No. 12 Arizona races to first in classic; No. 1 Washington comes in second

Kibet

UA

TUCSON, Ariz. – No. 12 Arizona competed in the Greater Louisville Cross Country Classic on Saturday. The competition took place at Tom Sawyer State Park.

The women’s squad earned a first-place finish in the 5,000-meter race with 71 points (1-11-12-19-28). No. 1 Washington took second place with 80 points. Michigan State and Arkansas tied for third place with 135 points. Penn State totaled 161 points, good for fifth place.

Junior Elvin Kibet earned a first-place finish with a time of 16:51.71, her second-consecutive win of the season. Kibet’s margin of victory was 3.43 seconds. Sophomore Nicci Corbin was UA’s second finisher, taking 11th place with a time of 17:05.41. Senior Jen Bergman made her 2012 debut, clocking a time of 17:05.87 and earning a 12th-place finish. Senior Elizabeth Apgar finished in 19th place, posting a time of 17:14.17. Junior Amanda Russell’s time of 17:20.95 was good for 28th place and Arizona’s fifth scorer.

Also running for the UA women were sophomore Stephanie Bulder (41st; 17:31.89), junior Erin Menefee (68th; 17:47.75), sophomore Clea Formaz (113th; 18:05.64), junior Melanie McGrath (123rd; 18:11.43) and sophomore Molly Callahan (166th; 18:26.99).

“It was tremendous for our women’s team to come here and beat all those teams, especially No. 1 Washington,” head coach James Li said. “It was a pretty good breakthrough race for Elvin [Kibet]. Of all the big races she has run in her cross-country career, this is her first win. It is a really good win for her, running against NCAA champion’s like Katie Flood [Washington], it was great for her. She stayed really patient and then took off the last mile and nobody could respond.

“This was a significant race, it’s still early in the season but this one gives us a lot of comfort heading into the latter part of the year. If we can keep things like this, we’ll be in great shape.”