Published: October 18, 2008 10:17 pm         

Record falls in women’s NCAA cross-country race as Washington dominates

TERRE HAUTE — As has become standard for the Pre-Nationals, the men’s and women’s course records were broken Saturday at LaVern Gibson Championship Course, and top-ranked Washington put on one of the most dominant collegiate performances the course has seen.

Florida State’s Susan Kuijken had a record run to lead No. 3 Florida State to a tie with No. 5 Princeton — ties aren’t broken unless it’s a postseason event — in the women’s 6,000-meter blue race. Washington freshman Kendra Schaaf led four Huskies in the top eight with her third-place finish as Washington won 36-126 over second-place Villanova.

“We did what we set out to do today. We were aggressive,” Huskies coach Greg Metcalf said. “Today was a great effort from our young women. We have a pretty good idea now what we can come back and do in six weeks.

“I told our women we should have five of the top 20, and they came out and just raced. That’s what it’s all about.”

Kuijken, who set the 6K mark in 2007 only to have Colorado’s Jenny Barringer better it in the next race, edged the mark by eight-tenths of a second with a time of 19:48.2.

“Coach [Karen] Harvey told before the race that if I felt good with 2K to go, that I should make a real push and try to win the race,” Kujiken said. “I didn’t really feel all that good with 2K left, but I decided at that moment to go ahead and make a strong push for the win. I kept hearing the announcer mention that I had a lead and had a chance at the course record when I got the finish in sight, so I made a final push and just let loose down the stretch.”

Harvey was content with the performance of her top three runners, but Princeton was able to place its third, fourth and fifth runners ahead of the Seminoles’ fourth and fifth competitors.

“As scary as it is, I think our top three didn’t have their best day, not the we need to at this time of year,” Harvey said. “Four and five, we can’t run like that. We don’t do that in practice … If we’re going to learn something, let’s learn it today. Princeton knows, they ran smart.”

Princeton coach Peter Farrell, a Notre Dame graduate, got a strong performance from three-time Indiana state champion Alex Banfich, who suffered her first loss at the Terre Haute course, having won all three of her state titles on the course. The freshman was 22nd overall and the Tigers’ fourth runner to finish, helping Princeton close a 50-point gap at the recent Notre Dame Invitational against Florida State.

“That’s a huge step up for our program to come out here and basically catch up to Florida State,” Farrell said. “The only we can beat them is if we can get our seventh in front of their fifth.”

If a tie had to be broken, Princeton would have won on the strength of its sixth runner.

North Carolina senior Brianna Felnagle won the day’s opening race, finishing in a time of 20:13.4. Race conditions were much cooler with a stiffer breeze than they were by the time the men runners took to the course.

“I’m excited, overall it was a good race,” she said. “Around 4K, I started to get tired, but it helped that I was behind someone and tried draft off of her, use her energy and that allowed me to get up to the front.”