VERONA, Wis. – Stanford sophomore Amy Bunnage, who made her season debut only eight days earlier, finished fourth at the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday morning.
Bunnage led the Stanford women to sixth as a team with 213 points, and first among Atlantic Coast Conference schools. Bunnage, who didn’t race at the ACC Championships, was the top ACC finisher.
The Stanford men placed 12th with 356 points. Sophomore Lex Young led the Cardinal, in 63rd place.
Bunnage covered the 6-kilometer (3.73-mile) race in 19:31.1 – a Stanford record on the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course, which hosts the Wisconsin Nuttycombe Invitational annually and the Pre-Nationals in years it holds the NCAAs.
Also earning All-America honors by finishing among the top 40 was sophomore Sophia Kennedy, who placed 33rd in 20:00.6. It was the first All-America honor for Bunnage and the third for Kennedy, who previously was an All-American in indoor and outdoor track and field.
Bunnage opened her season at the NCAA West Regionals in Colfax, Wash., on November 15, and won. In this race, the second of the season for the Australian, Bunnage led through 3K and was third in a lead pack of 13 through 4K.
New Mexico’s Pamela Kosgei, Alabama’s Doris Lemngole, and Florida’s Hilda Olemomoi broke into a three-person pack by 5K with Bunnage a 0.5 behind. Bunnage finished 10.1 seconds behind the winner, Lemngole, and 2.4 seconds behind Olemomoi in third. None of the top five finishers, including North Carolina State’s ACC champion Grace Hartman in fifth, are seniors.
Bunnage was the Stanford women’s highest NCAA placer since Aisling Cuffe was fourth in 2013. This is the 11th time a Cardinal woman has placed among the top four.
Stanford’s previous best time on this course was Kennedy’s 19:41.7 at the Pre-Nationals on October 19. Kennedy was 60th halfway through this race, but improved by 19 places between 4K and 5K to move up to 38th. She picked up five more places over the final kilometer.
This was the career-best placing for Bunnage, Kennedy, and Riley Stewart (58th). This was the first NCAA meet for Julia Flynn (119th), Nicola Hogg (199nd). Zofia Dudek, in her fifth NCAA cross country meet, placed 66th and Audrey DaDamio, in her third NCAA meet, was 224th.
This marked the 31st consecutive season that both Stanford teams had advanced to the NCAA Championships. It marked the 29th time the Stanford men finished in the top 12.
The Cardinal hovered from eighth through 12th from the first kilometer on. The spacing between top runner, Lex Young, and No. 5 Paul Bergeron was only 20.2 seconds.
Bergeron, in 112th, was the third American true freshman in the field.
NCAA Cross Country Championships
At Thomas Zimmer Championship Course
Men (10K, 6.21 miles)
Team leaders – 1, BYU 124; 2, Iowa State 137; 3, Arkansas 202; 4, Wisconsin 212; 5, Northern Arizona 237; 12, Stanford 356.
Individual leaders – 1, Graham Blanks (Harvard) 28:37.2; 2, Habtom Samuel (New Mexico) 28:38.9; 3, Dylan Schubert (Furman) 28:39.6; 4, Yaseen Abdalla (Arkansas) 28:41.5; 5, Brian Musau (Oklahoma State) 28:44.9.
Stanford – 63, Lex Young 29:38.7; 72, Cole Sprout 29:41.9; 78, Nolan Topper 29:45.8; 92, Leo Young 29:51.7; 112, Paul Bergeron 29:58.9; 134, Robert DiDonato 30:06.7; 218, Thomas Boyden 31:08.0.
Women (6K, 3.73 miles)
Team leaders – 1, BYU 147; 2, West Virginia 164; 3, Providence 183; 4, Northern Arizona 206; 5, Oregon 210; 6, Stanford 213.
Individual leaders – 1, Doris Lemngole (Alabama) 19:21.0; 2, Pamela Kosgei (New Mexico) 19:27.8; 3, Hilda Olemomoi (Florida) 19:28.7; 4, Amy Bunnage (Stanford) 19:31.1; 5, Grace Hartman (North Carolina State) 19:39.5.
Other Stanford – 33, Sophia Kennedy 20:00.6; 58, Riley Stewart 20:18.1; 66, Zofia Dudek 20:21.7; 119, Julia Flynn 20:40.2; 199, Nicola Hogg 21:10.3; 224, Audrey DaDamio 21:25.5.
All-Americans
Women: Amy Bunnage, Sophia Kennedy.