OUT IN FRONT: Bei led the team. gonzalesphoto.com

the men’s and women’s cross country teams swept the NCAA championships in 18-degree weather on November 24 at the Irv Warren Memorial Golf Course in Waterloo, Iowa.

The defending-champion men held to their strategy of running in a pack and placed four runners in the top six in their 10,000-meter race. Junior Ryan Hall finished second (29:15.4), senior Grant Robison came in fourth (29:19.2), senior Ian Dobson placed fifth (29:24.7) and senior Louis Luchini was sixth (29:28.2). Senior Adam Tenforde came in 12th (29:44.9) to round out the team’s scoring. Right behind him was senior Don Sage (29:45.8); senior Seth Hejny finished 33rd (30:13.3).

Stanford posted an extraordinary team score of 24 (the lowest score wins, with 15 being the best possible), beating second-place Wisconsin by 150 points—the largest margin of victory in NCAA Division I history. Head coach Andy Gerard was named men’s cross country coach of the year, and all seven Cardinal men earned All-America honors.

Although only a handful of athletes represent the Cardinal at the NCAAs, more than 30 have sweated out the workouts all season. “When the seven guys put on their jerseys and step up to the starting line, they have the combined emotional and mental energy of every other guy who’s been out there all season, doing the training,” Gerard said before the meet.

The Cardinal women edged out defending champion Brigham Young University, 120 to 128. Junior and Pac-10 champ Sara Bei crossed the finish line of the 6,000-meter event in third place (19:49.1), ahead of junior Alicia Craig, who came in sixth (19:55.0). Freshman Katy Trotter placed 21st (20:29.4), with her twin sister Amanda crossing the line in 92nd position (21:12.4). Freshman Arianna Lambie placed 24th (20:31.6), junior Jeane Goff came in 102nd (21:17.3) and junior Anita Siraki came in 130th (21:25.8). The race earned first-time cross country All-America awards for Bei, Katy Trotter and Lambie, and Craig was named an All-American for the third consecutive year.

“Sara and Alicia have been the leaders all year,” head coach Dena Evans said in an interview before the championships. “They get the best out of each other without being adversarial.” Evans, ’96, MA ’97, was named women’s cross country coach of the year.

The Cardinal men now have won four NCAA titles, with previous first-place finishes in 1996, 1997 and 2002. The women’s team won the NCAA title in 1996.

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