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By Bob Ramsak
While defending champions Wisconsin and Stanford return to Terre Haute, Ind. as the team favorites for Monday's NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, the races for individual titles appear to be entirely up for grabs.
Wisconsin, the men's defending champions, return as the top-ranked squad, led by senior Chris Solinsky. Third a year ago, Solinsky, the NCAA 5000m champion outdoors, is aiming to succeed former teammate Simon Bairu, who won his second straight title last year. Sixth at the Great Lakes regional last weekend, Solinsky was seventh at the Big-10 championships after a fall seven kilometers into the race. Five of Wisconsin's seven runners from last year's squad will return.
Josh McDougal, a junior at Liberty College, is also among the favorites for the individual title. 13th two years ago, McDougal improved to fourth last year, and in 2006 has claimed victories at the Griak Invitational and Pre-Nationals. His sole lose this year came to Kenyan Jacob Korir of Eastern Kentucky at last weekend's Southeast Regional Championships.
Irishman Martin Fagan of Providence is another favorite. 16th last year, The 23-year-old prepped with big wins at the Northeast Regional and Big East Conference Championships, and earlier last month won the Blue Division race at the Pre-Nationals.
Oregon sophomore Galen Rupp makes his first trip to the NCAA Championships, on the heels of his victory at the difficult PAC-10 Championships where he beat Arizona's Robert Cheseret [KEN], and a fourth place showing at the NCAA West Regional where he slipped late in the race.
After a low-key September, Mississippi freshman Barnabas Kirui has emerged as a threat. The young Kenyan first attracted attention with his victory at the Southeastern Conference Championships, and followed up with a solid win at the South Regional last weekend.
Colorado, the winners in 2001 and 2004, are ranked second in the U.S. Track & Field Coaches Association poll going into Monday's race, led by senior Billy Nelson and junior Brent Vaughn, eight and ninth respectively in their regional race last weekend. Arkansas, led by Australian Shawn Forrest, and Iona, led by sophomore Mohamed Khadraoui and junior Abraham Ng’etich of Kenya, are also expected to be in the team chase.
WOMEN -
Defending champions Stanford return with their entire seven-member squad from 2005, aiming for their third title in the past four years. The Cardinals are led by PAC-10 Conference and West Regional champion Ari Lambi. Eighth last year, the redshirt junior is looking to become the first individual winner ever for the Stanford women.
Arkansas is expected to give the Cardinals a fierce battle for overall honors. The Ladybacks dominated last weekend's South Central Regional race, with their first five runners taking spots 4,5,6,7 and 9, only nine seconds apart. While Arkansas doesn't rely on a strong No. 1, they've displayed solid pack running throughout the season.
Ranked No. 3, North Carolina State is led by Julia Lucas. Sitting out last year, Lucas returned this season with victories at the Pre-Nationals, the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, and at the Southeast Regional. The latter two featured a head-to-head battle with Michelle Sikes of Wake Forest, the other division winner at the Pre-Nationals: Lucas won both.
There is plenty of international flavor in the battle for the women's overall title, led by Texas Tech's Sally Kipyego. Undefeated in five races this fall, the 20-year-old [DOB 19-Dec-1985] Kenyan, a triple junior college national champion on the track last spring, has handled her opposition with dominance and grace. Beginning her season with a 30-scond victory at the Texas A&M Invite on September 16, Kipyego followed up with a 40-second win at the Murray Keating Invite and a 25-second win at the Chile Pepper Invitational in early October, before beating the fields at both the Big-12 and Mountain Regional races by nearly 45 seconds.
Iowa's Diane Nukuri, a junior from Pickerington, Ontario and a 2000 Olympian for her native Burundi, won the Midwest Regional title last weekend, while Florida State's Dutchwoman Susan Kuijken took the Mid-Atlantic Regional title.
The women's 6000m race begins at noon (EST) followed by the men's 10,000 contest at 1:15 p.m.
NOTE: RRW correspondent Mike Scott will file a report from Terre Haute on Monday afternoon.
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