Nov. 21, 2011

Complete Results

TUCSON - Freshman Lawi Lalang and the No. 8 University of Arizona Wildcat women's cross country competed at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, in Terre Haute, Ind., on Monday. Lalang won the men's individual 10K race and the women's squad earned a 19th-place finish in the team race at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.

Lalang is Arizona's third national cross country champion, joining Martin Keino (1994) and Aaron Ramirez (1986). He won the 10,000-meter race with a time of 28:44.1, beating Stanford's Chris Derrick by 13 seconds. Lalang also beat Derrick at the Pac-12 and NCAA West Regional Championships. Lalang has won all six races he competed in this season and by an average of 20.5 seconds.

"I made my break after 4K," Lalang said. "It was my plan (to go) after 5K but nobody was picking it up so I thought I'd go for it. I knew after 6K I had some distance (from the other runners), I didn't hear them chattering. It feels great to run by yourself with a big lead. When you are with other people, you still feel worried."

"This is really nice," Lalang said. "(It's exciting) when you are a running in a race and they announce you as "national champion". This is my first national title so it is a good start for me."

In the men's team race, No. 1 Wisconsin won the trophy with 97 points, No. 2 Oklahoma State was second with 139 points and No. 6 Colorado earned a bronze finish with 144 points.

"I was not surprised by Lawi's performance," head coach James Li said. "Obviously it is never a given, there were lots of good runners. When it comes to racing, you have to be at your best on the day of the race. Like I always say, he is in a class of his own, what he has done this year, it has been unbelievable."

"He basically ran the last half of the race by himself, which is pretty impressive," said Li. "I really feel that he would have broken the course record if it was a more competitive situation."

In the women's team race, Arizona finished 19th with 447 points. Junior Jen Bergman paced Arizona with a 26th-place finish and earned All-America honors. She clocked a 6,000-meter time of 20:13 and is the Wildcats' first All-American since Tara Chaplin in 2001.

As Arizona's second runner, sophomore Elvin Kibet finished 52nd with her time of 20:39. Senior Hanna Henson was 124th with a clocking of 21:13. Junior Elizabeth Apgar was 154th and crossed with a time of 21:25. Freshman Haley Stenquist was the fifth Wildcat scorer. She finished in 215th place with a time of 22:05.

Also competing for Arizona were sophomore Amanda Russell (223rd, 22:10) and sophomore Erin Menefee (244th, 22:41). The Wildcats' highest team finish is second in 1980. Last season, the squad earned an 11th-place finish.

In the women's team race, No. 4 Georgetown won with 162 points, No. 3 Washington was second with 170 points and No. 2 Villanova earned a bronze finish with 181 points. Sheila Reid of Villanova won the women's 6K with a time of 19:42.

Highlights from the championships will be included as part of the CBS NCAA Fall Seasonal Show, scheduled to air on Sat., Dec. 18, 1-2 p.m. ET on CBS HD.