|
||
|
|
2004
NCAA CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS by Parker Morse
Last spring, Kim Smith of Providence ran 15:09 for 5,000m, not long after her back-to-back collegiate-record victories in the NCAA Indoor 5,000m and 3,000m. Consequently, at the outdoor championship in June, the rest of the 5,000m field just let her go, and ran for second. With that in mind, it's easy to imagine that the individual race at tomorrow's NCAA Cross Country Championships might only begin to get exciting around second place. Particularly when the reticent Smith admits, at Sunday's press conference, that "My workouts suggest that I'm fitter now than I was when I ran 15:09." "This is my last race for Providence College," said Smith, "I want to do well for my team and my coach." Still, back there at second place, things stand to be very interesting, not least because the individuals involved are, in many cases, also competing for the top-ranked teams. Defending champion Stanford has dominated the polls on the strength of strong races from senior Alicia Craig, the two-time NCAA 10,000m champion, and her classmate Sara Bei. Bei placed third at this meet last year; second went to Smith, behind Shalane Flanagan. But with Bei out injured, Craig's heroics may not have enough support further down the line to hold off challenges from other teams with strong individuals. Stanford will be looking for top-level performances from senior Anita Siraki, and sophomore twins Amanda and Katy Trotter, among others. Bei's injury "...presents an interesting mathematical problem," says Cardinal coach Dena Evans. "All of our women are comfortable running different lineups. They've always been comfortable dealing with the situations as they've arisen. I feel really good about the group we have running tomorrow. Everyone is going to have to run well for the score to add up in our favor. I think they're fired up and ready to go." The name most often mentioned for the upset is Providence College. Behind Smith, PC's Mary Cullen buoyed the Friars to a third-place finish last year, and while Cullen struggled in last weekend's regional, Fiona Crombie, Deirdre Byrne, and Jane Nalder picked up the slack, and Cullen is supposedly back on form for Monday's national race. A bigger upset would be a victory for Mark Wetmore's Colorado team. Buff leader Renee Metivier (Meh-TEE-vee-ay) has been running at a level around or above that which carried her to second in 2001 (when she was running for Georgia Tech). Unbeaten this year, Metivier will be backed up by Sara Slattery, Natalie Florence, and Christine Bolf; the fifth position, however, may make or break Colorado's chances. "We started the year knowing that we had personnel that could add up to a very good team, but with questions about whether they could all come together on one day. So far they've come together, to the day before the day." Wetmore may well have spoken for the entire field when he concluded, "I'm most anxious to get to tomorrow."(Posted November 21, 2004)
|
