Nov. 24, 2003
TEMPE, Ariz. - The Arizona State women's cross country team competed in the NCAA Cross Country Championships Monday at the Irv Warren Memorial Golf Course in Waterloo, Iowa, and walked away in 14th place with 406 points. Amy Hastings (So., Leavenworth, Kan.) and Desiree Davila (Jr., Chula Vista, Calif.) earned All-America accolades while finishing 25th and 44th, respectively, and Anna Masinelli (So., Scottsdale, Ariz.) finished 73rd to see the Sun Devils place its Top 3 finishers in the Top 100 of the race. Stanford won the team title as it edged out top-ranked BYU, 120-128.
"I am very pleased and excited that we ran so well as a group," Walt Drenth, ASU head coach, said. "To finish 14th in the nation without our number four runner is great. I told the team I would be happy with whatever place they finished as long as they competed and they did just that. They ran their hearts out today. It is great to have two All-Americans and I thought we could have had another as well. Corey Randall ran very well for us and Anna Masinelli did well considering she got into a little trouble out on the course. She kept her composure and stayed with it and that made a difference in us finishing where we did. I am very pleased to see this team end the season they way they did today."
The 14th place finish for the women is the third-best in the history of the program while their 406 points scored also is the third-lowest in the six trips the women have made to the national meet. The record performances were set in 2000 when the Sun Devils took sixth while building 266 points while second is 12th place with 385 points.
The women made history for the program as Hastings and Davila earned All-America honors, marking the first time in school history that two runners on one ASU team earned the national distinction. In 1999, both Kelly MacDonald (36th) and Fasil Bizuneh (19th) earned All-America honors to mark the first time the Sun Devils had two All-Americans in one season. The feat was duplicated again in 2001 with Bizuneh (22nd) and Lisa Aguilera (18th) earning the national honors.
Hastings crossed the line in 20:32.9 to place 25th overall in the race and 24th among those runners counting in the team race. She was followed by Davila at 20:50.8, who finished 44th overall and 35th in the team race standings. Masinelli took 87th overall and 64th in the team race at 21:10.8 and was followed by Corey Randall (Fr., Cincinnati) in 168th place (132nd team race) at 21:42.5 and Liz Lindgren (So., Klamath Falls, Ore.) in 188th place (151st team race) at 21:54.6 to round out the team scoring. Jenna Wrieden (So., Glendale, Ariz.) completed the circuit in 22:18.4 to place 220th overall (182 team race) while Jessica Crate (Fr., Brights Grove, Ontario) rounded out the Sun Devil contingent with a time of 24:09.3 to place 252nd (214th team race).