Bulldog Men, Women Each 14th In West Regional Cross Country
11/9/2012 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
SEATTLE, Wash. - Gonzaga University's men's and women's cross country teams each finished 14th in the NCAA West Regional at Jefferson Park Golf Course Friday, the highest regional finish ever for both teams.
The Bulldog women, ranked 15th in the latest West Region poll, was 15th a year ago and the Bulldog men, ranked 10th in the latest West Region poll, was 18th last season.
The one-two punch of Emily Thomas and Lindsey Drake once again paced the Bulldog women. Thomas, a junior from Washougal, Wash., placed 40th in 20:45 for the 6K course and Drake, a senior from San Diego, Calif., was 49th in 20:54. Drake was 34th a year ago as the Bulldogs top finisher while Thomas was 56th.
Lauren Bergam, a junior from Spokane Valley, was 77th in 21:20, sophomore Maggie Jones from Richland, Wash., was 96th in 21:32 and freshman Amelia Evans from Colorado Springs, Colo., was 95th to complete the Gonzaga top five scorers. Lara Tuthill placed 108th in 21:41 and Catherine Theobald was 134th in 22:06.
"They ran pretty well," assistant coach Patty Ley said of Thomas and Drake. "Emily was slightly more conservative with her start. Lindsey went out pretty hard and ran awesome for about 5K. But she lost a number of places down the stretch. She was about 28-30 with a 'K' to go and ran out of gas. She was right in the mix with that top 30 crew, looked very natural there."
Ley said Thomas was more consistent throughout.
"Emily was moving up a little more. She ran very well. The sheer numbers are pretty overwhelming when trying to figure out where they are. The energy of that type of race is just different," Ley said of the atmosphere in a championship such as this.
Ley said the Bulldogs are getting better.
"Overall I feel much more comfortable with this race than the WCC. We were close. A few seconds shaved off here and there makes a huge difference points wise in this big of a field. If you're on the front side it works out for you, if you're on the back side it doesn't," she said.
Ley said this was also a great field. Drake's time this year of 20:54 would have placed her 24th a year ago.
On the men's side the familiar duo of Chris Boyle and Tate Kelly led the charge. Boyle, who redshirted last year after placing 27th in the regional meet two years ago, was 66th in 30:51 for the 10K while Kelly, 84th a year ago, was 71st. Boyle, a senior from Seattle, and Kelly, a senior from Spokane, completed their collegiate eligibility.
The Bulldog men got a fine supporting cast from junior Brent Felnagle from Tacoma, Wash., who was 77th in 31:06, sophomore Nick Roche from Tigard, Ore., who placed 79th in 31:08 and sophomore Colin O'Neil from Redmond, Wash., who was 109th in 31:44 to complete the Bulldog scorers. Junior Robert Walgren from Anchorage, Alaska, was 112th in 31:48 and junior Willie Milam finished 115th in 31:52.
The men and women each beat their regional score of a year ago, the women with 354 points this year compared to 399 a year ago and the men with 401 this year compared to 510 last year.
Head coach Pat Tyson was pleased and disappointed at the same time with the effort.
"Boyle and Tate worked hard. It was a barn burner of a race," Tyson said. "The Zags looked good early; looked like a top 10 kind of team and engaging well. The last three 'K' there was very little change in the action," Tyson said.
He said Kelly, who has been the Zags top performer all year, was hoping for a better finish.
"He wanted a top 25, it just wasn't a good day for him and the thing with athletics is you have days like that," Tyson said.
Gonzaga was hoping for as high as a 10th place or higher finish, but the 14th-place finish doesn't mean the Bulldogs didn't perform.
"We didn't have a bad day, just didn't have the day we wanted. Improvement wise we are way ahead. We moved up and are getting close to some of the other teams. We beat USF in conference, but I wouldn't trade a third place in conference for a 12th place in the regional. If you look at Boise State in ninth place, that's about where I think we could have been," Tyson said of the standings.
The Stanford University men won the team title with five runners in the top 13 for 45 points to easily out-distance the University of Portland with 107. Lawi Lalang of the University of Arizona was the individual men's winner in 29:02 for his second straight regional title, and despite having the top two finishers the Wildcats could finish no higher than 10th.
The women's team title went to the University of Oregon with 64 points as the Ducks had the individual winner in Jordan Hasay in 19:16 and placed three others in the top 10. Stanford was second with 85 points. The top two men's and women's teams automatically qualify for the NCAA Championship.
