Men's and Women's Cross Country Teams Sweep 2010 UAA Championships
MEN'S RESULTS | WOMEN'S RESULTS | VIDEO RECAP
Bronx, N.Y., October 30, 2010 – The Washington University in St. Louis men’s and women’s cross country teams swept the team titles at the 2010 University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships, hosted by New York University and held Saturday, Oct. 30, at Van Cortlandt Park in Bronx, N.Y.
Washington University junior Michael Burnstein won the men’s individual championship, becoming the first WUSTL student-athlete to accomplish the feat since 1999, and just the second in school history to place first at the conference championship meet.
The WUSTL men’s team captures the UAA Championship for just the fourth time in school history and the first time since 2003, which was also the last time the Washington U. men’s and women’s teams swept the team titles.
The women’s team repeats as UAA Champions for the first time the 2004 and 2005 seasons, which ended a string of four-straight UAA Championships for the Bears. The WUSTL women’s team has now won a conference-record 10 cross country titles. Junior Liz Phillips paced the women’s team on Saturday, finishing fourth overall with a time of 22:07.85 on the difficult 6K course.
New York University had won four-straight UAA Championships on the men’s side, and defeated the Bears two weeks ago at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Brooks Invitational in Winneconne, Wis. However, Washington U. clipped the Violets by nine points on Saturday, by a final score of 42-51.
Both squads placed three runners in the top nine with Burnstein leading the pack by posting a time of 25:40.18 on the 8K course. He overtook NYU’s Andrew Zitek in the final half mile, edging the Violet’s top finisher by less than a second, a margin of 0.67.
WUSTL senior Dave Spandorfer finished fourth, just over two seconds behind the leaders with a time of 25:42.82, and sophomore David Hamm, who was the top-freshman at the UAA meet a year ago, came in ninth with a time of 26:01.06.
The Bears solidified their lead thanks to strong finishes by their fourth and fifth runners. Junior Tucker Hartley finished 10th overall with a time of 26:02.64, while New York’s next finisher, Ryan Boyd, crossed the finish line four spots later, and senior Alden Black’s 18th-place finish and time of 26:13.43 sealed the win for the Red and Green.
The women’s race was also very competitive but not quite as close as the men’s with Washington University beating second-place Chicago by 13 points, a score of 48-61. Like the men’s team, Washington University placed behind Chicago at the Brooks Invitational two weeks ago, but rebounded to overtake its conference rival on Saturday.
The Bears overtook Chicago with their depth, placing four runners inside the top-11 compared to just two for Chicago. While the Maroons’ Liz Lawton won the individual title, after Phillips Washington U. had senior Jessica Londeree (sixth-place, 22:25.12) and freshman Sarah Fisher (seventh-place, 22:26.73) cross the finish line before another runner from Chicago.
Washington University senior Taryn Surtees, who placed first overall at the last two UAA Championships, finished 11th with a time of 22:28.84, and junior Erica Jackey rounded out the Bears’ top five with a 20th-place finish and a time of 23:00.33.
The Washington University men’s and women’s cross country teams will take next weekend off before returning to action in two weeks for the 2010 NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Championships, to be hosted Saturday, Nov. 13, in Credit Island, Ill.