LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Stanford women’s cross country team placed fourth at the Pre-National Invitational on Saturday in a race held on this year’s NCAA championship course at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park.
Vanessa Fraser, a junior, finished 26th to pace the Cardinal, which scored 244 points and seemed to enhance its chances for an NCAA at-large berth if it doesn’t qualify automatically. No. 5 Michigan won with 131 points, followed by No. 2 Colorado and No. 4 Oregon.
No. 9 Stanford beat three ranked teams – No. 7 Georgetown, No. 25 Villanova, No. 27 Texas, and No. 29 Cornell. Stanford ran with nearly the same team that finished third at the Washington Invitational on Oct. 2, but was without that race’s winner, Aisling Cuffe, who didn’t make the trip because of an injury precaution, and Elise Cranny, who has yet to race this year as she works through an injury.
Fraser, a second-team outdoor track All-America last spring, clocked 20:32.1 to run No. 1 for Stanford for the first time in a competitive race. She also led the Card at the 2014 USF Invitational, but the team ran a controlled pace in that season-opener.
Sophie Chase, who finished No. 7 for Stanford last week, charged to second on the team, finishing 41st overall in 20:41.0. Stanford’s No. 3, for the second meet in a row, was freshman Hannah Long, in 49th in 20:45.6.
Molly McNamara was 68th in 20:57.7 and Julia Maxwell, a sophomore from Marin County, was Stanford’s No. 5 runner. Over the final half of the 6-kilomer (3.73-mile) race, Maxwell moved up 78 places and finished 79th overall in 21:01.2. It was Maxwell’s second consecutive top-five team finish. Last year, she ran in only one cross-country race.
Stanford next competes at the Pac-12 Championships, Oct. 30 in Colfax, Washington.
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Pre-Nationals
At E.P. Tom Sawyer Park
6K (3.73 miles)
Women
Team leaders – 1, Michigan 131; 2, Colorado 151; 3, Oregon 175; 4, Stanford 244; 5, Mississippi State 247.
Individual winner – 1, Erin Clark (Colorado) 20:00.5. Stanford: 26, Vanessa Fraser 20:32.1; 41, Sophie Chase 20:41.1; 49, Hannah Long 20:45.6; 68, Molly McNamara 20:57.7; 79, Julia Maxwell 21:01.2; 149, Danielle Katz 21:27.0; 221, Abbie McNulty 21:52.2.