23, 2004

Athletics: Colorado Sweeps Team Titles At NCAA Harrier Championships

From David Monti

(c) 2004 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

By Mike Scott

NOTE: Complete results will appear in the next issue of Race Results Weekly --Ed.

TERRE HAUTE, IN (22-Nov) -- The University of Colorado Buffalos upset the fields in both the men's and women's races to sweep the team titles at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, hosted by Indiana State University here. Providence's Kim Smith and Wisconsin's Simon Bairu won the individual races with very different tactics.

In the women's race, Smith --a native of Auckland, New Zealand-- charged away from the field at the sound of the starter's gun.

"I wanted to go out hard from the gun," said Smith, "then relax a bit after the mile. I knew that I was fit -- my workouts are well ahead of where they were when I ran 15:09 last spring [in April at Mt. SAC]."

Smith, who passed the mile in 5:05, continued to expand her lead over challenger Renee Metevier from Colorado to 12 seconds at halfway (passed in 9:53) and to 18 seconds at the finish.

With her victory in 20:09, Smith concluded 2004 undefeated by collegiate competition -- winning the 3000m and 5000m titles at the NCAA indoor meet in collegiate records as well as the 5000m at the NCAA outdoor championships.

Colorado's Metevier, undefeated this season entering the championship, held on for second in 20:27.

"I planned to run strong and be smart early," reported Metevier. "I couldn't screw up with the team title on the line. I hoped to go out relaxed and try to close on Kim late in the race."

Behind Smith and Metevier, Columbia's Caroline Bierbaum broke away from the chase pack over the final stretch to steal third in 20:31. Most impressive about Bierbaum's "bronze medal" performance was that at mid-season, she wasn't even planning to compete.

"I was suffering from low iron and wasn't planning to run this fall," recounted Bierbaum, who had transferred to Columbia after a freshman year at Duke. "After I saw a hematologist and started taking iron, I ran a couple New York Road Runner's Club road races and ran fast enough that my coaches decided to have me race for the team."

BYU's Laura Turner finished fourth in 20:38, Pittsburgh's Maureen McCandless finished fifth in 20:39, and Yale freshman Lindsay Donaldson claimed sixth in 20:41.

Colorado's women, ranked only third in the final Finishlynx/NCAA Cross Country Coaches, dominated the team race over the second half of the race.

At halfway, the unofficial score had Colorado leading pre-race favorite Stanford 117-121. Over the second half, the Buffalo contingent steadily moved forward through the field so that at the finish, Colorado totaled a miserly 63-points, the second best women's winning team score (to BYU's 2001 squad) since the NCAA expanded the meet to it's current 31-team format.

Behind Colorado, fifth-rated Duke vaulted over the field to grab runner-up honors with 144 points ahead of second-ranked Providence's 164 points.

The men's individual race developed just the opposite of the women's race, with a tight pack led by Arkansas' Josphat Boit and New Mexico's Matt Gonzalez passing the 5-K in 15:17. Boit started to attack after the halfway mark, with Gonzalez, Wisconsin's Bairu, and Arizona's Robert Cheseret starting to break away around 7-K, with Cheseret dropping behind over the long uphill at around 7.5-K. Boit and Bairu passed 8-K in 24:32, with Gonzalez a step behind and dropping back and appearing to lose contact.

Bairu and Boit entered the homestretch matching strides, setting up a finish reminiscent of the 2002 homestretch battle between Colorado's Jorge Torres and Arkansas' Alistair Cragg. Bairu edged away over the final 400m, winning in 30:37.

"The plan was to stick with the pack for much of the race, then make one big push with 1-K to go," said newly crowned NCAA titlist Bairu, who hails from Regina, Sasketchewan. "Coming down the stretch I was too scared to look back to see how close behind they were."

Gonzalez sprinted past a fading Boit to grab second 30:41 to 30:42.

"It was a tactical mistake on my part to let Simon get too far out in front of me with 2-K to go," said Gonzalez. "I was under control out there and I tried closing on them but didn't have any more room."

In the team battle, favored Wisconsin dominated mid-race at 5-K, totaling 80 points ahead of Arkansas' 160 and Colorado's 225. However, Colorado started their traditional mid-race surge and closed dramatically over the second half. At 8-K, Wisconsin still led with 85 but Colorado had split their score in half to 121.

Colorado's Brent Vaughn and Bret Schoolmeester, who were running well back at halfway, charged home to claim fourth and fifth in 30:49 and 30:57 respectively and spark a CU upset.

The Buffalos scored 90 points to edge Wisconsin's 94, with Arkansas well back in third with 202.

"Before each race I formulate not expectations, but aspirations, for each runner," Buffalo mentor Mark Wetmore. "Four out of five of our men exceeded my aspirations."

With their double win, Colorado becomes only the third team to win both the men's and women's team titles at the same championships, joining the University of Wisconsin (1985) and Stanford University (1996 & 2003) in this elite group.

"I couldn't say that I expected to win both titles," said Colorado's Wetmore, "but I knew that it was within our reach."

Women's Championship:
Team: 1, Colorado 63. 2, Duke 144. 3, Providence 164. 4, Notre Dame 170. 5, Stanford 175. 6, Michigan 246. 7, Villanova 277. 8, Brigham Young 293. 9, Arizona State 333. 10, North Carolina 336.

1. Kim Smith, Providence (NZL), 20:09
2. Renee Metevier, Colorado, 20:27.
3. Carolina Bierbaum, Columbia, 20:31.
4. Laura Turner, Brigham Young, 20:38.
5. Maureen McCandless, Pittsburgh, 20:39
6. Lindsay Donaldson, Yale, 20:40
7. Carol Henry, North Carolina (CAN), 20:42
8. Marina Muncan, Villanova, 20:43
9. Angela Homan, Auburn, 20:44
10. Fiona Crombie, Providence (NZL), 20:46

Men's Championship:
Team: 1, Colorado 90. 2, Wisconsin 94. 3, Arkansas 202. 4, Butler 243. 5, Brigham Young 267. 6, Stanford 269. 7, Iona 279. 8, Arizona State 315. 9, New Mexico 330. 10, Cal Poly 333.

1, Simon Bairu, Wisconsin (CAN), 30:38. 
2, Matt Gonzalez, New Mexico, 30:41
3, Josphat Boit, Arkansas (KEN), 30:42
4, Brent Vaughn, Colorado, 30:49
5, Bret Schoolmeester, Colorado, 30:57
6, Simon Ngata, Georgia (KEN), 30:57
7, Benson Chesang, Kansas (KEN), 31:00
8, Nef Araia, Stanford, 31:05
9, Robert Cheseret (KEN), Arizona, 31:06
10, Rod Koborsi, Georgetown, 31:07