Huskies finish third at NCAA cross-country championships

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — The Washington women's cross-country team needed one more All-American runner to repeat as national champions, and Kendra Schaaf was one surge short of stealing the individual title.

The Huskies had four runners earn All-American status Monday by finishing among the top 40 runners at LaVern Gibson Championship Course, but "we were missing a piece today," coach Greg Metcalf said. Junior Lauren Saylor couldn't run due to a bout with mononucleosis.

Metcalf's top-ranked team settled for third place as No. 2 Villanova placed its five scoring runners in front of Washington's third finisher, Mel Lawrence, who was 27th among runners competing in the team competition. The Wildcats, winners of the program's NCAA-best eighth title, had a low score of 86 points to hold off second-place Florida State (133).

Washington finished with 188 points, only three ahead of fourth-place Texas Tech.

"The difference between an average race and a great race can be a lot because there's a lot of girls [at the NCAA championship]," said senior Katie Follett, who finished 21st. "It's just whoever has all cylinders firing on that day. Props to Villanova, they ran great today."

Schaaf found herself in the running for a national title when overwhelming race favorite Jenny Barringer fell back to the pack. Barringer, a Colorado standout and 2008 U.S. Olympian, pulled away from the field early in the race with Florida State's Susan Kuijken right beside her. Barringer faltered and quickly lost ground just after the halfway point of the 6,000-meter race, and it appeared Kuijken could improve upon two previous top-three finishes.

"You think, 'Huh, what happened?' but you have to focus on your race," Schaaf said. "I was just going along for the ride with Angela [Bizzarri]."

Schaaf and Bizzarri, of Illinois, blew past Kuijken together and turned down the final 500-meter straightaway side by side.

"We were both going back and forth, putting in our own surges," said Schaaf, whose time of 19 minutes, 51.6 seconds proved 4.8 seconds short of Bizzarri and an NCAA title. Kuijken finished third.

"We wanted to be aggressive [with Schaaf]," Metcalf said. "We talked about her racing Angela Bizzarri down the homestretch, we just didn't think it would be for the win. That was incredibly exciting."

While Schaaf clearly learned from finishing 12th as a freshman last season, Washington's first-time NCAA Championship performers had a tough day.

Freshman Allison Linnell was the Huskies' fifth runner across the line in 109th place among team competitors, freshman Kayla Evans was 136th and junior Kailey Campbell was 148th.

"Until you do this race, you just don't know," Metcalf said. "[Last year's UW freshmen] were superstars. These girls are just blue-collar girls that are going to get better over time."

Christine Babcock, who finished seventh as a freshman last year, was 29th on Monday, the fourth UW finisher.

"It's just been a different season," Babcock said of her own race. "I've learned a lot of lessons that will carry us into the next two years.

"For most teams, third would be great. We should still celebrate for third, but we thought we should have been better. Third is still amazing."

Metcalf said he hopes the team comes back motivated in 2010. Everyone will be back aside from Follett.

"We've got four All-Americans. We lose one gal. I'm not going to sit here and whine too much about it. The cupboard is still full," Metcalf said. "We walked out of here with our heads held high, and they act like champions.

"Our program is changing. When you're disappointed with third, it shows we've come a long way."

The Washington men placed 18th as the Huskies' three seniors led the way.

Kelly Spady was 55th, Colton Tully-Doyle 60th and Jake Schmitt 81st.

Second-ranked Oklahoma State picked up the team victory, with Sam Chelanga of Liberty the individual winner, covering the men's 10,000-meter course in 28 minutes, 41.3 seconds.

"This meet's just crazy. No. 1 Stanford gets 10th place today," Metcalf said of the men's race. "I thought a great day, we could be in the top 10. We didn't have a great day, the points add up and we get 18th. We're a top-20 team on the men's side, and that's not that bad. We'll have to reevaluate, try to walk away and get better."

Other UW runners: Cameron Quackenbush (126th), Max O'Donoghue-McDonald (148th), Jordan Swarthout (171st) and Joey Bywater (190th).

In both the men's and women's races, each of the 31 teams uses seven runners, with the top five from each team counting in the scoring (a point for each placing — 2 for Schaaf, 21 for Follett, etc., for the UW women). There are 38 runners whose teams are not competing who receive at-large spots in each race.