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November 15, 1997

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Cougar sophomore Bernard Lagat was the runner-up in the men's 10,000 meter race during the NCAA West Regional Cross Country Championships held at the Dell Urich Golf Course. Lagat automatically qualified for a trip to the 1997 NCAA Championships held Monday, Nov. 24 at Greenville, S.C.

Washington State's 10th-ranked men finished third overall behind champion Stanford and Oregon. The Cougars will have to wait until Monday afternoon to find out if they will advance to the NCAA meet with one of the four available at-large berths. The Cougars have not sent a complete men's squad to the NCAA Championships since 1984.

"I'm so impressed with our runners," WSU assistant coach Dr. Li Li said of his men. "It's unprecedented for us in recent years to have four runners finish in the top 20."

UCLA's Mebrahtom Keflezghi, who finished second to Lagat at the Pacific-10 Championships, turned the tables by posting a winning 10,000-meter time of 30 minutes, 16 seconds. Lagat finished 17 seconds behind at 30:33.

Cougar sophomore Brad Treat finished 14th overall in 31:24, junior Jon Murray was 17th in 31:36 and junior Eric Kamau was 19th in 31:49. WSU's fifth runner, senior Rasto Kiplangat, started as WSU's second runner early in the race, but faded to 51st as he was hit with back spasms.

Sophomore Tammi Green clocked 18:42 for 5,000 meters to finish 31st as WSU's top finisher. Stanford and Oregon finished one-two in the women's team race with the Cougars seventh.

Arizona junior Amy Skieresz won her 13th straight meet and captured the West Region title for the third year in a row. Skieresz posted a 13-second victory over Stanford freshman Julia Stamps with a time of 17:00.

WEST REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS (Tucson, Ariz., 10,000 meters) - Men's Results
Team Results (21) - 1, Stanford 50. 2, Oregon 84. 3, Washington State 103. 4, Portland 150. 5, Washington 151. 6, Arizona 152. 7, UCLA 153. 8, California 177. 9, Boise State 206. 10, Santa Barbara 278. 11, Arizona State 292. 12, Cal Poly SLO 313. 13, CS Northridge 390. 13, CS Fullerton 390. 15, CS Sacramento 415. 15, Fresno State 415. 17, UC Irvine 456. 18, San Jose State 514. 19, Long Beach State 561. 20, Saint Mary's College 637. 21, Santa Clara 651.
Medalist - 1, Mebrahtom Keflezighi, UCLA, 30:15.90.
WSU Runners - 2, Bernard Lagat 30:33. 14, Brad Treat 31:24. 17, Jon Murray 31:36. 19, Eric Kamau 31:49. 51, Rasto Kiplangat 32:57. 66, Chris Charles 33:13. 96, Justin Murray 34:21.

WEST REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS (Tucson, Ariz., 5,000 meters) - Women's Results
Team Results (25) - 1, Stanford 37. 2, Oregon 78. 3, Washington 98. 4, Arizona 127. 5, UCLA 149. 6, Boise State 165. 7, Washington State 201. 8, USC 240. 9, California 264. 10, Arizona State 304. 11, Cal Poly SLO 342. 12, Portland 344. 13, UC Irvine 391. 14, Long Beach State 400. 15, UC Santa Barbara 414. 16, Fresno State 447. 17, CS Fullerton 481. 18, CS Sacramento 498. 19, CS Northridge 507. 20, San Jose State 526. 21, San Diego State 581. 22, Gonzaga 633. 23, Saint Mary's College 678. 24, Hawai'i 692. 25, Santa Clara 781.
Medalist - 1, Amy Skieresz, Arizona, 17:00
WSU Runners - 31, Tammi Green 18:42. 32, Megan Maynard 18:43. 35, Kristin Ritzenthaler 18:48. 49, Joanne Hunsinger 19:02. 54, Crystal Malgesini 19:05. 62, Kimberly Schmolka 19:15. 83, Alishia Booterbaugh 19:31.