Sept. 24, 2011
STANFORD, Calif. - In its first major meet of the season, both Cardinal teams put on a dominating display in sweeping the Stanford Invitational. Individual champion Chris Derrick led the men on the way to 27 points and a 25-point victory over second-place UCLA. The women were paced by Kathy Kroeger who defended her Stanford Invitational title, leading Stanford to 24 points and a 114-point victory over second-place UC Davis.
Derrick ran with teammate Jacob Riley for most of the race as the duo ran an even pace and controlled the tempo throughout. Derrick finished in 23:15, which was actually 23:14.1, but is rounded up. The time is the best time ever by a Stanford athlete on the 8,000-meter course and fourth best by any athlete. Riley was not far behind, finishing in 23:21. The time was also a personal best and ranks eighth in course history and third by a Stanford athlete.
I thought it was a solid day," said associate head coach Jason Dunn. "We had some of the top guys open up and get a race under the belt and of course it is always nice to get the win, especially at home.
Also with impressive runs for the men were Erik Olson and Benjamin Johnson who placed fourth and fifth, respectively. Olson was edged by Jon Peterson of UC Davis for third, but was nearly able to hang with Riley to the finish. Johnson also ran with the leaders for most of the race, eventually finishing with a time of 23:48.
Completing the Stanford scoring was Tyler Valdes in 17th place. Valdes moved through the field and finished strong with a time of 24:27.
Travis Edwards and Kenny Krotzer completed the Cardinal top seven in 40th and 51st place, respectively. Edwards finished with a time of 24:50, while Krotzer crossed the line in 25:04.
Also running were heralded freshmen twins Joe Rosa and Jim Rosa. Jim would have been in the top five as he finished 13th overall, but both Joe and Jim were running unattached. Jim finished 41st in 24:52.
"I was definitely happy with the freshmen guys," said Dunn. "We still have three weeks until the next time they might race, so we have some more time to evaluate. It made sense to just have them run unattached today."
The men held out several experienced runners who are potential scorers. Those that were held out will run next week at Notre Dame. The team sent to Notre Dame will not be a true `A' team, but should be a highly competitive squad.
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Aisling<!> Cuffe finished as the runner-up to lead a talented Stanford freshmen class. |
The women were equally impressive and showed off its talented freshmen class to pick up the easy victory.
"The women's race went great," said associate cross country coach PattiSue Plumer. "Every single racer on our team did something well today. They might not have had the perfect race or put it all together, but every single person did something well. We executed the race plan, finished strong, overall I am very happy."
Kroeger repeated as the individual champion, running 20:07, one second off her time from last year. She pulled away from new teammate Aisling Cuffe on the final straightaway, but it was still an outstanding collegiate debut from Cuffe. The U.S. Junior Champion ran 20:12 to finish second in her first race on The Farm.
The next two runners from Stanford were also a blend of experience and youth. Fifth-year senior Stephanie Marcy placed fifth as the veteran moved through the field to finish strong as she has so many times before. Marcy ran a time of 20:34, which 17 seconds faster than freshman Molly McNamara who was eighth. The freshman finished in 20:51 in her collegiate debut.
Rounding out the top five was sophomore Jessica Tonn who placed 10th in 20:56. The freshmen sensation of a year ago continued her steady racing to put all five scorers in the top 10.
The rest of the top seven included another freshman, Alli Billmeyer, and senior Georgia Griffin. Billmeyer finished in 21:13, while Griffin stopped the clock at 21:27.
The impact of the freshmen is obvious for the Cardinal and with six of its top seven returning from last season, the women have a lot to be excited about.
"We had a great two weeks in Tahoe," said Plumer. "Honestly, I was a little nervous about having so many freshmen, but it worked out really well. Our upperclassmen embraced the freshmen and the freshmen were really receptive. Even though we have a bunch of stars, they were able to take on the role of a freshman. Sometimes some of those superstar freshmen will come in acting like they know everything and it be offensive to the upperclassmen, but it wasn't the case with this group. They have a great blend of talent and willingness to learn and it could not have gone better with how willing they were to listen to the upperclassmen. It's giving our team a great dynamic where the freshmen are allowed to grow, but they don't have to carry the load.
The women will not travel to Notre Dame and will next compete at Wisconsin on Oct. 14. Both the men and women will compete at Wisconsin this season instead of Pre-Nationals. The Wisconsin Invitational is expected to be the most competitive regular season meet of the year.