LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Washington State junior Vallery Korir took 33rd place and the No. 27 Washington State men's cross country team finished 24th on a cold and windy morning at the NCAA Cross Country Championships Saturday at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville.
Korir, a junior from Iten, Kenya, ran the 6000 meters course in a time of 20 minutes 7.9 seconds for 33rd place and became only the fourth woman in WSU women's cross country history to earn All-America honors (top 40 individuals). During the race, Korir was 59th at the 2k split and 29th at the 4k split. Korir, who transferred to WSU in January of 2017, was also the top Cougars woman finisher at this year's NCAA West Region Championships at 19th and at the Pac-12 Championships at 13th.
"The first kilometer I wasn't sure how the race was going to go but as we progressed I started to feel stronger and started moving up," Korir said. "What helped me most was running along girls that I competed with at Pac-12s and Regionals so I knew I should be with them. I am so happy with my race today, I have never been so proud of myself!"
Ednah Kurgat won the individual title with a time of 19:19.4 and led the USTFCCCA-ranked No. 2 New Mexico to the team title with 90 points. No. 1 Colorado was the top Pac-12 team at third place with 139 points.
"Awesome performance by Vallery today," WSU Director of Cross Country/Track & Field Wayne Phipps said. "She ran very intelligently and moved up very well in the last half of the race. Her improvement over this season has been incredible and she now has the confidence to compete with the very best in the nation."
The No. 27 WSU men's team took 24th place with 539 points. This is the third consecutive NCAA finish that the Cougars out-ran their USTFCCCA ranking.
Chandler Teigen, a junior from Anatone, Wash., finished 63rd on the 10,000 meters course in a time of 30:20.5. His split places were 113th at 2000m, 106th at 4k, and 69th at 5k. Teigen's previous NCAA finishes were 145th in 2016 and 183rd in 2015.
"Running the two longer races in eight days is always tough, but we went into it more prepared than we ever have before. Compared to two years ago the pace was much faster at the beginning which was a bit of a surprise, but not too unexpected because people show up to nationals ready to roll," Teigen said. "My individual placing and our team placing wasn't exactly what I? was hoping for, but I? feel like this group of guys can gear up for a record finish at NCAAs next year with a few All-America honors to go along with it."
Michaels Williams, a senior from Richland, Wash., took 70th with a time of 30:26.3. Providing scoring for the WSU men were Nathan Wadhwani (junior, Maple Ridge, B.C. Canada) in 94th in a time of 30:37.4, Matthew Watkins (freshman, Mill Creek, Wash.) in 201st (31:38.3), and Justin Janke (sophomore, Spokane, Wash.) 206th (31:43.0). Also racing were Paul Ryan (junior, Moscow, Idaho) 232nd (32:14.1) and Jake Finney (junior, Post Falls, Idaho) 247th (33:26.2).
Justyn Knight from Syracuse won the individual title with a time of 29:00.1. No. 1 Northern Arizona won the men's team title with 74 points with No. 6 Stanford the top Pac-12 team at fourth with 221 points.
"Finishing 24th in the nation is an excellent accomplishment but we expected and are capable of much more," Phipps said. "We were great through three runners but the gap back to our four and five runners was just way too big to overcome. Still a very bright future for this team as we return all but one runner for next year."
Korir, a junior from Iten, Kenya, ran the 6000 meters course in a time of 20 minutes 7.9 seconds for 33rd place and became only the fourth woman in WSU women's cross country history to earn All-America honors (top 40 individuals). During the race, Korir was 59th at the 2k split and 29th at the 4k split. Korir, who transferred to WSU in January of 2017, was also the top Cougars woman finisher at this year's NCAA West Region Championships at 19th and at the Pac-12 Championships at 13th.
"The first kilometer I wasn't sure how the race was going to go but as we progressed I started to feel stronger and started moving up," Korir said. "What helped me most was running along girls that I competed with at Pac-12s and Regionals so I knew I should be with them. I am so happy with my race today, I have never been so proud of myself!"
Ednah Kurgat won the individual title with a time of 19:19.4 and led the USTFCCCA-ranked No. 2 New Mexico to the team title with 90 points. No. 1 Colorado was the top Pac-12 team at third place with 139 points.
"Awesome performance by Vallery today," WSU Director of Cross Country/Track & Field Wayne Phipps said. "She ran very intelligently and moved up very well in the last half of the race. Her improvement over this season has been incredible and she now has the confidence to compete with the very best in the nation."
The No. 27 WSU men's team took 24th place with 539 points. This is the third consecutive NCAA finish that the Cougars out-ran their USTFCCCA ranking.
Chandler Teigen, a junior from Anatone, Wash., finished 63rd on the 10,000 meters course in a time of 30:20.5. His split places were 113th at 2000m, 106th at 4k, and 69th at 5k. Teigen's previous NCAA finishes were 145th in 2016 and 183rd in 2015.
"Running the two longer races in eight days is always tough, but we went into it more prepared than we ever have before. Compared to two years ago the pace was much faster at the beginning which was a bit of a surprise, but not too unexpected because people show up to nationals ready to roll," Teigen said. "My individual placing and our team placing wasn't exactly what I? was hoping for, but I? feel like this group of guys can gear up for a record finish at NCAAs next year with a few All-America honors to go along with it."
Michaels Williams, a senior from Richland, Wash., took 70th with a time of 30:26.3. Providing scoring for the WSU men were Nathan Wadhwani (junior, Maple Ridge, B.C. Canada) in 94th in a time of 30:37.4, Matthew Watkins (freshman, Mill Creek, Wash.) in 201st (31:38.3), and Justin Janke (sophomore, Spokane, Wash.) 206th (31:43.0). Also racing were Paul Ryan (junior, Moscow, Idaho) 232nd (32:14.1) and Jake Finney (junior, Post Falls, Idaho) 247th (33:26.2).
Justyn Knight from Syracuse won the individual title with a time of 29:00.1. No. 1 Northern Arizona won the men's team title with 74 points with No. 6 Stanford the top Pac-12 team at fourth with 221 points.
"Finishing 24th in the nation is an excellent accomplishment but we expected and are capable of much more," Phipps said. "We were great through three runners but the gap back to our four and five runners was just way too big to overcome. Still a very bright future for this team as we return all but one runner for next year."