The NCAA News - News Features

Stanford men, women pull off double victory in I cross country

Cardinal place five among top 15 in crushing men's field

The Cardinal carried through with its plan, all the way to the winner's circle.

Stanford claimed five of the top 15 individual places and ran away from the field -- including defending champion Arkansas -- to win its first title November 25 at Arizona.

Stanford joined the Cardinal women in the winner's circle, enabling the school to join Wisconsin as the only Division I programs to sweep the men's and women's events. Wisconsin completed the feat in 1985.

Arkansas, which was making its 23rd consecutive championships appearance, finished as runner-up for the third time.

Oregon placed third with 140 points, while Oklahoma State and Colorado finished fourth and fifth, respectively. The Ducks' third-place showing was their highest since 1989, when they garnered runner-up honors.

Arkansas' Godfrey Siamusiye successfully defended his individual crown, becoming the eighth competitor to win back-to-back titles but the first since Henry Rono of Washington State in 1976 and 1977. Siamusiye finished the 10,000-meter race in 29 minutes, 49 seconds.

"It took a tremendous amount of foresight to see both teams on the podium," Stanford coach Vin Lananna said. "Our goal was not necessarily to win both races. We discussed our chances of winning it, and we decided that the only way was to stick our noses in it. We didn't run a conservative race."

Gregory Jimmerson, Brad Hauser and Jeremy White headed the Cardinal attack, finishing among the top 10 individually. Jimmerson, who placed 23rd at the 1995 championships, led the way with a fourth-place finish in 30:28.

Hauser and White finished sixth and ninth, respectively. Hauser finished six seconds behind Jimmerson, while White was 11 behind.

Brent Hauser and Nathan Nutter were the Cardinal's fourth and fifth finishers, placing 14th and 15th overall.

Siamusiye, the first Arkansas runner to win two individual titles, coasted to his second individual title 21 seconds ahead of runner-up Jonah Kiptarus of Nebraska. Siamusiye also is a two-time 10,000-meter run champion outdoors.

"I didn't want to take anything for granted. This course is pretty tough, but I have run in all kinds of conditions and it's usually the conditions that make the course so tough," Siamusiye said. "I didn't ever make a real surge, I just started to pull away."