WSU Star First In Pac-10 Cross Country

Washington State sophomore Bernard Lagat held off defending champion Mebrahtom Keflezighi of UCLA to win the men’s Pacific-10 Conference cross country title Saturday’s at Stanford, Calif.

Lagat took the lead during the third mile and finished the 8,000 meters in 23 minutes, 59 seconds. He was 8 seconds faster than Keflezighi, who won the 5,000 and 10,000 meters races at last year’s NCAA outdoor track and field championships.

Lagat is the eighth WSU runner to win the title and the first since Josephat Kapkory in 1993.

The Cougars placed third in the team race with 88 points, two behind runner-up Oregon. Stanford’s men (33 points) and women (36) repeated their team titles.

Arizona’s Amy Skieresz became the first woman to win the Pac-10 title three times as she ran the 5,000-meter course in 16:40. Kristin Ritzenthaler placed 15th in 17:57 to help WSU earn seventh place.

Beth Mulligan finished as the runner-up to lead Gonzaga’s women to second place in the eight-team West Coast Conference championships at Belmont, Calif.

Mulligan, the lone senior in GU’s top seven, completed the 5,000 in 18:57, 5 seconds behind Portland’s Kilee Smith. The Zags scored 79 to edge St. Mary’s (85) for second place. GU’s Kevin Swaim was named WCC women’s coach of the year.

Portland’s men and women swept the event for the second consecutive year. The Pilots men scored a perfect 15 and picked off the top seven places to win their 19th title. Champion Bryan Bothwell timed 25:42 in the 8,000.

Portland’s women won their ninth title, placing five in the top seven and scoring 20 points.

GU’s men, fifth with 132 points, were topped by Shane Litzenberger (29:15) in 20th place.

Weber State’s men and women won team titles at the Big Sky Conference championships in Rocklin, Calif.

The Wildcats men scored 39 points to top runner-up Northern Arizona by 14 in the nine-team field. The eight-team women’s field had a similar look, with Weber State at 38 and second-place NAU at 55.

NAU’s Amy Swier won the women’s 5,000 in 17:28. Montana State’s Miguel Galeana ran 25:09 for 8,000 to win the men’s race by 2 seconds over NAU’s Alexander Shelly.

Eastern Washington’s men and women placed eighth. Amber Johnson placed 16th in 18:43 for the women. Tyson Estes ran 28:21 to place 43rd for the men.

Volleyball

Kim Exner had 21 kills and 14 blocks, and Lynn Robison added 23 digs as EWU (19-3, 10-1) outlasted Montana State 15-5, 15-5, 13-15, 6-15, 18-16 in a Big Sky Conference match at Bozeman, Mont.

Tonia Schwinn added 50 assists for the first-place Eagles. Brandy Anderson had 19 kills and 21 digs for third-place MSU (16-8, 7-4).

Katie Lindquist had a school-record 60 assists for three games as 21st-ranked San Diego (20-2, 9-0) defeated Gonzaga 15-13, 15-6, 15-1 in a WCC match at Martin Centre.

LaManda Mounts and Petia Yanchulova combined for 35 kills for the Toreros. Theresa Spink of the Zags (9-16, 3-6) had 13 kills.

Anna Dudeck totaled 15 kills and nine digs as seventh-ranked Puget Sound (20-2, 14-0) defeated host Whitworth 15-4, 15-11, 15-12 to clinch at least a tie for the NCIC title.

The Loggers have two conference matches left and entered the week with a two-match lead on George Fox. Brenda Clinesmith had 19 digs and Lindsay Hunter added nine kills for the seventh-place Pirates (5-18, 3-12), who have lost six straight.

Tournament most valuable player Kristina McAuley had 23 kills as Community Colleges of Spokane finished undefeated at its 11-team crossover, including a 6-15, 15-3, 15-3 win over Pierce in the title match.

Spokane’s Shannon Nelson had 11 kills and also made the all-tourney team. JoEne Heimbigner added 57 assists and five aces. The Sasquatch, 6-0 at the tourney, are 27-23 overall.

Jessica Moore totaled 19 kills and 17 digs as visiting Idaho defeated New Mexico State 15-9, 16-14, 15-11 at Las Cruces to remain on course for a Big West Conference Eastern Division title.

Anna Reznicek added 52 assists and 16 digs, and Kyle Leonard 12 kills and eight digs for the Vandals (14-11, 8-4), who are tied for first place with Boise State. BSU plays at Idaho next Saturday. The Roadrunners (9-15, 5-7) led the second game 14-12 before Idaho rallied.

Men’s soccer

Ivan Wood scored twice as Willamette defeated visiting Whitworth 2-0 in an NCIC match at Salem, Ore.

Wood’s first-half goal came on a penalty kick. The Bearcats (6-10-3, 5-9-1 NCIC) are sixth in the nineteam conference, but have won four of their last five. Seventh-place Whitworth (4-8-4, 2-9-4) is winless in its last four matches.

Randy Garcia’s one goal and one assist, 2 minutes apart, led Pierce to a 2-1 win over visiting CCS in a Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges match at Lakewood, Wash. Kelly Tifft scored for the Sasquatch.

Women’s soccer

Jamie Barton and Jenny Frankel-Reed had one goal and one assist apiece as Willamette (15-2-1, 13-1-1) scored on its first three shots of the second half to defeat Whitworth 6-0 at Salem.

The Bearcats claimed their 11th consecutive win and fifth consecutive NCIC title. The Pirates (8-8-2, 8-6-1) remained in fourth place.

Men’s basketball

Bakari Hendrix scored 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field, and added 10 rebounds to lead Gonzaga over its alumni, the Old Dogs AAU, 109-79 at Martin Centre.

Women’s basketball

Also at Martin Centre, Holly Turner and Lydia Ledgerwood combined for 35 points to guide Gonzaga to a 97-81 win over the Old Dogs AAU.

, DataTimes MEMO: Changed from the Idaho edition