Alice Taylor won the 10,000 at the Willamette Invitational with a school-record 35:40.35 on Friday.
CU's Alice Taylor Topples Field in Record-Breaking Run
COMPLET ERESULTS
SALEM, Ore.—Concordia’s Alice Taylor, a 13th-place finisher and All-American at the NAIA Cross Country Championships last fall, posted one of the NAIA’s best times in several seasons with a time of 35:40.35 en route to winning run in the 10,000-meter run at the Willamette Invitational on Friday.
Covering the final 5,000 meters on the Charles Bowles Track on the campus of Willamette University in 17:10 after hitting the half-way point in 18:30, Taylor pulled away from the frontrunners in the final mile for a convincing 26-second victory.
Taylor’s time, easily a new school record, narrowly eclipsed the top overall time posted on the NAIA’s 2010 performance list as Jessica Kipwombok of Azusa Pacific is currently listed with the top mark with a 35:40.47 set three weeks ago at the Occidental Distance Carnival.
Along with Kipwombok, 2008 NAIA Cross Country Champion Alissa McKaig (34:22.95, 2009), Wayland Baptist’s Caroline Karude (35:00.11, 2009) and Cal State-San Marcos’Morgan Sjogren (35:28.45) are the only runners to register faster times than Taylor the past three seasons.
“Alice ran an outstanding race which instantly has us rethinking our plan for nationals,” CU head coach Randy Dalzell said. “Her time today could win a championship in many years.”
Duplicated Taylor’s feat of reaching an NAIA ‘A’ standard in the 10,000, Eric Burck, the newly minted NAIA Indoor National Champion in the 5,000, moved up in distance to nab an automatic qualifying performance with a comfortable 31:26.14 to finish in 10th place overall. Burck’s time fell well shy of his career best of 30:06.25 set at the Mt. SAC Relays a year ago.
In the women’s 5,000, Concordia scored a pair of automatic qualifiers as Lauren Moran and Samantha Robert each registered career-best performances as Moran crossed the line in sixth place with a 17:36.44 to flirt with the school record of 17:28.86 while Robert finished in 11th place with 17:46.95
Capturing a provisional mark to the outdoor championships, Charles Cummings slipped under his own personal and school record in the steeplechase with a 9:35.43. Cummings’ time defeated his previous best of 9:36.10 set in a third-place result at the Cascade Collegiate Conference Championships in 2008.
Missing the NAIA ‘B’ standard in the 5,000, Marcus Nelson ran a 15:24.01, the school’s third best mark in the event behind Burck and former NAIA All-American Tim Badley. Nelson lowered his previous season best of 15:28.09 set at the Pacific Preview but fell shy of the provisional standard of 15:12.
Additional personal records falling on Friday included Josh Burrus in the 1,500 with a 4:10.33, which edged his 2009 best effort of 4:11.86 and Dylan Zitzer in the 5,000 who slashed more than 15 seconds off a career best with a 15:55.10.
Willamette Invitational
Willamette University
Charles Bowles Track
Salem, Ore.
April 2, 2010
Men’s Results: 1,500: 36. Josh Burrus, 4:10.33. 5,000: 3. Marcus Nelson, 15:24.01; 21. Dylan Zitzer, 15:55.53. 10,000: 10. Eric Burck, 31:26.14; 29. Zach Ginn, 34:01.90. Steeple: 4. Charles Cummings, 9:35.43.
Women’s Results: 5,000: 6. Lauren Moran, 17:36.44; 11. Samantha Robert, 17:46.95. 53. Maggie Pesanti, 19:52.14. 10,000: 1. Alice Taylor, 35:40.35; 13. Sophia DeGraff, 36:06.18.