Santa Clara men finish third in WCC, women place fourth

By Tom Schreier

It was on Heartbreak Hill where the Santa Clara women and men's cross country teams distinguished themselves from their WCC competition. The steep incline of the second half of the course, which was traversed once by the women and twice by the men, climbs steadily for approximately 200 meters.

The first three miles of the race are exhausting and precede the grueling hill. The females, who started racing 45 minutes before the men, were clearly in pain as they pushed hard in order to finish strong.

Despite the struggle, they trudged on, often passing opponents on their way up the daunting incline.

The men, on the other hand, looked infuriated as they scrambled up the same hill. They breathed heavily and ran with aggression, attacking the hill with each step.

The glint of fury in their eyes reflected the drive motivating them from the inside.

After scaling the incline, the men and women entered the final 1000km of the race; it was there that the champions separated themselves from the rest of the pack.

The women finished fourth, behind Loyola Marymount, Portland and San Francisco. Senior Stephanie Wilson, who distinguished herself as Santa Clara's first All-American runner last year, finished seventh, earning her All-Conference honors.

"I feel just as proud about this race as I was last year," said Wilson, tearing up because this was her final race as a Bronco. "I felt I worked as hard as I did last year and I kept my head in it and I stayed with it, and I stayed with those girls."

Head coach Tom Service, who is entering his ninth year with Santa Clara, was pleased with Wilson's effort on the difficult course.

"Stephanie, looking to be in the top three, knew that wasn't going to happen today and could have mailed it in," said Service, who focuses primarily on coaching the women's team. "Instead, she probably ran her toughest race as a Bronco today."

Freshman Erin Hicks, a petite, muscular gymnast-turned-runner, finished behind the top 15 runners who were rewarded All-Conference honors, but played a big role in the team's fourth-place finish.

She passed a runner in the last ten feet of the race, a rare feat for a cross country runner.

"I'm generally not the kind of person who has a kick in, so I think [I was] just digging deep," said Hicks, who was visibly exhausted toward the end of the race. "I knew our team had goals and I wanted to have a strong finish. That was my first conference race and I wanted to make it a good one."

"I was just thinking about getting through it," admitted Hicks in regard to the hill. "[I knew] that as soon as I get up this hill I get to go downhill and that's just all worth it."

The men were anxious as they awaited the announcement of the race's final results, which were projected from the brown hut that housed the WCC judges.

Downhill from the hut were tents where runners from the eight WCC teams gathered with their teammates, parents and friends to hear the broadcast.

Santa Clara placed third, one point ahead of Loyola Marymount, and Portland finished first for the 33rd straight year, ahead of the University of San Francisco.

"The guys worked very hard and Loyola is a good team so we are really happy to...sneak out the one point win over them," said assistant coach Felipe Montoro, who works primarily with the men. "We always try to start out conservative and make our move over the second half and...that's what we did."

Before the official scores were announced, sophomore Kevin Oliver was concerned that his 19th place finish had cost his team fourth place.

"We came in and did what we wanted to do, [but] it was really close," said Oliver, visibly relieved that his team had pulled it off. "I didn't have my best day individually, so everybody else stepped up."

Junior Austin Jones played a major role in the one-point upset; his 13th place finish was the second-highest on the team.

"I always like to feel, at the end of the race, that I can beat all the guys around me," said Jones. "I came through four miles and I was probably 19th or 18th and I saw two USF guys right ahead of me...and my thought at that point was 'I'm going to beat both of those guys.'"

Freshman Ben Demaree ran alongside Jones for most of the race and finished 11th.

"To know that your teammate is right next to you, going through the same amount of excruciating pain that you are, really makes a difference," said Demaree. "It lets you know that somebody else is there for you and they're not going to let you fall back."

Next up for the Broncos is the Doc Adams Invitational in Davis, CA. It will take place November 6th.

Contact Tom Schreier at (408) 551-1918 or tschreier@scu.edu.