Kipyego, Barringer Are Favorites As Season Begins

Stanford, Colorado will battle for team titles

Sept. 11, 2007

By Brett Hess

Special to CSTV.com

	Brett Hess Brett Hess covers Cross Country for CSTV.com E-mail here!

        ---   Column Archive   --- TRACK/CROSS COUNTRY 11/19: Kipyego, Stanford Win As Expected 11/19: Blow For Blow To The Finish 11/16: Practically A Sure Thing 11/16: Championship Field Is A History Lesson In Motion 11/6: Irish Hope Shay Is An Inspiration 10/30: Louisville's Emergence Continues 10/23: No Margin For Error 10/16: Kuijken, FSU Race Toward Postseason 10/09: Liberty's McDougal Begins Run For Title 10/02: Rice Women Surprise At Notre Dame 9/25: Invitational Season In Full Swing 9/19: Still Pinching Herself 9/11: Kipyego, Barringer Are Favorites 9/4: Lomong and Rupp Lead Returnees 6/8: Texas Tech's Kipyego Closes In On History 6/7: Arizona's Arnold Sets Record in Decathlon 6/5: FSU Isn't Feeling The Pressure 6/5: Throwers Lead Sun Devils to Sacramento 5/29: Stars Shine at NCAA Regional Meets 5/26: Florida State Primed For East Regional Title 5/26: Top-Ranked LSU Women Trailing At Mideast Regional 5/22: Hastings Does It Her Way 5/15: Wisconsin, Omole Make History at Big Ten Meet 5/8: Notre Dame's Huddle Finishing Strong 5/1: Drake or Penn? Why Not Both? 4/24: Hokies Show Courage In Competing 4/17: Senioritis is Good for Diana Pickler 4/10: Little Longhorn With Big Heart 3/26: Patience Pays Off For Duke's Rowbury 3/20: Just Like The Movies 3/11: Solinsky Leads Wisconsin To First-Ever Track Title 3/11: Front-Running Sun Devils 3/11: Saluki Strong 3/9: The Dual Is On 3/9: Stevens Helps Pace Sun Devils To Early Lead 3/6: Outdoor Champ FSU Favored Indoors 3/5: Sun Devils Look to Take Next Step 2/20: As Belt Leaps Higher, So Does L'ville 2/6: Huskies Running Out In Front 11/19: Stanford's Aiming For Repeat 11/19: Wisconsin Favored To Defend Title

The women's cross country season begins and the list of individual championship favorites begins and ends with Texas Tech junior Sally Kipyego.

Sure, there are others out there, like Colorado's Jenny Barringer and Stanford's Arianna Lambie, who finished second and fourth, respectively, at last year's NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind. But it's Kipyego, the defending champion, who has the title to lose.

Well, Kipyego is back this fall and in the meantime has further cemented her reputation as an elite collegian. At the NCAA Indoor Championships last March, she won both the 3,000 and 5,000 titles on back-to-back days. If that feat wasn't enough, she came back in June to attempt yet another historic double: the 5,000 and 10,000-meter titles again on consecutive days, this time in the desert heat of Northern California. She won the 5,000 but placed second in the 10,000.

Even without the record-setting fifth national title in one scholastic year, Kipyego became just the seventh woman to ever win four individual titles.

For every champ, there must be vaunted rival. Kipyego's is Barringer. Throughout last season Barringer won several meets, finished third once (Pre-Nationals) and placed second just three times. Each runner-up finish was to, you guessed it, Kipyego. Barringer, a junior this fall, finished second to Kipyego at the Big 12 Championships, the Mountain Regionals and at the NCAA Championships.

Like Kipyego, Barringer has furthered her resume this past track season. Only a clipped shoe prevented her from successfully defending her NCAA title in the steeplechase. Despite stopping to put her shoe back on, Barringer finished seventh at the NCAA Championships in Sacramento.

But it was after that meet that Barringer hit her stride. She went on to win the USATF meet and qualify for the World Championships in Japan. Along the way, she became the second-fastest American ever in the steeplechase with a time of 9 minutes, 34 seconds.

Lambie is another runner who certainly had dibs on a NCAA title last fall but was surprisingly overtaken by Kipyego. In three years, Lambie has led Stanford to three national titles and the only item missing from her resume is an individual title.

As a freshman in the fall of 2003, Lambie placed 24th. After redshirting, she came back in 2005 to place eighth. Last fall's fourth-place finish was disappointing, but tempered by a third Cardinal title.

Lambie also has followed up last cross country season with a strong track season. At the NCAA Indoor Championships, she placed second in the 5,000 and third in the 3,000. In the Outdoor Championships, she placed third in the 1,500.

Other Title Contenders

Five of the top six finishers (and 10 of the top 13) at last year's NCAA Championships return. Here are some other runners who could challenge for the national title:

Yale's Lindsay Donaldson placed third last year as a junior.

Michigan State's Alissa McKaig placed 10th last year in her first year with the Spartans.

Iowa's Diane Nukuri placed eighth last year after winning the Midwest Regional Championships. She is a two-time all-NCAA performer.

Stanford Will Be Challenged

Stanford will be running for its fourth title in five years and have to be considered a favorite. Not only do the Cardinal have individual title contender Lambie, but they return their top three finishers from last year's championship meet and five of their top seven.

Last year's runner-up Colorado can do one better: the Buffaloes return six of their seven runners from the national meet, including their top four. Barringer, of course, leads the way, but four of her teammates were freshmen last year. With another year, will they have the maturity to overtake the Cardinal?

Last year's third-place team Michigan also returns six runners. Nicole Edwards, who placed 10th as a sophomore last year, returns with senior Erin Webster.