Nov. 21, 2005
Terre Haute, In - Congratulations to the 2005 Stanford women's cross country team. Stanford is the 2005 NCAA Champion.
The Cardinal women won their third NCAA title in school history, and the second national championship in the last three years with a resounding victory on Monday at the 2005 NCAA Cross Country Championships over the LaVern Gibson Championship Course located at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center.
Paced by three Top 25 finishers for the Cardinal, Stanford totaled 146 points compared to runnerup Colorado with 181 points. Duke, ranked No. 1, fell to third place with 185 points. Rounding out the Top 5 was Arizona State (191 points) and Illinois (212 points). Entering the meet, Stanford had been ranked No. 2 in the country.
Once again, Stanford sophomore Arianna Lambie led the way to the Cardinal victory. Lambie gained All-American honors as Stanford's top runner with an eighth place finish over 6,000 meters (19:59.1). Lambie took the lead at 1,000 meters and maintained her lead at 3,000 meters. Johanna Nilsson of Northern Arizona eventually won the competition in a time of 19:33.9. As a team, Duke was leading in the race at the halfway point while Stanford was second and Pac-10 rival Arizona State in third place.
"It was a gutsy race by Stanford," said Lambie. "I'm still emotional right now. We put so much heart into the season. It was the toughest race we have ever won."
This certainly has been a championship season for Stanford women's cross country. The Cardinal women competed in seven races and won all seven races including the NCAA West Regional title, the Pac-10 Championship, and now the NCAA title. Head coach Peter Tegen and his assistant, Ashley Cooper, both in their first year on the Cardinal coaching staff, were impressed with the team's efforts in 2005.
"This is a tight-knit team, and we have a good front runner in Arianna," said Tegen. "We didn't know what to expect watching the end of the race. Our order was topsy-turvy throughout the race. It's thrilling knowing that everybody will be back next year."
The Cardinal men, ranked sixth in the nation, finished sixth with a team score of 231. Wisconsin, which had earned the No. 1 ranking through the 2005 season, didn't disappoint as the Badgers easily ran to the NCAA title with 37 points, 68 points better than second-ranked Arkansas. Notre Dame (178 points), Iona (205 points) and Colorado (222) rounded out the Top 5. Stanford was the highest placing Pac-10 team that competed. Arizona finished tenth (384 points), Arizona State was 17th (465 points) and Washington finished 27th (556 points).
Stanford sophomore Neftalem Araia was Stanford's top finisher in eleventh place to earn All-American honors for a second straight season. Araia ran the 10,000 meter course in a time of 29:51.6, just behind Arizona's Robert Cheseret who ran 29:50.6. Simon Bairu of Wisconsin won the individual title in a time of 29:15.9. Three Wisconsin runners finished in the Top 10.
"I'm really proud of the team," said Araia. "The conditions were more favorable to run this year than last. We ran really tough."
Complete results are available at www.indstate.edu/athletic
Cardinal Catalogue: Race conditions were partly sunny and 40 degrees at the start ... This was the 12th straight season that the Stanford men's cross country has finished sixth or better at the NCAA Men's Championship ... Last year, the Cardinal also finished sixth.
Men's Team Results (31 teams)
1. Wisconsin 37; 2. Arkansas 105; 3. Notre Dame 178; 4. Iona 205; 5. Colorado 222; 6. Stanford 231; 7. Texas 272; 8. Oklahoma State 355; 9. Portland 372; 10. Arizona 384
Men's Individual Results (10,000 meters, 253 runners)
1. Simon Bairu (Wisconsin) 29:15.9; 2. Richard Kiplagat (Iona) 29:21.9; 3. Chris Solinsky (Wisconsin) 29:27.8; 4. Josh Mcdougal (Liberty) 29:32.6; 5. Westly Keating (Texas-Pan American) 29:38.1; 6. Josh Rohatinsky (BYU) 29:40.2; 7. Josphat Boit (Arkansas) 29:49.1; 8. Kurt Benninger (Notre Dame) 29:50.2; 9. Matt Withrow (Wisconsin) 29:50.7; 10. Robert Cheseret (Arizona) 29:50.8
Stanford Runners: 11. Neftalem Araia 29:51.6; 54. Jonathan Pierce 30:34.1; 80. Jacob Gomez 30:49.0; 83. Brett Gotcher 30:53.2; 84. David Vidal 30:53.5; 85. Garrett Heath 30:53.6; 101. John McGuire 30:58.2;
Women's Team Results (31 teams)
1. Stanford 146; 2. Colorado 181; 3. Duke 185; 4. Arizona State 191; 5. Illinois 212; 6. Michigan 250; 7. Notre Dame 252; 8. Brigham Young 288; 9. Minnesota 361; 10. Oklahoma State 377
Women's Individual Results (6,000 meters, 253 runners)
Johanna Nilsson (Northern Arizona) 19:33.9; 2. Caroline Bierbaum (Columbia-Barnard) 19:46.0; 3. Stephanie Madia (Notre Dame) 19:48.4; 4. Victoria Mitchell (Butler) 19:50.4; 5. Clarra Horowitz (Duke) 19:50.7; 6. Keira Carlstrom (American) 19:58.1; 7. Christine Bolf (Colorado) 19:58.8; 8. Arianna Lambie (Stanford) 19:59.1; 9. Liza Pasciuto (Colorado) 20:01.2; 10. Cack Ferrell (Princeton) 20:03.1
Other Stanford Runners: 20. Katy Trotter 20:18.4; 25. Lindsay Flacks 20:24.6; 47. Lauren Centrowitz 20:39.4; 92. Teresa McWalters 21:03.2; 120. Katie Harrington 21:17.8; 129. Amanda Trotter 21:21.9