Friday, November 11
Sacramento, Calif.
10 a.m.
University of San Francisco
vs
NCAA West Regionals
Charlotte Taylor takes second and Alex Short places fourth to lead the USF contingent and punch the Dons' tickets to nationals
Dons Earn Best-Ever Regional Finish
11/11/2016 3:09:00 PM | Cross Country
Video highlights
Complete results: Men | Women
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The San Francisco men's and women's cross country teams put it all on the course at the NCAA West Regionals on Friday morning, and came away from Haggin Oaks GC with their top individual team and individual regional finishes in program history.
The Dons turned in two Top 5 individual performances, with USF's Charlotte Taylor and Alex Short both speeding to stellar finishes. As a team the No. 16 women took third, narrowly missing the automatic qualifying spot into the NCAA National Championships field, but easing into an at-large bid for the pinnacle race of the season. The men raced to eighth place in the always stacked region, a USF-best finish for the squad.
"Our women and our men – that's a program best on both sides, individually and as a team," noted USF head coach Helen Lehman-Winters. "I'm pleased with how we competed today. I think both teams are such a great group of kids and they work really hard, so it's nice to see their hard work pay off in this venue."
USF's Charlotte Taylor impressed in her second-place effort in the regional, using the run as a bounceback performance after encountering issues at the West Coast Conference Championships which forced her out of the race prior to finishing. But in Sacramento, Taylor was locked in to lead her team to the national championships field, and she did just that.
Rounding the 6,000 meter course in 19:40.3, Taylor crossed the finish line in second place to earn All-West Region status. Joining her on the awards dais was Marie Bouchard and Elena Burkard, who took 18th and 23rd, respectively. Just seconds behind, Weronika Pyzik and Isabelle Brauer rounded out the Dons' scorers as the team was propelled to a third place result.
"We felt pretty confident going into this meet that we could score around 100 points, and I think we were at 101, remarked Lehman-Winters. "Charlotte was amazing today. Coming back off the challenges that she had at the conference meet and not feeling well going into this meet, her execution was phenomenal. To finish second in the West Region is an amazing performance for her.
"Marie was good in the Top 20 and then just shortly after that Elena and Weronika and Isabelle packed it in. We had some people who didn't have great days and we had people step up and that's what this team is all about."
On the men's side, the Dons faced a tall task in one of the country's toughest regions to run, and came away with an eighth place overall finish in the field, a program best. The win was due in no small part to the Short's fourth-place performance to qualify for the second straight season for an at-large individual bid to the national championships field.
"I'm really happy for our men. We've known all along that one of the challenges we would face in big meets is our depth," explained Lehman-Winters. "There's not a lot of margin for error, and I'm really happy with how well our guys did over 10,000 meters, and we just need to get a little bit stronger and a little bit deeper to be effective in this region. But eighth in the West Region – and this is arguably one of the most competitive regions in the country – I'm really, really proud of how well they did."
The Dons were led on the course by Short's fourth place finish in 29:47.8. 38. Mohamed Aziz crossed the line in 30:28.5 to earn 38th place. Ben Alcock, Edward Shepherd and Caleb McClain rounded out the USF scorers in the race.
Past the men's champion in Oregon phenom, Edward Cherek, the battle for places two through six went right down to the finish line. Cheresek's Duck teammate Matthew Maton's closing kick secured second and Washington's Fred Huxham outpaced USF's Short by just six tenths of a second to take third.
"At 10,000 meters, and we've got to come back and run 10,000 meters next week, the focus with Alex was just do a good job of being patient and running well up front," said Lehman-Winters. "He did exactly what he needed to do, and enough. I think he will be even better at the national championships than he was today."
Short and the women will now head to Terre Haute, Ind., to race against the nation's best and brightest on Nov. 19. Lehman-Winters is excited at the prospects for the Dons to post most program-best marks.
"Obviously, our goal was advance and our goal of the season was to get the most out of ourselves and try and get in the Top 10. We feel that we're a team that can get even better next week than what we were today."
(11/11/2016) XC | 2016 NCAA West Regionals
USF Results
Women's 6K – 3rd Place (101 points)
2. Charlotte Taylor – 19:40.3
18. Marie Bouchard – 20:03.5
23. Elena Burkard – 20:10.5
26. Weronika Pyzik – 20:14.4
35. Isabelle Brauer – 20:25.5
75. Frederique Latraverse – 21:15.5
94. Tatjana Schulte – 21:34.0
Men's 10K – 8th Place (221 points)
4. Alex Short – 29:47.8
38. Mohamed Aziz – 30:28.5
49. Ben Alcock – 30:39.6
54. Edward Shepherd – 30:45.7
80. Caleb McClain – 31:29.0
124. Ryan Driscoll – 32:21.9
Complete results: Men | Women
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The San Francisco men's and women's cross country teams put it all on the course at the NCAA West Regionals on Friday morning, and came away from Haggin Oaks GC with their top individual team and individual regional finishes in program history.
The Dons turned in two Top 5 individual performances, with USF's Charlotte Taylor and Alex Short both speeding to stellar finishes. As a team the No. 16 women took third, narrowly missing the automatic qualifying spot into the NCAA National Championships field, but easing into an at-large bid for the pinnacle race of the season. The men raced to eighth place in the always stacked region, a USF-best finish for the squad.
"Our women and our men – that's a program best on both sides, individually and as a team," noted USF head coach Helen Lehman-Winters. "I'm pleased with how we competed today. I think both teams are such a great group of kids and they work really hard, so it's nice to see their hard work pay off in this venue."
USF's Charlotte Taylor impressed in her second-place effort in the regional, using the run as a bounceback performance after encountering issues at the West Coast Conference Championships which forced her out of the race prior to finishing. But in Sacramento, Taylor was locked in to lead her team to the national championships field, and she did just that.
Rounding the 6,000 meter course in 19:40.3, Taylor crossed the finish line in second place to earn All-West Region status. Joining her on the awards dais was Marie Bouchard and Elena Burkard, who took 18th and 23rd, respectively. Just seconds behind, Weronika Pyzik and Isabelle Brauer rounded out the Dons' scorers as the team was propelled to a third place result.
"We felt pretty confident going into this meet that we could score around 100 points, and I think we were at 101, remarked Lehman-Winters. "Charlotte was amazing today. Coming back off the challenges that she had at the conference meet and not feeling well going into this meet, her execution was phenomenal. To finish second in the West Region is an amazing performance for her.
"Marie was good in the Top 20 and then just shortly after that Elena and Weronika and Isabelle packed it in. We had some people who didn't have great days and we had people step up and that's what this team is all about."
On the men's side, the Dons faced a tall task in one of the country's toughest regions to run, and came away with an eighth place overall finish in the field, a program best. The win was due in no small part to the Short's fourth-place performance to qualify for the second straight season for an at-large individual bid to the national championships field.
"I'm really happy for our men. We've known all along that one of the challenges we would face in big meets is our depth," explained Lehman-Winters. "There's not a lot of margin for error, and I'm really happy with how well our guys did over 10,000 meters, and we just need to get a little bit stronger and a little bit deeper to be effective in this region. But eighth in the West Region – and this is arguably one of the most competitive regions in the country – I'm really, really proud of how well they did."
The Dons were led on the course by Short's fourth place finish in 29:47.8. 38. Mohamed Aziz crossed the line in 30:28.5 to earn 38th place. Ben Alcock, Edward Shepherd and Caleb McClain rounded out the USF scorers in the race.
Past the men's champion in Oregon phenom, Edward Cherek, the battle for places two through six went right down to the finish line. Cheresek's Duck teammate Matthew Maton's closing kick secured second and Washington's Fred Huxham outpaced USF's Short by just six tenths of a second to take third.
"At 10,000 meters, and we've got to come back and run 10,000 meters next week, the focus with Alex was just do a good job of being patient and running well up front," said Lehman-Winters. "He did exactly what he needed to do, and enough. I think he will be even better at the national championships than he was today."
Short and the women will now head to Terre Haute, Ind., to race against the nation's best and brightest on Nov. 19. Lehman-Winters is excited at the prospects for the Dons to post most program-best marks.
"Obviously, our goal was advance and our goal of the season was to get the most out of ourselves and try and get in the Top 10. We feel that we're a team that can get even better next week than what we were today."
USF Results
Women's 6K – 3rd Place (101 points)
2. Charlotte Taylor – 19:40.3
18. Marie Bouchard – 20:03.5
23. Elena Burkard – 20:10.5
26. Weronika Pyzik – 20:14.4
35. Isabelle Brauer – 20:25.5
75. Frederique Latraverse – 21:15.5
94. Tatjana Schulte – 21:34.0
Men's 10K – 8th Place (221 points)
4. Alex Short – 29:47.8
38. Mohamed Aziz – 30:28.5
49. Ben Alcock – 30:39.6
54. Edward Shepherd – 30:45.7
80. Caleb McClain – 31:29.0
124. Ryan Driscoll – 32:21.9
Players Mentioned
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
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/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
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