Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
NCAA Cross Country Championships
McLaughlin Takes Fifth At NCAA Championship
November 23, 2009 | Cross Country
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. ?University of Colorado freshman Allie McLaughlin ran to a fifth-place finish and her first All-American honor at the NCAA Cross Country Championship on Monday afternoon at the La Verne Gibson Cross Country Course.
The No. 6 CU men's team placed sixth overall to equal its ranking, while the No. 6 women ended up 20th overall. The women did not have the day they expected as their No. 1 harrier, senior Jenny Barringer, had a set-back midway through the race and ended up finishing 163rd.
Barringer had been considered the favorite heading into the race. Just after the 3-kilometer mark, Barringer seemed to stumble and then fell to the ground. She recovered but had some difficulties and said that “the pressure got to her.” Barringer was a fighter though and finished the race.
“I definitely remember her (Florida State's Susan Kuijken) on my shoulder and then all of a sudden going light-headed and thinking ?I don't know how to run anymore.' I just lost my head and didn't feel good and then next thing I knew I was on the ground thinking ?Is this really happening to me? Is this a race?' I think I was just a little delirious. I found my way through though, and I remember thinking that I was going to score for the team. That is what I came here to do. I tried to fight to keep my mind awake and fight for the best place that I could.
“I really believe that my character spoke today by finishing.”
Despite not having the result that everyone expected, CU coach Mark Wetmore was proud of Barringer and all that she has accomplished while at Colorado.
“She's had a lot of great races for us and was probably bound to have one not so great one,” Wetmore said. “There was a lot of pressure over the last six months and I was trying to make sure we didn't give away too many of those pieces, but maybe we did.”
Even though Barringer didn't have the race she wanted, McLaughlin ran an awesome race. She was in the lead pack for most of the race and was the highest placing freshman in the country. McLaughlin crossed the finish in 20 minutes and 1.1 seconds. Barringer's time was 21:46.9.
“All along since August, we (coach Heather Burroughs and Wetmore) were thinking that Allie could be in the top 10 or so,” Wetmore said. “The race unfolded well for her. She's learned a lot so far in the time she has had with us and today was her reward for being open minded and willing to learn.”
McLaughlin was the top freshman in the race. The second highest placing freshman was Oregon's Jordan Hasay who placed 18th.
“I had a lot of fun running today,” McLaughlin said. “It felt great to be able to stay in the lead pack and stay strong the whole race.”
The women recorded 458 points to place 20th. Villanova won the title with 86 points and Florida State finished second (133). Angela Bizzarri (Illinois) won the race in 19:46.8.
The Buffs were much improved from a season ago where they didn't even advance to the national championship. Sophomore Emma Coburn was 115th (21:24.6), junior Laura Thweatt was 131st (21:31.3) and sophomore Katie Cumming was 150th (21:40.4).
“We have a lot of young people back and we have some really great people sitting at home watching this on TV,” Wetmore said. “I'm excited about their future.”
Christian Thompson led the men for the second time this season and just missed All-American honors by four spots as he was the 44th overall. Thompson ran the 10k course in 30:24.6.
“I moved up well throughout the race and it's a big improvement from last year,” Thompson said. “I was happy with it and I gave it all I had today.”
Colorado recorded 315 points for the sixth-place finish. Big 12 Conference rival Oklahoma State won the championship with 127 points and Oregon was second with 143. Samuel Chelanga of Liberty won the individual title, crossing the finish in 28:41.3.
Junior Richard Medina was the second scorer to cross the finish for the Buffs. He was 57th overall with a time of 30:31.5. Sophomore Andy Wacker placed third for the Buffs and was 70th overall (30:37.0) and freshman Joe Bosshard was 80th (30:44.8). Freshman Aric Van Halen also scored for the Buffs for the first time this season as the fifth runner. He was 130th (31:13.0).
The Buffs ran without one of their best as senior Kenyon Neuman was not able to compete. Senior Jordan Kyle, who was the top racer for CU at regionals 10 days ago, didn't have the performance he hoped for since he has been battling flu-like symptoms for the past few days.
“Our first and second men weren't ready to go today, but I'm proud of our five who scored for us,” Wetmore said. “I'm really very happy with the front five and I'm excited about the future as well for the men.”
The men will return all but two to their roster next season as they will graduate Kyle and Kenyon Neuman. The CU women will also graduate a pair in Barringer and Emily Hanenburg.
2009 NCAA DIVISION I CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Lavern Gibson Cross Country Course
(Wabash Valley Family Sports Center, Terre Haute, Ind.)
MEN'S TEAM TOP-10 10K RESULTS (of 31 teams):
1. Oklahoma State, 127; 2. Oregon, 143; 3. Alabama, 173; 4. Northern Arizona, 190; 5. William & Mary, 226; 6. Colorado, 315; 7. Wisconsin, 321; 8. New Mexico, 350; 8. Iona, 350; 10. Stanford, 354; 11. Villanova, 359; 12. Oklahoma, 386; 13. Portland, 394; 14. Syracuse, 405; 15. Virginia, 408; 16. Iowa State, 430; 17. BYU, 468; 18. Washington, 470; 19. Arizona State, 472; 20. Providence, 482; 21. Ohio State, 483; 22. Georgetown, 485; 23. Louisville, 490; 24. Minnesota, 493; 25. Auburn, 504; 26. Arkansas, 535; 27. North Carolina State, 539; 28. Texas, 605; 28. Duke, 605; 30. Florida State, 612; 31. Michigan State, 654.
MEN'S TOP-10 INDIVIDUAL FINISHERS:
1. Samuel Chelanga, Liberty, 28:41.3; 2. David McNeill, Northern Arizona, 29:06.5; 3. Chris Derrick, Stanford, 29:14.8; 4. Barnabas Kirui, Mississippi, 29:24.1; 5. Jordan Chipangama, Northern Arizona, 29:33.1; 6. Dorian Ulrey, Arkansas, 29:37.9; 7. Brandon Bethke, Arizona State, 29:38.3; 8. Andrew Bumbalough, Georgetown, 28:39.1; 9. Ryan Vail, Oklahoma State, 29:40.7; 10. Colby Lowe, Oklahoma State, 29:42.4.
OTHER COLORADO FINISHERS:
44. Christian Thompson, 30:25; 57. Richard Medina, 30:32; 70. Andrew Wacker, 30:37; 80. Joseph Bosshard, 30:45; 130. Aric Vanhalen, 31:13; 162. Matt Tebo, 31:28; 231. Jordan Kyle, 33:03.
WOMEN'S TEAM TOP-10 10K RESULTS (of 31 teams):
1. Villanova, 86; 2. Florida State, 133; 3. Washington, 188; 4. Texas Tech, 191; 5. Princeton, 251; 6. West Virginia, 259; 7. Florida, 260; 8. Duke, 272; 9. Oregon, 276; 10. Minnesota, 310; 11. Providence, 349; 12. Illinois, 365; 13. New Mexico, 368; 14. Penn State, 375; 15. Virginia, 391; 16. Stanford, 408; 17. Iowa State, 446; 18. Syracuse, 450; 19. BYU, 453; 20. Colorado, 458; 21. Georgetown, 495; 22. UTEP, 500; 23. Notre Dame, 519; 24. Arizona State, 520; 25. SMU, 581; 26. Michigan State, 601; 27. Michigan, 637; 28. Baylor, 666; 29. Ohio State, 673; 30. Arizona, 682; 31. Indiana, 716.
WOMEN'S TOP-10 INDIVIDUAL FINISHERS:
1. Angela Bizzarri, Illinois, 19:46.8; 2. Kendra Schaaf, Washington, 19:51.6; 3. Susan Kuijken, Florida State, 19:57.7; 4. Catherine White, Virginia, 19:59.5; 5. Allie McLaughlin, Colorado, 20:01.1; 6. Amanda Marino, Villanova, 20:02.4; 7. Megan Duwell, Minnesota, 20:06.9; 8. Emily Infeld, Georgetown, 20:07.9; 9. Risper Kimaiyo, UTEP, 20:10.9; 10. Cecily Lemmon, BYU, 20:11.9.
OTHER COLORADO FINISHERS:
115. Emma Coburn, 21:25; 131. Laura Thweatt, 21:32; 150. Katie Cumming, 21:41; 163. Jenny Barringer, 21:47; 199. Laura Tremblay, 22:06; 217. Emily Hanenburg, 22:20.
- Colorado Cross Country ?
Players Mentioned
