The women’s race at Saturday’s Pacific-10 Conference Championships was billed as a clash of titans: No. 1 Washington and No. 2 Oregon, the winner likely moving on to bigger things at regionals and nationals. The Huskies responded by doing something never before seen at the Pac-10s.
With Washington freshman Kendra Schaaf running away from the pack early and breaking the course record en route to an individual title, Washington recorded a 1-2-3-4-5-6 finish for a rare 15-point sweep at Springfield Country Club. Senior transfer Lindsey Scherf was the first Duck to cross the finish line in seventh place, and the Ducks as a team accumulated 55 points for a runner-up finish.
Schaaf, of Craven, Saskatchewan, sprinted to the front of the pack at the sound of the firing gun and within 400 meters, held a sizable gap.
“I just wanted to go by feel and see what happens. I feel I race better that way,” Schaaf said of her unusually fast start. “I didn’t have too much of a plan, I just wanted to run what felt good.”
After the first loop, Schaaf had a stranglehold on the lead, with Oregon sophomore Alex Kosinski, junior Nicole Blood and Scherf battling with a pack of Huskies for second place. Washington ran strong and overwhelmed the rest of the field, with Oregon runners struggling to maintain tempo.
“We just weren’t ready for it, and I think it caught us emotionally halfway through,” Blood, the eighth-place finisher, said. “It’s tough to run like that.”
“I think we underestimated how good they were,” Oregon head coach Vin Lananna said of the Huskies. “Probably about halfway through, I don’t think we were prepared as we could’ve been to handle that. I think that’s not our best.”
Nearly half a minute after Schaaf crossed the finish line in a course-record 19:24.05, the next runner (Washington’s Marie Lawrence) followed suit. Scherf finished in 20:15.64, and Blood followed her in 20:25.28.
A pair of Arizona State runners, Kari Hardt and Ali Kielty, separated Blood from Kosinski, who finished third among Ducks and 11th overall in 20:29.61. The seventh Washington runner crossed the finish line before three Ducks finished in succession: seniors Melissa Grelli (14th, 20:36.98), Mattie Bridgmon (15th, 20:41.43) and Zoe Nelson (16th, 20:41.91).
Sophomore Zoe Buckman finished 32nd (21:09.26), freshman Bronwyn Crossman finished 36th (21:20.05), sophomore Betsy Bies finished 44th (21:26.60) and junior Brooke Giuffre finished 85th (23:59.41).
Oregon was followed up in team scoring by Stanford (99 points), Arizona State (105) and Washington State (188).
The dominant show by Washington runners may have resulted in some wounded pride, but all that comes secondary to preparations for the NCAA West Regional on Nov. 15.
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