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Stanford, Oregon take NCAA D-I XC titles
The Stanford University women successfully defended their NCAA Division
I Cross Country title, their fourth in the last five years, while the
University of Oregon took the men's team honors Monday at the 2007 NCAA
Division I Cross Country National Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana.
The event was hosted for the fifth time by Indiana State University at
the LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course.
Paced by Arianna Lambie's ninth-place finish, Stanford won their fourth
NCAA team crown with 145 points over runner-up University of Oregon with
177 points. Florida State University was third with 236 points.
Junior Sally Kipyego of Texas Tech ran away from the women's field to
win her second NCAA Cross Country title, running 19:30.9 for the 6 km
course to win by 16.9 seconds over Colorado junior Jenny Barringer, who
took the runner-up position for the second year. Sophomore Susan Kuijken
of Florida State finished third in 19:57.3 while Seniors Diane Nukuri of
Iowa and Nicole Bush of Michigan State rounded out the top-five in
20:07.0 and 20:13.4 respectively.
In the men's race, the University of Oregon men finished with an
impressive 85 points to win their first NCAA Cross Country title since
1978. Iona was second with 113 points and Oklahoma State took third with
180 points.
Liberty University senior Josh McDougal, along with pre-race favorites
Galen Rupp (Oregon) and Lopez Lomong of Northern Arizona University,
raced together through the first seven kilometers, when Rupp made his
bid to break the race open with only McDougal being able to answer the
call. With two kilometers remaining McDougal opened a 15-meter gap and
looked to be in the clear for his first NCAA title, but with 500 meters
remaining Rupp pulled even with McDougal as the two began the long kick
home. In the end, McDougal found one more gear and took the win in
29:22.4 for a one-second margin of victory.
Lomong managed to hold off a late-race charge from Villanova's Bobby
Curtis and Brent Vaughn of Colorado to finish third in 29:45.5, while
Curtis took fourth in 29:46.3 and Vaughn closed out the top-five in
29:47.4.
For more information on the NCAA Cross Country Championships visit
NCAASports.com.
Abilene Christian, Adams State win NCAA D-II Cross Country team crowns
Abilene Christian and Adams State were the respective men's and women's
team champions Saturday at the 2007 NCAA Division II Cross Country
Championships at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, Mo.
Nicodemus Naimadu became the first runner of any gender or division to
win a fourth-straight NCAA Cross Country title, leading the Abilene
Christian men to their second-straight Division II Cross Country team
crown, while the Adams State women won their fifth straight Women's team
title.
The women's race saw the Missouri Southern course record broken for the
second straight meet. In the 2007 Division II South Central Regional
held two weeks ago in Joplin, Abilene Christian freshman Winrose
Karunda, running in her first meet of the year, set the mark at 20:39
over the 6 km course. Seattle Pacific sophomore Jessica Pixler, however,
won her first national title and broke the course record with her time
of 20 minutes 29 seconds. Karunda was the runner-up in 20:42.
Pixler and Karunda were first and second, respectively in the individual
scoring. Adams State's Tanya Gaurmer was third, followed by Emporia
State's Janel Rossbach and Wayne State's (Mich.) Rachelle Malette in
fourth and fifth, respectively.
Adams State won its fifth women's team title in a row, defeating Seattle
Pacific by 115 points and had all five scorers in the top 24 and three
in the top 11. Grand Valley State finished third, followed by Chico
State, Cal. State Los Angeles, Western State, Abilene Christian,
Augustana, South Dakota and Tampa to round out the top ten women's
teams.
Abilene Christian repeated as champs in the men's race and defeated
second place Western State and Adams State, both of whom scored 66
points, by a margin of seven points. Grand Valley State was fourth,
followed by Minnesota State-Mankato, Chico State, Colorado - Mines,
Southern Indiana, Slippery Rock and New Mexico Highlands to round out
the top ten men's teams.
NYU, Amherst win NCAA D-III Cross Country team titles
New York University and Amherst College won the men's team title
Saturday at the 2007 NCAA Division III Men's Cross Country Championships
at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn.
NYU won the team title behind Hany Abdallah's sixth-place run. NYU had
all of its scoring runners in the top 40 and held off second place
Haverford by 22 points. Cortland State was third and Calvin fourth.
Wisconsin-Platteville's Tyler Sigl clenched his hands in victory as he
crossed the finish line in winning the individual competition in 24
minutes 24 seconds.
Willamette's Sarah Zerzan repeated as the individual champion, winning
the event by 23 seconds, topping her 20-second win margin from 2006.
Amherst, who finished second in 2006 by one point, won the women's team
title after placing three in the race's top 21 and all five scorers in
the top 42. Plattsburgh State was the runner-up behind sixth and seventh
place runs from Allison Busby and Toni Wiszowaty.
Malone College, Simon Fraser win NAIA team titles
Malone College (Ohio) placed three runners in the top 10 to capture the
2007 NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championship Saturday at Dr.
Wayne E. Dannehl Cross Country Course in Kenosha, Wisconsin. This is the
second national title for the Pioneers.
This year's favorite to win the championship, Malone finished with 59
points and defeated the runner-up Black Hills State (S.D.) by 144
points. The Yellow Jackets placed two runners in the top 15.
Lindenwood (Mo.) (211), Simon Fraser (B.C.) (228) and Cornerstone
(Mich.) (236) rounded out the top 5.
Aron Rono of Azusa Pacific (Calif.) crossed the finish line in 23
minutes 52 seconds to capture the individual title. A junior from
Kapsabet, Kenya, Rono won his first NAIA cross country championship
after finishing third last year. Ryan Kienzle of Malone finished second
while Noah Too of MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), the 2006 runner-up, placed
third. Aaron Melhorn of Malone and Henry Rop of Union (Tenn.) crossed
the finish line fourth and fifth respectively.
Simon Fraser (B.C.) defeated Cedarville (Ohio) by 46 points to win the
NAIA Women's Cross Country Championship for the fifth consecutive year
and 10th crown overall. Simon Fraser posted a score of 99 points while
Cedarville tallied 145 points and was runner-up for the second straight
season. Milligan (Tenn.) (163), Malone (Ohio) (164) and British Columbia
(227) completed the top 5.
Jaime Canterbury of Azusa Pacific won the individual title, finishing
four seconds ahead of teammate Jacky Kipwambok. Olivia Johnson of
Northwestern, Jessica Smith of Simon Fraser (B.C.) and Charity Miles of
Northwestern rounded out the top five.
Tyson Gay a finalist to become 'NEXT' big star
Three-time World Champion sprinter Tyson Gay is among five finalists in
ESPN's annual "NEXT" campaign. From now until Nov. 25, fans can go to
ESPN.com to vote for the athlete they believe will make the biggest
impact on the future of sports. The athlete with the most votes will
appear on the December 5 cover of ESPN The Magazine.
ESPN is seeking "the one guy who we think is just going to be so
exciting that you'll be talking about him all year long," said Alison
Overholt, a senior editor at ESPN the Magazine, " ... the guy who's so
electrifying that he makes you remember why you love watching sports."
This summer, Gay became only the second man in history to be crowned
World Champion at 100 meters, 200 meters and the 4x100-meter relay in
the same year. The fastest 100m-200m combination runner in history, his
time of 19.62 in winning the 2007 USA title ranks as the second-fastest
ever in the sport, behind only Michael Johnson - who has called Gay "the
Carl Lewis of his day."
"We really think he's going to be the story coming out of the Summer
Olympics," said Overholt.
Voting is under way at ESPN.com, where NEXT is featured as a rotating
element on its homepage. Or, go directly to www.espn.go.com.
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