Nov. 20, 2000
AMES, Iowa - The nationally-ranked Stanford cross country teams had a strong showing at the NCAA Cross Country Championships with the women's squad placing third and the men finishing fourth on Monday at the Iowa State University cross country course.
The Cardinal women took third with a team score of198 while Colorado won the event with a score of 117 and BYU placed second with a 167. Stanford entered the race as the No. 2 team in the country.
"If you look at both programs, there's no team that's stayed more consistent as we have over the year," said head coach Vin Lananna. "This is our fifth straight year since 1996 of winning a trophy (top 5). Regardless of the conditions and circumstances, the kids tend to come through."
The temperature in Ames, Iowa at the start of the women's race was 17 degrees with a wind chill factor of minus 17. By the end of the men's races there was some light snow while the wind continued to blow.
Sophomore Lauren Fleshman was the Cardinal's top women's finisher in 11th at 20:54.0 in the 6,000 meter race. Sophomore Erin Sullivan came in 25th at 21:18.9. The third Cardinal was Elena Villarreal who placed 58th in 21:37.0. Senior Julia Stamps was 88th running a 21:54.5 while the fifth and final Cardinal was sophomore Mariel Ettinger in 96th with a 21:57.2.
"The bottom line was is was really cold," said Lananna. "If you look at what the runners (Fleshman and Sullivan) actually did, they did a great job. And if you take a look at the third (Villarreal), she was just so cold. Julia Stamps was also only in her second race of the season."
On the men's side the Cardinal had a team score 149 for fourth place in the 10,000 meter race while Arkansas won the team title with 83 points. Colorado finished second with 94 and Providence College took third with 121. The Cardinal men also entered the race as the No. 2 team in the country.
"I think the guys ran really, really well," said Lananna. "They actually put six guys in the top 60 which is what we felt we needed to do. I think the conditions out there were very difficult. Our number four, five and six guys really did a great job and actually exceeded what they were supposed to do."
All five runners that scored for the men finished in the top 60 with Cardinal senior Jonathon Riley finishing 10th in a time of 30:40.6 to lead the squad. Senior Thomas Murley was a top 25 finisher as his time of 35:50.4 was good for 22nd place. Freshmen Donald Sage (49th) and Louis Luchini (53rd) clocked in a t 31:18.6 and 31:19.3 respectively. Seth Hejny was 59th in 31:23.8.
"Jonathon Riley is a four-time all-American and if you take a look at this consistency at NCAAs (23rd, 9th, 20th, 10th) those are impressive performances," said Lananna.
"Thomas has steadily performed well and improved over his four years," Lananna continued. "I'm very happy with both guys and they should be excited about what they've done."
NCAA Cross Country Championships Ames, Iowa
Women's Top Five Team Results (31 teams, 6,000m) 1. Colorado117 2. Brigham Young 167 3. Stanford198 4. Boston College214 5. Georgetown247
Stanford Individuals (253 individuals, 6,000m) 11. Lauren Fleshman20:54.5 25. Erin Sullivan21.18.9 58. Elena Villarreal21:37.0 88. Julia Stamps21:54.5 96. Mariel Ettinger21:57.2 115. Jillian Mastroianni22:06.2 217. Victoria Chang23:14.5
Men's Top Five Team Results 1. Arkansas83 2. Colorado94 3. Providence121 4. Stanford149 5. Wisconsin167
Stanford Individuals 10. Jonathon Riley30:40.6 22. Thomas Murley30:55.4 48. Donald Sage31:18.6 53. Louis Luchini31:19.3 59. Seth Hejny31:23.8 78. Ian Dobson31:33.7 251. Andrew Powell34:55.1