2008 Woodie Awards
Runners stampede Stanford
Scott Bauhs, Wildcats showcase speed at Stanford Invitational; improve on last year's finishes to place fourth, sixth
By: Natalia Ferruggia
Issue date: 10/1/08 Section: Sports
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The men, led by two-time, first-place winner Scott Bauhs, improved on their 2007 fifth-place finish by coming in fourth.
The women, led by 27th overall finisher Tori Tyler, tied UC Irvine for sixth place in the 6-kilometer race.
Thousands of spectators followed the pack of runners throughout the muddy course. Eyes were primarily on the fierce matchup between defending titleholder Bauhs and senior Aron Rono from Azusa Pacific University.
Rono, coming off a strong first-place finish from the Aztec Cross Country Invitational on Sept. 13, finished last year behind Bauhs.
Bauhs was off to a conservative start, staying behind Rono for three-quarters of the race before he kicked his speed into gear to finish in front of Rono by eight seconds. Bauhs finished first with an overall time of 23 minutes, 45 seconds in the 8-kilometer course.
While other runners had more time to train for the invitational over the last few weeks, Bauhs was still resting from his Olympic trial run this summer.
"They have been training for a longer time than I have," Bauhs said. "It worked out well - there were definitely spots where I didn't think I'd catch the guy that finished second."
Bauhs was shocked to win the race, because if it was any shorter, he probably wouldn't have won, he said.
"I just have to keep working hard," he said. "We definitely did well, but have room to improve."
Next in line for the 'Cats was sophomore Brendan Scanlon, former California Collegiate Athletic Association's Male Runner of the Week, with a course time of 24:57, 17th overall in the race.
Though only nine out of 10 possible runners participated in the race, Scanlon was prepared for the tough competition from Division I schools.
"The level that Scott's at is above everyone else," Scanlon said. "It's a morale booster - most teams don't have a guy like Scott, you have to take advantage having a guy like him on your team."
The men's finish helped the women's team prepare for its own tough matchup on the rugged course full of potholes and mud.
"The trail was fast because they took out all the hills and it's crowded," freshman Hannah Dillard said. "I was elbowing all over the place and with the grass - it was super fast."
Women's head coach Gary Towne was impressed by how both teams stayed aggressive and adapted to the many changes of the course, despite the men's team resting runners because of illness.
The women's team, stacked with new talent, stayed together throughout the course and resisted falling behind.
"I'm super excited for our team," Dillard said. "We keep on getting better and better, and our times are going to get better."
Natalia Ferruggia can be reached at
nferruggia@theorion.com
Audio slideshow
Audio slideshow by Erik Aguilar
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