Inman leads Huskies to 31st-place NCAA finish
November 26, 2002
In their sixth-consecutive trip to the national championships Monday, the Washington women finished in 31st place overall of 31 teams in the 6,000-meter race.
Before the Nov. 16 NCAA regional meet, coach Greg Metcalf was highly confident his women's team had the skills and determination to make a sixth-straight NCAA appearance based on its work ethic at practices.
"The gals are always amazing," said Metcalf before regional competition. "They find a way to get it done, even if we finish third or fourth, it's likely we'll get into the NCAA championships."
His prediction was right in a tough season for the Washington's women cross-country team. The team played the nation's best several times before competing at the NCAA championships at Terre Haute, Ind.
For the fourth-straight meet, the Huskies had to face highly ranked league rival Stanford. They also faced Notre Dame once at the ND Invite followed by a meeting at pre-nationals. The tough schedule kept the Huskies' noses in the national scene throughout the year. The final rankings, which came out prior to nationals had the Huskies at 24th in the country.
Brigham Young won the national championship followed by Stanford and Notre Dame. North Carolina's Shalane Flanagan was the first woman to cross the finish line in a speedy 19 minutes and 36 seconds.
The Huskies' 31st-place finish was paced by their senior co-captain, Courtney Inman, who was familiar with national competition. This year's cross-country championship was her third NCAA championship of the year; including two at the indoor and outdoor track and field NCAAs.
Inman was the highest-placing Husky at the national championship -- she completed the race in 21 minutes and two seconds. Inman has been the fastest Husky finisher in every contest during the 2002 season.
Five other Huskies represented the UW at the NCAAs including sophomore Lindsay Egerdahl (156th place with 21:41), junior Kate Spigel (199th with 22:06), senior Kate Bradshaw (212th with 22:11), freshman Laura Hodgson (228th with 22:55). Sophomore Jamie Gibbs concluded the tightly packed Huskies competitors with 22:52.
Next season they will be aiming for their seventh-straight trip to the NCAAs, and with the tradition and letter-winning runners' coming back -- they lose only Inman and Bradshaw -- the streak has a chance to continue in 2003.
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