Two-thirds of the way through the Division I Women’s Cross Country Championships race November 19 in Terre Haute, Indiana, Stanford was cruising to an easy win.
Then the Cardinal showed heart to match their talent.

As expected, senior Arianna Lambie led Stanford to its third straight team title and fourth win in five years, but it took a gutsy finish by seniors Teresa McWalters and Lindsay Allen on the 6,000-meter La Vern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course to secure the victory.

McWalters was running only five seconds behind Lambie with 2,000 meters to go and less than half a minute behind the blistering pace set by front-runner and eventual repeat individual champion Sally Kipyego of Texas Tech. The scoreboard showed the Cardinal leading Oregon by 107 points.
But McWalters, the West region’s runner of the year, collapsed before reaching the end, imperiling Stanford’s lead.

Allen was running last of Stanford’s seven runners at the 4,000-meter mark, but she picked up the pace dramatically during the last third of the race, enough to pass Oregon’s fourth and fifth runners and hold the Ducks at bay. Then, McWalters managed to pull herself up and finish the race six seconds and eight scoring positions ahead of Allen, preserving a 32-point win for Stanford.

“Even though we were ranked No. 1 throughout the season, things can happen in a race that make it interesting,” said coach Peter Tegen, who claimed his second title at Stanford to match the two he won while coaching at Wisconsin.

“I think this team’s incredible determination and depth was shown today. Teresa collapsed, but managed to cross the finish line and we were still able to come away with the title.”
Lambie, one of five Stanford seniors who ran in the race, finished ninth individually and eighth among team scorers to end a collegiate cross country career in which she contributed to all four of the Cardinal’s recent championships (she sat out the 2004 season).

“We all feel very fortunate to be a part of this,” Tegen said. “Winning three consecutive championships is an exceptional athletic achievement that doesn’t happen very often.”

In fact, it’s happened only one other time in women’s competition. Villanova won six titles in a row beginning in 1989.

Like Stanford, Kipyego started strong, but she never provided any reason to doubt after the race’s first 1,500 meters that she would claim her second straight dominating victory at the championships.

Kipyego, a junior who also already has won three Division I track titles as she begins her second year at Texas Tech, steadily pulled away from the pack and won by 18 seconds. Her 19:30.9 time is the best posted in five championship races at Terre Haute, beating Johanna Nilsson’s 19:33.9 time for Northern Arizona in 2005.

“I think it’s more exciting this time, coming in and winning it for a second time,” Kipyego said. “The fact that I’m in nursing school, the challenge to try to stay fit and in shape for cross country is really challenging.”

Colorado’s Jenny Barringer was runner-up for the second straight year.

Team results
1. Stanford, 145; 2. Oregon, 177; 3. Florida St., 236; 4. Arizona St., 251; 5. Michigan St., 321; 6. Illinois, 331; 7. Northern Ariz., 357; 8. Washington, 358; 9. West Virginia, 375; 10. Iowa, 387; 11. Florida, 391; 12. Minnesota, 393; 13. Arkansas, 406; 14. Princeton, 409; 15. Colorado St., 410; 16. Rice, 413; 17. Baylor, 427; 18. Texas Tech, 433; 19. UC Santa Barb., 449; 20. Wisconsin, 458; 21. Michigan, 462; 22. Georgia, 465; 23. Colorado, 479; 24. Duke, 484; 25. Brigham Young, 485; 26. Providence, 491; 27. North Carolina, 493; 28. Georgetown, 520; 29. North Carolina St., 535; 30. Boston College, 580; 31. Stony Brook, 682.

Individual results
1. Sally Kipyego, Texas Tech, 19:30.9; 2. Jenny Barringer, Colorado, 19:47.8; 3. Susan Kuijken, Florida St., 19:57.3; 4. Diane Nukuri, Iowa, 20:07.0; 5. Nicole Bush, Michigan St., 20:13.4; 6. Emily Harrison, Virginia, 20:15.0; 7. Barbara Parker, Florida St., 20:17.0; 8. Nicole Blood, Oregon, 20:17.6; 9. Arianna Lambie, Stanford, 20:18.2; 10. Melissa Grelli, Georgetown, 20:19.6.

Team results
1. Stanford, 145; 2. Oregon, 177; 3. Florida St., 236; 4. Arizona St., 251; 5. Michigan St., 321; 6. Illinois, 331; 7. Northern Ariz., 357; 8. Washington, 358; 9. West Virginia, 375; 10. Iowa, 387; 11. Florida, 391; 12. Minnesota, 393; 13. Arkansas, 406; 14. Princeton, 409; 15. Colorado St., 410; 16. Rice, 413; 17. Baylor, 427; 18. Texas Tech, 433; 19. UC Santa Barb., 449; 20. Wisconsin, 458; 21. Michigan, 462; 22. Georgia, 465; 23. Colorado, 479; 24. Duke, 484; 25. Brigham Young, 485; 26. Providence, 491; 27. North Carolina, 493; 28. Georgetown, 520; 29. North Carolina St., 535; 30. Boston College, 580; 31. Stony Brook, 682.

Individual results
1. Sally Kipyego, Texas Tech, 19:30.9; 2. Jenny Barringer, Colorado, 19:47.8; 3. Susan Kuijken, Florida St., 19:57.3; 4. Diane Nukuri, Iowa, 20:07.0; 5. Nicole Bush, Michigan St., 20:13.4; 6. Emily Harrison, Virginia, 20:15.0; 7. Barbara Parker, Florida St., 20:17.0; 8. Nicole Blood, Oregon, 20:17.6; 9. Arianna Lambie, Stanford, 20:18.2; 10. Melissa Grelli, Georgetown, 20:19.6.

11. Brianna Felnagle, North Carolina, 20:28.2; 12. Tasmin Fanning, Virginia Tech, 20:32.4; 13. Alexandra Kosinski, Oregon, 20:33.3; 14. Angela Bizzarri, Illinois, 20:34.7; 15. Alex Becker, Tulsa, 20:35.0; 16. Meghan Armstrong, Iowa, 20:36.3; 17. Marie-Louis Asselin, West Virginia, 20:39.9; 18. Lisa Koll, Iowa St., 20:40.0; 19. Katie Follett, Washington, 20:42.6; 20. Anita Campbell, Washington, 20:42.6.

21. Maddie McKeever, Duke, 20:45.5; 22. Grace Kemmey, Iowa St., 20:46.2; 23. Carmen Ballard, Columbia-Barnard, 20:48.7; 24. Lauren Blankenship, Samford, 20:50.3; 25. Hanna Grinaker, Wisconsin, 20:50.5; 26. Danette Doetzel, Providence, 20:51.1; 27. Natalie Picchetti, Georgia, 20:52.3; 28. Catherine Parker, New Hampshire, 20:53.4; 29. Diana Jepchirchir, Coastal Caro., 20:55.8; 30. Ilsa Paulson, Northern Ariz., 20:56.1.

31. Sara Vaughn, Colorado, 20:56.7; 32. Keri Bland, West Virginia, 20:58.1; 33. Jamie Cheever, Minnesota, 20:58.3; 34. Erin Webster, Michigan, 20:59.1; 35. Lauren Hagans, Baylor, 20:59.2; 36. Lauren Centrowitz, Stanford, 20:59.3; 37. Jenna Kingma, Arizona St., 21:00.4; 38. Lindsay Donaldson, Yale, 21:01.9; 39. Zoe Buckman, Oregon, 21:05.9; 40. Katie Harrington, Stanford, 21:06.5.

41. Christy Johnson, Princeton, 21:06.6; 42. Ali Kielty, Arizona St., 21:07.1; 43. Nichole Jones, Baylor, 21:07.4; 44. Jolly Burke, Iowa, 21:08.6; 45. Lauren Weaver, Belmont, 21:08.9; 46. Dana Morgan, Portland, 21:09.1; 47. Janet Jesang, Western Ky., 21:10.2; 48. Laura Rolf, Valparaiso, 21:10.4; 49. Silje Fjortoft, SMU, 21:11.0; 50. Kari Hardt, Arizona St., 21:11.7.

51. Camille Olson, Arizona St., 21:12.0; 52. Alison Bishel, Ball St., 21:12.0; 53. Alex Gits, Stanford, 21:12.4; 54. Sariah Long, Weber St., 21:12.9; 55. Lesley Van Miert, Northern Ariz., 21:13.8; 56. Jillian Rosen, Arkansas, 21:14.1; 57. Bridget Franek, Penn St., 21:14.4; 58. Katie Engel, Illinois, 21:14.7; 59. Irene Kimaiyo, Texas Tech, 21:14.7; 60. Jacy Kruzel, Florida, 21:15.5.

61. Laura Mickelson, Loyola Marymount, 21:15.8; 62. Teresa McWalters, Stanford, 21:16.0; 63. Angelina Blackmon, North Carolina St., 21:16.2; 64. Mattie Bridgmon, Eastern Wash., 21:16.3; 65. Cecily Lemmon, Brigham Young, 21:16.8; 66. Bethany Nickless, UC Santa Barb., 21:19.0; 67. Kate Van Buskirk, Duke, 21:19.5; 68. Megan Lewis, UC Santa Barb., 21:19.9; 69. Smita Gupta, Brown, 21:20.1; 70. Pilar McShine, Florida St., 21:21.1.

71. Alissa McKaig, Michigan St., 21:21.6; 72. Lindsay Allen, Stanford, 21:22.0; 73. Grandt Clara, West Virginia, 21:22.5; 74. Becky Wade, Rice, 21:22.9; 75. Kirsten Anthony, Colorado St., 21:23.3; 76. Bria Wetsch, Oregon, 21:23.7; 77. Brielle Chabot, Boston College, 21:23.8; 78. Gladys Kipsang, Texas Tech, 21:24.3; 79. Elizabeth Maloy, Georgetown, 21:24.6; 80. Nicole Edwards, Michigan, 21:24.9.

81. Christine Kalmer, Arkansas, 21:25.6; 82. Laura Neufarth, Miami (Ohio), 21:25.7; 83. Gwen Jorgensen, Wisconsin, 21:26.0; 84. Daniels Marissa, Rice, 21:26.3; 85. Lara Crofford, Nebraska, 21:26.7; 86. Jessica Eldridge, Oklahoma, 21:27.5; 87. Jessica Hampson, Stony Brook, 21:27.9; 88. Morgan Haws, Weber St., 21:29.2; 89. Kate Niehaus, Stanford, 21:29.6; 90. Nichole Lister, Boston College, 21:29.9.

91. Brittany Tinsley, North Carolina St., 21:30.1; 92. April Thomas, Colorado St., 21:30.4; 93. Megan Kaltenbach, North Carolina, 21:30.9; 94. Ashley Higginson, Princeton, 21:31.5; 95. Rachel Hannah, Georgia St., 21:31.5; 96. Katie Dicamillo, Providence, 21:32.0; 97. Allison Pye, Rice, 21:32.1; 98. McKayla Plank, Iona, 21:32.2; 99. Danelle Woods, Illinois, 21:32.3; 100. Genni Gardner, Butler, 21:32.4.

101. Danielle Domenichelli, UC Santa Barb., 21:32.5; 102. Heather Loseke, Colorado St., 21:33.0; 103. Sarah Pearson, Oregon, 21:33.4; 104. Kiah Vernon, Georgia, 21:33.7; 105. Elizabeth Yetzer, Minnesota, 21:34.5; 106. Elizabeth Ambrus, UAB, 21:35.0; 107. Rebecca Lowe, Florida, 21:35.1; 108. Amanda Miller, Washington, 21:35.6; 109. Ladia Albertson-Junka, Minnesota, 21:35.9; 110. Alison Babb, Florida, 21:36.5.

111. Sarah Price, Michigan St., 21:36.6; 112. Hannah England, Florida St., 21:38.0; 113. Amanda Boyd, Northern Ariz., 21:38.6; 114. Clerc Koenck, Lamar, 21:40.6; 115. Rachel Papin, La Salle, 21:40.8; 116. Gretchen Fagley-Johns, Wyoming, 21:41.1; 117. Marie Lawrence, Washington, 21:41.5; 118. Lindsay Sundell, Florida, 21:42.2; 119. Lisa Uible, Michigan, 21:42.7; 120. Miranda Walker, Arkansas, 21:42.8.

121. Stephanie Baliga, Illinois, 21:43.3; 122. Lisa Senakiewich, Michigan St., 21:43.4; 123. Nicole Mericle, Rice, 21:43.5; 124. Katie Bowen, Brigham Young, 21:43.7; 125. Megan Brandeland, Princeton, 21:44.0; 126. Emily MacLeod, Michigan St., 21:44.1; 127. Lydia Willemse, Florida St., 21:44.4; 128. Denise Bargiachi, Arkansas, 21:44.5; 129. Jenna Jensen, Brigham Young, 21:45.4; 130. Renee Graham, Lamar, 21:45.9.

131. Emily Houston, Georgia, 21:46.1; 132. Danielle Bradley, Baylor, 21:46.3; 133. Amanda Griggs, Northern Ariz., 21:46.7; 134. Erin Marston, Colorado, 21:46.7; 135. Zoe Nelson, Oregon, 21:47.1; 136. Allison Gohl, Colorado St., 21:47.7; 137. Ali Crabb, Florida, 21:48.3; 138. Brenda Martinez, UC Riverside, 21:48.4; 139. Gabriele Anderson, Minnesota, 21:49.2; 140. Sarah Cummings, Princeton, 21:50.0.

141. Sally Paulson, Minnesota, 21:50.5; 142. Bona Jones, North Carolina St., 21:50.5; 143. Liza Hitchner, UC Santa Barb., 21:51.1; 144. Caitlin McTague, Princeton, 21:51.4; 145. Addie Bracy, North Carolina, 21:51.7; 146. Melissa Thomas, Colorado St., 21:51.7; 147. Megan Duwell, Minnesota, 21:52.5; 148. Sheila Reid, Villanova, 21:53.2; 149. Astrid Leutert, Northern Ariz., 21:53.4; 150. Becky McCormack, Michigan St., 21:54.0.

151. Lyndsy Bedell, Baylor, 21:54.9; 152. Alicia Pabich, Wisconsin, 21:55.2; 153. Theresa Brokaw, Illinois, 21:56.6; 154. Kirsten Hagen, Florida St., 21:57.0; 155. Krystal Duke, Arizona St., 21:57.6; 156. Maria Dalzot, West Virginia, 21:57.7; 157. Amber Duffin, Brigham Young, 21:58.3; 158. Sharla Platt, Southern Utah, 21:59.3; 159. Dacia Barr, Arkansas, 21:59.3; 160. Shelley Forbes, Duke, 21:59.6.

161. Ann Detmer, Wisconsin, 21:59.9; 162. Michelle Childs, Providence, 22:00.3; 163. Sara Petrick, Florida, 22:00.6; 164. Emily Sherrard, Duke, 22:01.4; 165. Tawny Bybee, Brigham Young, 22:01.8; 166. Krystal Douglas, Providence, 22:03.1; 167. Sarah Madebach, Georgia, 22:03.6; 168. Courtlin Lareau, North Carolina, 22:04.0; 169. Chantelle Groenewoud, Illinois, 22:05.0; 170. Colleen Wetherbee, North Carolina St., 22:05.6.

171. Joanna Rodgers, Georgetown, 22:06.6; 172. Britany Williams, Rice, 22:07.9; 173. Amanda Ganser, Wisconsin, 22:08.4; 174. Mallory Champa, Boston College, 22:08.9; 175. Leah Coyle, Wisconsin, 22:09.5; 176. Jill Skinner, Georgia, 22:10.8; 177. Danielle Tauro, Michigan, 22:11.2; 178. Kristen Johnson, Florida, 22:11.4; 179. Chepleting Boit, Texas Tech, 22:11.5; 180. Angela Spadafino, Arizona St., 22:12.1.

181. Jessica Driscoll, Boston College, 22:12.6; 182. Breffini Twohig, Providence, 22:13.6; 183. Christina Munoz, Texas A&M, 22:14.1; 184. Christina Woytalewicz, Florida St., 22:14.3; 185. Dana Hastie, Stony Brook, 22:14.8; 186. Heather Dorniden, Minnesota, 22:15.2; 187. Geena Gall, Michigan, 22:15.4; 188. Katie Williams, Michigan, 22:16.3; 189. Maggie Infeld, Georgetown, 22:17.3; 190. Renae Van Wyhe, Baylor, 22:17.4.

191. Holly Van Dalen, Stony Brook, 22:17.5; 192. Kerry Salzano, Stony Brook, 22:17.9; 193. Jessica Schmidt, Iowa, 22:19.6; 194. Kristen Hemphill, Colorado St., 22:19.7; 195. Cheyenne Ogletree, Rutgers, 22:21.5; 196. Lauren Kleppin, Colorado St., 22:22.5; 197. Sarah Hurley, Wisconsin, 22:23.1; 198. Lennie Waite, Rice, 22:23.7; 199. Catherine White, Arkansas, 22:24.1; 200. Laura Huet, Stony Brook, 22:24.3.

201. Trisha Rasmussen, Washington, 22:25.7; 202. Jolee Vanleuven, Princeton, 22:26.7; 203. Mandy McBean, West Virginia, 22:29.3; 204. Lise Ogrodnick, Georgetown, 22:29.8; 205. Renee Tomlin, Georgetown, 22:30.8; 206. Christy Adamyk, Duke, 22:31.0; 207. Lucy Van Dalen, Stony Brook, 22:32.1; 208. Aislinn Ryan, Colorado, 22:32.4; 209. Rachel Hernandez, Illinois, 22:32.7; 210. Lauren Holesh, North Carolina, 22:33.4.

211. Breanne Strenkowski, UC Santa Barb., 22:34.1; 212. Brooke Giuffre, Oregon, 22:34.4; 213. Elizabeth Carlson, Stony Brook, 22:34.5; 214. Jennifer Heyde, Boston College, 22:35.0; 215. Kaylyn Christopher, West Virginia, 22:35.0; 216. Molly Lehman, Duke, 22:36.4; 217. Angela Wagner, Brigham Young, 22:37.7; 218. Lauren Hardesty, Iowa, 22:39.2; 219. Kylie Foley, Georgia, 22:41.5; 220. Dani Parry, Arkansas, 22:42.9.

221. Marika Walker, North Carolina St., 22:43.5; 222. Jennifer Hooper, Colorado, 22:44.5; 223. Kelly Sampson, Michigan, 22:44.6; 224. Nell Rojas, Northern Ariz., 22:46.4; 225. Emily Schwitzer, Duke, 22:49.2; 226. Morgan Stengel, North Carolina, 22:53.8; 227. Katie Shaw, Baylor, 22:54.7; 228. Whitney Lemieux, Arizona St., 22:57.8; 229. Asia Diaz, Texas Tech, 22:58.6; 230. Molly Esche, Iowa, 22:58.7.

231. Anna Chase, Colorado, 22:59.3; 232. Kelsy Hardt, Northern Ariz., 23:02.1; 233. Amy Fowler-Layne, Brigham Young, 23:03.3; 234. Jessi Barnes, Baylor, 23:05.7; 235. Anne Wheatly, North Carolina St., 23:06.9; 236. Danielle Schuster, Washington, 23:07.0; 237. Ashley Casavant, Michigan St., 23:11.1; 238. Nicola Tufts, Boston College, 23:17.7; 239. Michelle Guzman, Texas Tech, 23:20.7; 240. Emily Hoffman, North Carolina, 23:20.7.

241. Caroline King, Boston College, 23:21.4; 242. Alyssa Brown, UC Santa Barb., 23:22.2; 243. Sarah Morgan, Providence, 23:23.9; 244. Lauren Gregory, Georgetown, 23:24.3; 245. Nicole DeMarco, Georgia, 23:24.9; 246. Alison Spiker, West Virginia, 23:27.2; 247. Liz Costello, Princeton, 23:28.0; 248. Ashley Ramirez, UC Santa Barb., 23:33.4; 249. Amanda Hardesty, Iowa, 23:36.9; 250. Katherine Priebe, Texas Tech, 23:42.1.

251. Kara McKenna, North Carolina St., 23:52.3; 252. Emma Perron, Providence, 24:09.5; 253. Lauren Saylor, Washington, 24:24.4.