Oct. 16, 2010

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Senior Michael Coe placed seventh and junior Deborah Maier finished third to lead the Cal men's and women's cross country teams, respectively, at the Pre-NCAA Invitational Saturday. In the team competition, the Golden Bear women were eighth with the men seventh.

Racing in crowded and highly competitive fields that included a number of nationally ranked teams, Cal ran on the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country that will host the NCA Championships in November. Both Bear squads improved considerably from their 2009 results when the Cal women were 13th and the men 18th.

"I thought that we had an encouraging meet for both the men and women," head coach Tony Sandoval said. "We improved from last year and showed significant progress form the Stanford Invitational three weeks ago. We've demonstrated that we are a contender for NCAA bids for both teams in November. Michael and Deborah have distinguished themselves as elite runners who are competitive with anyone in Division I. Their leadership and front-running ability is vital to the team. We'll need to get better as we move into the championship portion of the season. I'm confident that we'll step up when it counts."

With more than 70 squads on the course, the teams were split into blue and white divisions, with the Bears among those in the blue division.

Maier, who was second overall at the Stanford Invitational last month, covered the 6000-meter course in 20:19.3. She has now paced the Bears in each race she has entered the last two years. Last season, Maier was 13th at the Pre-NCAA meet.

Chelsea Reilly was the second Cal runner across the line in 65th place in 21:23.1. She was followed by Rowena Tam (74th, 21:28.1), Taylor Dutch (88th, 21:35.6) and Laurynne Chetelat (21:49.8). Sofia Oberg, in 141st place, and Michelle Davis, who was 149th, completed the Golden Bear lineup.

With the eighth-place showing, Cal finished ahead of three nationally ranked teams: No. 13 Washington (which was ninth), No. 25 Arkansas (which was 17th) and No. 29 BYU (which was 11th).

Coe paced the Cal men for the second straight outing after taking fifth at the Stanford Invite. He was seventh among 231 runners in 23:37.1 over 8000 meters.

The Bears' next four scorers were tightly bunched at the finish, timed within 10 seconds of each other. Collin Jarvis took 49th in 24:26.3, and he was followed by Steve Sodaro 956th, 24:30.1), Kari Karlsson (57th, 24:31.5) and Cody Schmidt (64th, 24:36.5). Simon Schmidt (129th, 25:39.9).

Like the women, the Cal men placed in front of a trio of ranked schools - No. 20 Michigan State, No. 26 UCLA and No. 30 Florida.

The Bears will take a week off from racing before traveling to the Pac-10 Championships Oct. 30 in Seattle, Wash..

Men's Results - 8000 meters
Teams - 1. Stanford 43; 2. Iona 127; 3. Florida State 154; 4. Northern Arizona 192; 5. Princeton 196; 6. William & Mary 204; 7. California 233; 8. North Carolina 336; 9. Florida 350; 10. Louisville 354; 11. UCLA 375; 12. Dartmouth 384; 13. Ohio State 400; 14. Montana State 418; 15. Illinois 441; 16. Richmond 452; 17. UTEP 499; 18. Michigan State 521; 19. Purdue 549; 20. Binghamton 562; 21. McNeese State 566; 21. Dayton 566; 23. Michigan 595; 24. Nebraska 622; 25. Georgia 641; 26. Washington 643; 27. Marquette 660; 28. Mississippi 662; 29. Colorado State 663; 30. Baylor 669; 31. Utah Valley 707; 32. South Dakota State 737; 33. Clemson 902; 34. Arizona 925; 35. Montana 987.

Individual Winner - Chris Derrick (Stanford) 23:16.9. Cal Finishers - 7. Michael Coe 23:37.1; 49. Collin Jarvis 24:26.3; 56. Steve Sodaro 24:30.1; 57. Kari Karlsson 24:31.5; 64. Cody Schmidt 24:36.5; 129. Simon Schmidt 25:14.5; 166. Matt Petersen 25:39.9.

Women's Results - 6000 meters
Team - 1. Florida State 115; 2. Arizona 128; 3. Iowa State 175; 4. Providence 231; 5. Texas 233; 6. Michigan State 279; 7. Princeton 291; 8. California 345; 9. Washington 352; 10. Iowa 353; 11. BYU 379; 12. Richmond 401; 13. Vanderbilt 415; 14. Ohio State 434; 15. Central Michigan 476; 16. Columbia 483; 17. Arkansas 493; 18. Colorado State 512; 19. UCLA 520; 20. Portland 526; 21. Weber State 351; 22. Clemson 543; 23. Notre Dame 547; 24. Nebraska 560; 25. Loyola Marymount 611; 26. UTEP 613; 27. Wichita State 639; 28. Liberty 657; 29. William & Mary 692; 30. Dayton 716; 31. Purdue 727; 32. Illinois State 742; 33. Missouri 745; 34. Dartmouth 784; 35. Alabama 823; 35. Southern Utah 823; 37. Marquette 866; 38. Ball State 1093.

Individual Winner - Risper Kimaiyo (UTEP) 20:03.4. Cal Finishers - 3. Deborah Maier 20:19.3; 65. Chelsea Reilly 21:23.1; 74. Rowena Tam 21:28.1; 88. Taylor Dutch 21:35.6; 115. Laurynne Chetelat 21:49.8; 141. Sofia Oberg 22:00.6; 149. Michelle Davis 22:02.6.

Complete Results