Stanford women’s cross country continued its dynasty run, taking home the NCAA DI West Region title last Friday for the 13th time. The win punched their ticket to the NCAA Championships for the 33rd consecutive season, where they will compete in Columbia, Mo. on Saturday.
The men’s squad came out with a sixth-place finish, a few too many places outside of the automatic-qualifying spots. The men’s team was not selected as an at-large qualifying team for the NCAA championships. They will find out on Saturday to see if their their 31-year championship-appearance streak will extend to 32 years.
Women’s race
From the opening kilometer, juniors Amy Bunnage and Sophia Kennedy led the way for the Cardinal. Surging to the front early, Bunnage and Kennedy remained in the top-five throughout the entire six-kilometer race.
Bunnage, making her season debut after injury, came in hot with an impressive fourth-place finish, while Kennedy had her first top-five placement of the season with a personal best of 19:23.9, beating her previous personal best by 12 seconds. Bunnage and Kennedy earned two of Stanford’s four All-Region honors on the women’s side.
Behind them was graduate student Mena Scatchard with a breakout performance. Clocking a 19:50.3, Scatchard broke her personal best, clinched her first top-10 finish this season and added a third All-Region honor to the Cardinal’s collection.
The Cardinal women’s fourth and final all-region honor came from senior Riley Stewart’s 18th-place finish. Her 20:13.5 performance, with a net of two places throughout the race, was integral to Stanford’s first-place finish.
Rounding out the 66-point finish for the Stanford women was senior Julia Flynn, who secured a 29th-place finish in 20:25.6.
Men’s race
Junior Leo Young led the Stanford men in 29:25.3, who earned a third-place all-region finish in his fourth team win of the season. In his signature final kick, Young gained five places in the last 1000 meters of the race. Young’s All-Region performance set a promising tone for Stanford on the men’s side.
Sophomore James Dargan joined Young as the final All-Region honoree, crossing the line as 12th overall in 29:35.4 after spending most of the race hovering near the top-ten.
Dargan was followed by sophomore Josh Bell, who cracked the top-40 midway through the 10-kilometer race and held on for a 39th-place finish in 30:17.1. Sophomore Byron Grevious followed closely behind, coming off the course with a 49th finish at 30:24.6, and was tailed by senior Nolan Topper, who finished out for the Cardinal, placing 53rd in 30:27.6.
While the Cardinal men put up a good fight, their performance was not enough to automatically advance in the postseason.
Next stop: Columbia
With postseason momentum building and key runners finding their stride, the Stanford women head into the Championships looking to make more than just an appearance for the first time since 2007.