Sept. 29, 2012
STANFORD, Calif. -- The Cardinal once again dominated its home meet, sweeping both college races at the Stanford Invitational. The women showed a strong youth movement in a dominating win, while the men had some key returners step up and run well.
The Stanford women dominated the meet, scoring just 25 points and lapping the field. Adams State placed second, but was over a 100 points behind.
Kathy Kroeger cruised to her third-straight Stanford Invitational title, covering the 6,000-meter course in 20:13. Kroeger, who ran 20:06 in 2010 and 20:07 in 2011, now has three of the six fastest times all-time for the Cardinal on the Stanford Golf Course.
Finishing just behind Kroeger was freshman Cayla Hatton, who was the meet runner-up in 20:21. The highly touted frosh did not disappoint in her first race in a Stanford jersey.
Also finishing in the top five were Aisling Cuffe and Jessica Tonn. Cuffe was fourth in 20:26, while Tonn was fifth in 20:49 to give Stanford a very strong top four.
The final scoring runner for the Cardinal was Megan Lacy who placed 17th in 21:30. Lacy's teammate and fellow freshmen Rebecca Mehra was actually in front of her in 13th with a time of 21:25, but was not declared as part of the Stanford `A' team. Either way, the Cardinal fifth would have been a freshman.
Rounding out the top seven were Cami Chapus and Alli Billmeyer. Chapus was 54th in 22:11, while Billmeyer was 72nd in 22:22. Julia Foster also ran well, placing 45th in 22:01, but like Mehra was not declared as part of the `A' team.
On the men's side, Stanford won with 34 points, but D-II power Adams State was not far behind with 40. Joe Rosa led the Cardinal with a third-place finish as Stanford had four in the top 10.
John Gilbertson won the 8,000-meter race with a time of 24:07, while Rosa finished in 24:10. Miles Unterreiner placed fourth in 24:13, Benjamin Johnson was sixth in 24:19 and Jim Rosa was ninth in 24:27.
Stanford's top runners ran in a pack for much of the race, but the leaders began to spread out over the final two kilometers. Michael Atchoo finished as the Stanford fifth man, placing 16th in 24:47.
Rounding out the top seven were Tyler Stutzman and Erik Olson. Stutzman was 19th in 24:52, while Olson was 23rd in 25:00. Stutzman was with the leaders for much of the way, while Olson hung back and finished strong.
All of the Stanford freshmen on the men's side ran unattached, but Thomas Graham would have factored into the Stanford scoring, placing 14th with a time of 24:42. Cameron Miller also ran well, placing 30th in 25:07.
Stanford will not race again until October 12, when it travels to the Wisconsin Invitational. The meet is expected to be the most competitive of the regular season with the top teams from around the country scheduled to be there.