Ganbileg Bor Named Cross Country Freshman of the Year
Nov. 1, 2008
2008 WCC Men's Individual Results 
2008 WCC Men's Team Results
2008 WCC Women's Individual Results
2008 WCC Women's Team Results
(Belmont, CA) - Two Dons earned West Coast Conference First Team accolades after top finishes at the WCC Cross Country Championships, held today at Crystal Springs in Belmont, CA. Freshman Ganbileg Bor earned First Team and Freshman of the Year honors after finishing second in the men's 8k race, and senior Michelle Born earned her second consecutive first team honor after finishing fourth in the women's 6k race.
Bor led all Dons with a time of 26:01, helping USF (109) to a third place finish behind Loyola Marymount (48) and Portland (38). The second place individual finish for Bor was the second highest finish ever for a Don, behind Cheyne Inman's first place finish last season. The Pilots won for the 30th consecutive year. Portland senior David Kinsella earned the individual win.
Finishing second and third for the Dons, freshman Devin Hopkins (20) and sophomore Jesus Romo (21) each ran a 27:12. Freshman Tyler Alvarez finished 27th in 27:28 and freshman Jeremy Grace rounded out the scoring five, finishing 39th in 27:56. Sophomore Ravi Amarawansa finished 43rd at 28:13, and freshman Colin Hopkins came in 46th with a time of 28:20.
"Bor was impressive today," said head coach Helen Lehman-Winters. "He was tough in the latter stages of the race and competed very well in his first conference appearance. His strength is in longer races, so we are looking forward to the 10K at NCAA R Regionals."
"Our men had difficult time racing as a team today. Grace, who has consistently been our number two runner went down in the race and could not get back into it. Devin stepped up today and was critical to our team edging out Santa Clara for third place. We can race much better as a team at NCAA Regionals."
Born finished fourth, her career high finish in the meet, with a time of 22:10. As a team, USF (102) finished fourth behind Santa Clara (81), Loyola Marymount (48), and Portland (43). The win for Portland is its seventh consecutive victory in the meet. LMU sophomore Tara Erdmann won the individual race in 21:54.
Sophomore Laurel Kleiber took second for the Dons, and 15th overall in 22:46. Kleiber earned Honorable Mention accolades for her finish. Sophomore Nicole Bowler finished 23rd in 23:22. Freshman Sophia Ditty came in 28th at 23:33 and freshman Hillary Kigar rounded out the scoring five, finishing 32nd in 23:49. Freshman Haley Nemra finished 39th in 24:20, and junior Alice Hobbs came in 41st with a time of 24:29.
"Our women performed far below our ability level today," said Lehman-Winters. "We did not execute very well and no one stepped up. I am very disappointed but hopeful as I know we are much better than what we showed today. We need to regroup and prepare for NCAA Regionals in two weeks. Michelle made some tactical errors that cost her in the end. However, she was 34th in this meet as a freshman, so she has come a long way."
USF now begins preparations for NCAA Regionals on November 15th. Stanford will host the Regional in Palo Alto, CA.
MEN'S XC HONORS 2008 Champion - David Kinsella, POR 2008 Freshman of the Year - Ganbileg Bor, USF 2008 Coach of the Year - Scott Guerrero, LMU2008 Men's All-Conference First Team Phillip Benavides, LMU Ganbileg Bor, USF Colin Harris, POR Chris Jacobs, USD David Kinsella, POR Colin Longmuir, POR Brian McDonald, LMU Mario Mendoza, SMC Robert Reid, SCU Trevor Wiseman, LMU
Honorable Mention Robert Cosby, POR Andy Edick, POR Alex Harkins, SCU Colby Litzenberger, GON Connor Pastoor, LMU
2008 WOMEN'S XC HONORS 2008 Champion - Tara Erdmann, LMU 2008 Freshman of the Year - Brieanna Delaney, LMU 2008 Coach of the Year - Ian Solof, POR
Women's All-Conference First Team Sifrash Ademe, POR Michelle Born, USF Brieanna Delaney, LMU Tara Erdmann, LMU Abby Fall, LMU Natalie Hemphill, POR Dana Morgan, POR Veronica Vasquez, SCU Stephanie Wilson, SCU Chelsea Wishard, PEP
Honorable Mention Stephanie Felix, LMU Karrie Hagedorn, SMC Laurel Kleiber, USF Adrienne Nova, POR Liz Ramos, USD