Sports

Women's harriers prepare for NCAAs

Looking to follow up its best performance of the season, the UW women's cross country team heads to Terre Haute, Ind., where it will compete in the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2003.

Ranked 22nd nationally, the highest it has been all season, and coming off a third-place finish in regional competition, head coach Jim Stintzi's Badgers are gelling at the right time after a slow start.

"We are sort of rounding into shape, which in theory obviously is what you're supposed to be doing," Stintzi said.

Led by junior Katrina Rundhaug, whose 12th-place finish last week earned her all-region honors, and senior Maggie Grabow, who was 21st, the Badgers look to continue their push into the offseason and next season with a formidable showing at the championships.

"Probably a great day would be 13th, 14th, 15th — in that range," Stintzi said. "If we run, and if we run the way we did last weekend, that would be something like that. But, seriously, we have to run well to do well at the nationals."

While Rundhaug has paced the team all year, Wisconsin will rely on its veterans — who have been in and out of races this year — to help it earn a solid finish.

"We held 'A Havahla Haynes out — she just wasn't 100 percent [due to a foot injury], so we held her out. And then Christina Fiduccia has had some leg problems, who had been in our top five the whole year," Stintzi said. "We actually tapped on Amanda Ganser, who had been in our top five last year but really had not run particularly well this year, and she really came through with flying colors. So the older athletes really came through when they needed to."

While the Badgers will look for a middle-of-the pack finish, maybe contending with Big Ten rivals Illinois and Minnesota, Duke will try to make its case for a No. 1 ranking by winning the championship for the first time in school history.

Winning the title will be no small order for the Blue Devils, as the likes of Stanford, Michigan, Notre Dame and defending champ Colorado will try to upend Duke from its top spot and capture the title for themselves.

Competing for Duke are runner-up finisher of last year's championships, junior Sally Meyerhoff; ACC championship winner Shannon Rowbury; senior Clara Horowitz; ACC Freshman of the Year Whitney Anderson; and three other seniors. Amazingly, this team has won every race this season without scoring more than 33 points, compiling five new ACC records along the way.

Also winning all of its competitions this season is No. 2 Stanford. Representing the 2003 national champions are Lauren Centrowitz; Lindsay Flacks; Alicia Follmar; Katie Harrington; star sophomore Arianna Lambie, who captured the regional title last weekend; Teresa McWalters and Amanda and Katy Trotter.

For Michigan, who swept its fourth-straight Big Ten championship and its second-straight regional crown, a septuplet of harriers will represent the Wolverines in Terre Haute, led by sophomore Alyson Kohlmeier.

The No. 4 Irish make their fifth consecutive trip to the national meet, having placed in the top 10 each of the past three years. Senior Stephanie Madia leads the pack, earning a runner-up placement at the Great Lakes Regional.

Though not as strong as last year's team, which won the championship, Colorado will still contend behind the strength of potential individual champion senior Christine Bolf. Backing her is one-two punch sophomore Liza Pascuito and freshman Jenny Barringer.

The championship will probably be decided between these five teams. For the Badgers, just making the tournament was a big step.

"It's a step that I really felt we had to take this year and, you know, considering the rest of the season, wasn't real confident that we would necessarily do that this weekend," Stintzi said. "But I think it will help immensely."