Nov. 14, 2007

2007 NCAA Cross Country Championships Website

Complete Release in PDF Format

No. 13 Stanford Men - Monday, November 19 at 12:00 p.m., ET
No. 1 Stanford Women - Monday, November 19 at 12:55 p.m., ET

Up Next
The Stanford men's and women's cross country teams will travel to Terre Haute, IN for the NCAA Championships on Monday, November 19. The event will take place at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course located at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center. The men's race will begin at noon Eastern time followed by the women's race at 12:55 p.m. Both championship races will be broadcast live on CSTV.

In order to be eligible to participate in the championships, teams and individuals had to qualify last weekend in their respective NCAA regional meets. The top two, seven-person teams automatically qualified from each of the nine regions, for a total of 18 teams. Thirteen additional teams were selected at-large by the committee on Sunday. A total of thirty-one teams were selected to participate in both the men's and women's Division I championships.

Thirty-eight individuals, the first four athletes from each region who are not a part of a qualifying team and two additional qualifiers, were selected to participate in each championship. All individual qualifiers must have finished in the top 25 in their region.

Last Time Out
NCAA West Regional
The Stanford women's cross country team captured its ninth straight NCAA West Regional title this afternoon in Eugene, OR as they posted a dominating 33 points. Teresa McWalters captured her first individual regional title as the only runner in the race to break 20 minutes, as she was named the NCAA West Regional Runner of the Year. Oregon combined for 76 points to finish second, while Arizona State rounded out the top three with 106 points. Head coach Peter Tegen was selected as the NCAA West Regional Women's Coach of the Year.

The Cardinal men earned a third place finish in the West Regional as they combined for 100 team points. The Cardinal had two finishers in the top ten, and all five point scorers finished in the top 30. Oregon captured its second straight regional crown as they posted the low score of 47 points, while Portland grabbed second with 76 points.

Cardinal Men
The thirteenth-ranked Stanford men, who took fourth last year at the NCAA Championships, will look to challenge for its fifth NCAA team title. The Cardinal will be led by three-time cross country All-American Neftalem Araia, as well as All-Americans Russell Brown, Hakon DeVries, Michael Garcia, Garrett Heath, and Hari Mix. Stanford will enjoy another deep roster in 2007, strengthened by returners Steven Duplinsky, Jacob Evans, Eric Giddings, Alex Greenburg, Lauren Jespersen, Elliot Luscombe, Justin Marpole-Bird, John McGuire, Chris Mocko, Justin Reed, and Wes Walker, as well as talented newcomers Brendan Gregg, Thomas Gruenewald, Elliot Heath, Jacob Riley, and JT Sullivan.

Cardinal Women
Defending back-to-back national champion and top-ranked Stanford will be looking for its third straight national crown and its fourth in the last five years. Among top women's individuals to watch, Stanford senior Arianna Lambie - the Pac-10 and West Regional champion in 2005 and `06 - is one of only two women to ever to win the Pac-10 and West Regional three times in consecutive seasons. Lambie was a top-10 NCAA Championships placer in 2005 (eighth) and '06 (fourth), and is one of five All-Americans back in '07 with her two teammates - senior McWalters (31st in '06) and junior Lindsay Flacks (25th in '05). In his second season last year, head coach Peter Tegen led the squad to victories in six out of seven races, including successfully defending their national title in Terre Haute, IN. The Cardinal also reutrns All-American Lauren Centrowitz. Returners Lindsay Allen, Shannon Bergstedt, Alicia Follmar, Katie Harrington, Mary Liz McCurdy, Kate Niehaus, Madeleine O'Meara, Kaylin Pennington, Anne St. Geme, and Kelsey Walker will bolster the talented squad, as well as newcomers Madeline Duhon, Alexandra Gits, Stephanie Marcy, and Anna Schuessler.

2006 NCAA Championship Review
The Cardinal women rallied to score 195 points and repeat as national champions. Colorado was second with 223 points, while Michigan was third with 233 points. Wisconsin was fourth with 262 and Arkansas rounded out the top five teams with 286 points. Redshirt-junior Lambie's fourth-place finish led the women's squad. In his second year on The Farm, head coach Peter Tegen was named the Peter Tegen Women's Coach of the Year, as the award is now named in his honor.

The Cardinal men pulled together to post a team score of 195, claiming fourth place by just one point. Conference rival Oregon and Arkansas tallied 196 points each to tie for fifth place. Colorado captured the men's championships with a low 94 points, while Wisconsin finished second with 142 points. Iona was third with 172 points. Redshirt-junior Araia of Stanford took second place in the men's competition.