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Sept. 23, 1997
Cardinal Hosts 24th Annual Cross Country Invitational
The 24th annual Stanford Cross Country InvitationalSaturday, September 27, 1997
Stanford Golf Course - 2nd tee
11:10 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. - High School Races4:00 p.m. - University Women Collegiate Section4:25 p.m. - University Women Championship Invitational4:55 p.m. - University Men Championship Invitational5:30 p.m. - University Men Collegiate Section
Cardinal Corner
More than 4,000 college, university and high schoolathletes will compete throughout the day. The races start and finish at thesecond hole at the Stanford Golf Course. The women's championshipinvitational at 4:25 p.m. will feature three teams in the top ten (#1Stanford, #2 Brigham Young, #8 Georgetown) and several of the topindividual runners in the country. Stanford brgins a brigade of veteran andyoung runners, including Mary Cobb, Sally Glynn, Sarna Renfro and freshmanJulia Stamps. Cobb is the Stanford record holder on the course, running17:10 over 5,000 meters at the Stanford Invitational. At last year'sStanford Invitational, BYU's Courtney Pugmire finished second behind UCLA'sKim Mortensen (ran 16:52. second all-time on the Cardinal course). KortneyDunscombe and Cobb placed third and fourth in the race. BYU has anabundance of talent and depth to push Stanford at the finish line. TheHoyas of Georgetown are perennial contenders and will be again this yearthanks to senior All-America Kate Landau and freshman Kristin Gordon, lastyear's Footlocker high school national champion. From the Pac-10, look fortough individual competition from Arizona State and California runners.Vanderbilt and Kansas will give this year's meet a true championshipflavor. The women will race over 5,000 meters, and the outcome of the meetwill not be clear until each team's fifth runner crosses the finish line.The women's collegiate section race will be held at 4:00 p.m.
Cardinal Catalogue
The collegiate men's championship invitational willagain feature several top teams and individual runners. Stanford capturedthe team title last year. The Cardinal, the 1996 NCAA champion, returnsthree All-American runners, Brad and Brent Hauser, and Nathan Nutter.Nutter placed the Cardinal to victory at last year's Stanford Invitational,recording a third place finish. Brad Hauser has the third-best time on theStanford course, recording a 23:56 at last year's Pac-10 Championship, anevent won by Stanford. With tremendous depth, Stanford appears the team tobeat. However, the big challengers will come from Brigham Young, Kansas,and Pac-10 rival UCLA. Other Pac-10 teams are Arizona State and California.The premier runner in this year's race is NCAA champion at 5,000 and 10,000meters, Mebrahtom Keflezighi of UCLA. The Bruin runner has always enjoyedgreat success on the Stanford course. Last year, Keflezighi took firstplace honors at the Stanford Invitational and the at the Pac-10's. In fact,the UCLA star set a Stanford course record with a time of 23:45 at theconference meet. Also look for great competition from such schools as UCDavis, Fresno State, UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly SLO. The men'scollegiate section starts at 5:30 p.m.
Media Memo
Stanford will be the host for the Pac-10 Cross CountryChampionship on Nov. 1, and the Pac-10 Track & Field Championships on May23-24.