Cougs’ Lagat Runs Third At Ncaas Snubbed Teammates Give Him Inspiration

Washington State University has another NCAA cross country All-American.

Sophomore Bernard Lagat, dedicating his performance to his teammates, who were surprisingly not invited despite being ranked 12th, finished third in the Division I Championships Monday on the Furman University Golf Course.

UCLA’s Mebrahtom Keflezighi set a course record in near perfect conditions, winning the 10K race in 28:54, six seconds better than the mark set 16 years ago by Clemson’s Hans Koeleman.

Michigan’s Kevin Sullivan was second in 29:01. Lagat followed in a personal-best 10K time of 29:05.

“Bernard was so determined to run for the team,” said WSU assistant coach Li Li. “He kept saying this race is for his teammates.”

Lagat and Keflezghi broke away from the pack at 5,000 meters and had built a commanding lead by 7,000 meters. But then Lagat developed a side ache.

Sullivan, the Canadian 1,500-meter champion, caught Lagat with 500 meters left and passed him for good with 100 meters to go. Lagat held off Adam Goucher of Colorado with a hard sprint.

Stanford took the men’s title over Arkansas by a point when its fifth-place runner, Jonathan Riley, passed the Razorbacks’ final scorer, Murray Link, in the final 100 yards. It was the closest championship win since 1970 when Villanova won by a point over Oregon.

Oregon was eighth this time. Only two of the Ducks’ three runners from Mead High School competed. Junior Rob Aubrey was 49th in 30:34 after running in the top 25 most of the way until developing a stitch in his side the last 2 miles, and Micah Davis was 86th in 31:13. Greg James, 57th a year ago, did not run.

In the women’s 5,000-meter race, Villanova’s Carrie Tollefson won with a course-record 16:29. Ten seconds back was Amy Skieresz of Arizona.

Brigham Young took the women’s team title by two points over Stanford. Oregon’s women were also eighth.

, DataTimes