Mustang Daily Staff Report
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Laura Hollander’s undefeated season was a dream in the making for the freshman. But Oregon senior and former Mission Prep high star Jordan Hasay spoiled that dream to some degree at the NCAA West Regional cross country championships on Friday.
Hollander finished runner-up to Hasay at Seattle’s Jefferson Park Golf Course finishing in a time of 19 minutes, 22 seconds to miss out on the top spot for the first time in five career collegiate races. With the second place finish, Hollander secured a spot in the NCAA Championships to be held in Louisville, Ky. this Saturday.
“(Hollander) ran a fantastic race,” director of track and field/cross country Mark Conover said. “Jordan is a highly decorated collegiate runner and her and Laura were out there running neck and neck. Just another outstanding effort by Laura.”
The freshman was outpaced by Hasay — a Central Coast native — over the final 1,500 meters of the 6K course after Hollander led the race from the start.
Hasay won her third consecutive NCAA West Regional title finishing in 19:16, a new course record. Hollander’s time also broke the old record — set by Hasay last year — by nearly 23 seconds.
Hollander will be the only Mustangs runner to compete in this weekend’s championship meet after gaining an automatic berth following her performance at regionals. The top four individual finishers from both the men’s and women’s races along with the top two teams in each race automatically qualified for Saturday’s meet. In addition, 13 at-large team berths were handed out, but neither the Cal Poly men’s nor women’s team made the cut.
“I think both teams had tremendous seasons,” Conover said. “They ran their hearts out at regionals, but some didn’t quite perform as well as they wanted. But as a whole I think the team did perform well.”
Hollander became Cal Poly’s first Big West Conference individual champion two weeks ago with a course record-setting win at the conference championships in Irvine. She also added individual victories at the UCSB Lagoon Open, the UCLA invitational and the prestigious Wisconsin Adidas Invitational earlier in the season.
“It’s a testament to the work she puts in, and her desire to see what she can do in challenging her in the sport,” Conover said.
The women’s team won the Big West team title two weeks ago for the first time in 11 years, but couldn’t crack the top 10 on Friday. With the help of Hollander’s performance, the Mustangs placed 11th overall.
Senior Vanessa Hancock was the second Cal Poly runner to cross the line, finishing 43rd in 20:49. Sophomore Savannah Pio finished 71st with a time of 21:15, while senior Alex Ciaraglia (91st) and freshman Michelle Read (121st) rounded out the scoring for the Mustangs. Oregon won the team championship.
On the men’s side, senior David Cardona finished the 10K course 17th overall (30:10) to lead Cal Poly to an eighth-place finish. Cardona, competing in his final race with Cal Poly, received All-West Region honors to go along with his top-20 performance.
Junior Sean Davidson followed with a 19th-place finish in 30:24 and Big West champion Chris Frias was the third Mustangs runner to cross the line, finishing 31st. Junior Blake Ahrold and sophomore Mitch Moriarty rounded out the top five for Cal Poly.
Cal Poly, known for its pack running and its ability to score points because of close finishes among its runners, was at a disadvantage when the field spread out mid-way through the race, according to Conover.
“We have the capability to run up there with the four teams that got in,” Conover said. “There was disappointment in the fact that the pack didn’t hold up.”
The men’s team, much like the women’s, entered the meet as conference champion, but couldn’t hold off a stacked field in Seattle.
“It’s pretty disappointing,” Davidson said. “After (winning) conference we were pretty confident going into regionals, but the cards just weren’t in our favor.”
Stanford captured the team title with 45 points, followed by Portland (107) and UCLA (128). Cal Poly finished with 224 to be left out of the NCAA championships.
Saturday, Hollander looks to become Cal Poly’s first cross country national champion. Her race begins at 9 a.m.
Stephan Teodosescu contributed to this article.