Nov. 15, 2003

GRESHAM, Ore. - California sophomore Bridget Duffy finished eighth at the NCAA West Regional to qualify for her first NCAA Championship Nov. 24 in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The Oakland product clocked a time of 20:46 over the 6000m course at Blue Lake Park to become the first Golden Bear woman to qualify for nationals since Elissa Riedy did so in 1997 and 1998.

"Bridget ran the race of her life," said Cal head coach Tony Sandoval.

The Cal women finished 10th as a team with 308 points, only 18 points behind Arizona and Oregon at 290, who tied for eighth. Last season, Cal placed 13th at regionals with 394 points. Stanford took top honors with 45 points, and UCLA was second with 69.

"Christy (Borak) made all of the difference in the world for us," said Sandoval, of his freshman who returned to the lineup after an early October car accident to finish 58th.

The Cardinal's Alicia Craig won the individual race in 20:06. After Duffy, junior Abby Parker was the Bears' next best runner in 43rd (21:53).

The Cal men also placed 10th as a team with 257 points after taking 12th in 2002 with 325 points. Stanford claimed the men's team trophy, as well, with 18 points with Ian Dobson (29:32) and Ryan Hall (29:33) grabbing first and second, respectively.

"The men ran really hard as a team, ran tough," said Sandoval.

Junior Girmay Guangul paced the Bears in 25th place (30:23) over the 10,000m course, and senior Carlos Carballo wasn't far behind in 27th (30:25).

NCAA West Regional

Women's Team Scores (31 teams): 1. Stanford 45, 2. UCLA 69, 3. Washington 94, 4. Arizona State 112, 5. UC Santa Barbara 175, 10. Cal 308.

Men's Team Scores (26 teams): 1. Stanford 18, 2. Cal Polytechnic 110, 3. Arizona 132, 4. Washington 162, 5. Oregon 164, 10. Cal 257.

Cal Women's Individual Results: 8. Bridget Duffy 20:46, 43. Abby Parker 21:53, 58. Christy Borak 22:11, 99. Eva Markeiwicz 22:53, 109. Samantha Jones 23:02, 130. Pippa Macdonald 23:21, 145. Elizabeth Mayeda 23:34.

Cal Men's Individual Results: 25. Girmay Guangul 30:23, 27. Carlos Carballo 30:25, 55. Giliat Ghebray 31:04, 73. David Torrence 31:36, 77. Ozzie Pina 31:43, 94. Johnathon Balzer 32:11, 139. Tom Allen 33:31.