Men’s XC Team, Abby Regan Win at Stanford Invite

STANFORD, Calif. -- Another week, another win for the Washington State men’s cross country team as the Cougar men took the team title and Abby Regan won the women’s individual title at the 41st Annual Stanford Invitational held at the Stanford University Golf Course Saturday.

The WSU men’s team won the Division I team title with 73 points, just ahead of UC Santa Barbara’s 74 and No. 5 Stanford’ s 75. WSU, ranked regionally at No. 10 to Stanford’s No. 2, also finished ahead of No. 8 Cal Poly. Last week, the WSU men won the Sundodger Invitational, upsetting No. 27 Washington on its home course in Seattle.

Saturday, redshirt senior Drew Jordan led the way for WSU with his eighth place overall finish (seventh in scoring) with a time of 23 minutes 51 seconds on the 8,000 meters course. Other Cougar scorers were sophomore John Whelan 15th overall/13th in scoring (24:08), freshman Sam Levora 18th overall/14th in scoring (24:18), senior Lee George 26th overall/18th in scoring (24:24), and redshirt senior Richard Shroy 33rd overall/21st in scoring (24:29). Other Cougs and their finishes were junior Forrest Shaffer 40th/26th (24:37), and freshman Michael Williams 112th/61st (25:17). Stanford’s Joe Rosa was the men’s individual winner in a time of 23:16.

Cougar senior Abby Regan (Coonamble, NSW, Australia) won the women’s 6,000 meters race in a time of 20:31. Regan was in third place at the split but drove through high school sensation Alexa Efraimson competing professionally for Nike, third place in 20:46, and UC Riverside senior Raquel Hefflin, runner-up in 20:39.

Regan, who is working toward her master’s degree in interior design at WSU, spent last week in Chicago attending a special class. After a series of cancelled flights she finally joined the Cougar team after midnight Friday.

“Coach said to run like last week, be conservative at the start, stay with the front pack and push the last 2k,” Regan said. “I’ve been exhausted all week so was surprised to run and especially to win. Last year I placed 90th or so at this race but I felt really comfortable and just sat in behind the leaders and stuck with them. I’m so excited!”

The No. 4 Stanford women’s team won the title with 71 points followed by UC Davis (94), Cal Poly (117), Loyola Marymount (118) and the WSU women’s team was fifth with 137 points.

Other WSU women contributing to the scoring included sophomore Morgan Willson 24th overall/21st scoring (21:39), freshman Devon Bortfeld 33rd overall/28th scoring (21:59), junior CharLee Linton 46th overall/34th scoring (22:11), and junior Emily Dwyer 73rd overall/53rd scoring (22:36). Other Cougars and their finishes were sophomore Steffie Pavey 84th overall/56th scoring (22:46), and sophomore Ashlie Standow 99th/64th scoring (22:55).

The Cougar harriers next race Oct. 18 at the Pre National Invitational at the LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Ind.