NCAA Division 1 Regional Preview
By Jack Pfeifer
This is cross country country.
Cross country is not a silent, austere sport here in the rainy
“I cheer like crazy for my son,” a mother said. “Afterward, he says that when he runs, it is all within. He said he doesn’t hear a thing.”
This isolated corner of the country is on the verge of taking over the sport.
Most Div. I teams had the week off, so coaches were on hand to scout next year’s crop.
There were plenty of purple-and-gold Washington caps, one of them worn by Greg Metcalf, the winner of the 1987 A/B state title for Ephrata High and now head coach of the Huskies. A week ago, the UW women scored an unprecedented perfect-15 to win the Pac-10 and make themselves the team to beat in this year’s NCAA championships. Metcalf wasn’t gloating. “We still have plenty of work to do,” he said.
There were plenty of the familiar lemon-lime
Also working the crowd was Rob Conner, coach of the little-known
“I recruit a lot in the state of
Sure enough, there’s Northwest talent all over the country. Ryan Vail of
The No. 1 runner on this year’s Princeton men’s team, winners of the Heps, is Michael Maag, who is from, yes, Portland, Ore. (His younger sister, Annamarie, led powerhouse Jesuit to an Oregon state championship this year as a sophomore.)
As to the competition itself here at the
Miller, who has run under 50 seconds for the quarter, won his 5k race going away in 15:18, the 2nd-fastest time ever run on the course. Behind him came the boys from North Central – 2-3-4-5, then 11th, for 25 points, the 2nd-lowest score ever at these championships. No wonder some of the current rankings have NC the No. 1 team in the country.
No. 1 high school team, No. 1 college men’s team, No. 1 college women’s team...
North Central was led by three seniors -- Andrew Kimpel (2nd), Jeff Howard (3rd) and Leon Dean (5th), even though Kimpel was ill earlier in the week. “Those three all year have led us,” Coach Jon Knight told Kevin Anthony of the Tri-City Herald. “In workouts, races, ethics as a team, honor as a team. They’re just nice, quality young men.”
North Central will be shooting for a spot in the Nike Team Nationals next month in
The nine Division I regional meets take place this weekend. The top two teams in each will qualify for the NCAA championships, to be held Monday morning, Nov. 24, in
All eyes will be on the West Regional, to be held at Stanford, where the top-ranked
Stanford’s surprise No. 1 runner has been super-frosh Chris Derrick, from
The West Region also dominates the women’s side, as No. 1 Washington and No. 2 Oregon will tangle again, along with the defending national champions from Stanford.
The Div. I Regionals and this year’s host schools: Northeast at Columbia (VCP), Mid-Atlantic at Princeton, South at Tennessee, Southeast at Wake Forest, South Central at Baylor, Great Lakes at Purdue, Midwest at Oklahoma State, Mountain at Colorado State, West at Stanford
The Div. III Regionals will also be held this weekend, pointing toward the national championships on Saturday, Nov. 22. Nick McDonough’s New York University men’s team are the defending national champions. Although in a rebuilding season, the Violets have moved up through the rankings in recent weeks.