Women Win 2009 WCC Cross Country Championships

Oct. 31, 2009

GALLERY

Women's Individual and Team Results

Men's Individual and Team Results

(Belmont, CA) - San Francisco women's cross country won their first ever West Coast Conference team championship on Saturday at Belmont's Crystal Springs cross country course. With the team win, head coach Helen Lehman-Winters earned her second WCC women's Coach of the Year honor. The men finished third in the event.

Women's 6k: For the first time in program history, the Dons women won the championship after the scoring four of the scoring five finished in the top-10. Sophomore Hillary Kigar finished first for USF, coming in fourth overall in 21:22. Freshman Heather Zytkewicz followed in fifth with a time of 21:34, and junior Nicole Bowler came in sixth in 21:42. Freshman Eva Krchova finished 10th in 21:58. All four runners earned West Coast Conference First Team honors for finishing in the top-10. Rounding out the Dons scoring five was freshman Alice Baker, who finished 20th in 22:37. Freshman Sophie Curl came in 43rd with a time of 22:37, and freshman Hayley Niles finished 46th in 23:46.

Following behind USF (45) was Loyola Marymount (52) in second and Portland (64) in third. Santa Clara's Stephanie Wilson was the overall individual champion with a time of 23:12, tying the course record.

Lehman-Winter's WCC women's Coach of the Year award is her second. Her first came in 2004. Lehman-Winter's also won the WCC men's Coach of the Year award in 2005.

"I am so proud of our women's team," said Lehman-Winters. "Hillary was 32nd in this meet last year and she was very tough for us out front today. Bother Heather and Alice turned in clutch performances as well. This is a young team and how they handled this tough conference course was impressive. We have an even better team in store for the regional meet."

Men's 8k: Sophomore Ganbileg Bor led the men's team to a third place finish, finishing third as an individual with a time of 25:05. He earned his second consecutive WCC First Team honor as well. Sophomore Devin Hopkins finished second for the Dons, coming in 11th with a time of 26:01. For finishing in the top-15, Hopkins earned WCC Honorable Mention. Junior Ravi Amarawansa finished 18th in 27:01, and sophomore Tyler Alvarez came in 19th with a time of 26:00. Rounding out the Dons scoring five was sophomore Will Marquardt, who finished 20th in 26:03. Freshman Adrian Rafiee came in 33rd with a time of 26:31, and sophomore Thomas Estrada came in 45th in 27:01.

Portland (34) won the team event, followed by Loyola Marymount (54), and USF (71). Portland's Alfred Kipchumba won the individual event with a time of 25:53.

"Our men have been hit hard with some illnesses and injuries, but today our guys stepped up and our primary focus was to get through conference and come back stronger at the NCAA Regional meet in two weeks," said Lehman-Winters. "We will get back to training for the next two weeks and then make some decisions on who our best regional team is."

"Ganbileg ran a very tough raced today and will just get better with another 2k to race," added Lehman-Winters. "Devin really stepped up and showed just how competitive he is. This is the second year in a row that he has been our number two guy at the conference meet, he is such a competitor."

Next up for the Dons is the NCAA West Regionals at Springfield Country Club in Springfield, OR on Saturday, November 14.

The full results are above and the full list of All-WCC honorees is below.

MEN'S

Individual Champion
Alfred Kipchumba, POR

Coach of the Year
Rob Conner, POR

Freshman of the Year
Lars Erik Malde, POR

All-WCC First Team (Alphabetical order)
Jared Bassett, POR
Ganbileg Bor, USF
Chris Boyle, GON
Matt Frerker, POR
Alfred Kipchumba, POR
Sterling Lockert, LMU
Lars Erik Malde, POR
Brian McDonald, LMU
Robbie Reid, SCU
Chris Sampson, SCU

All-WCC Honorable Mention (Alphabetical order)
Mark Blucher, SMC
Thomas Finnigan, LMU
Devin Hopkins, USF
Tyre Johnson, LMU
Daniel LaCava, LMU

WOMEN'S

Individual Champion
Stephanie Wilson, SCU

Coach of the Year
Helen Lehman-Winters, USF

Freshman of the Year
Sheree Shea, LMU

All-WCC First Team (Alphabetical order)
Nicole Bowler, USF
Lyndy Davis, POR
Theresa Hailey, POR
Hillary Kigar, USF
Eva Krchova, USF
Mary Reynolds, SCU
Sheree Shea, LMU
Stephanie Wilson, SCU
Chelsea Wishard, PEP
Heather Zytkewicz, USF

All-WCC Honorable Mention (Alphabetical order)
Brieanna Delaney, LMU
Cynthia Chaidez, LMU
Elizabeth Keaveny, POR
Brooke Lademan, LMU
Cassandra Salazar, LMU