Wisconsin men, Georgetown women earn cross country titles

New names and familiar faces each got a turn in the spotlight Monday at the NCAA Division I cross country championships in Terre Haute, Ind.

  • Georgetown runners, including Hannah Neczypor, left, and Claire Richardson, celebrate the program's first national title.

    Darron Cummings, AP

    Georgetown runners, including Hannah Neczypor, left, and Claire Richardson, celebrate the program's first national title.

Darron Cummings, AP

Georgetown runners, including Hannah Neczypor, left, and Claire Richardson, celebrate the program's first national title.

On the men's side, Wisconsin — the only program to appear in all 40 NCAA meets run under the current format — claimed its fifth title and Arizona freshman Lawi Lalang remained undefeated in six races as collegian.

For the women, Georgetown won the program's first national title while Sheila Reid of Big East rival Villanova repeated her individual title.

Wisconsin, which claimed its first title since 2004 and its first under third-year coach Mick Byrne, compiled 97 points to runner-up and two-time defending champion Oklahoma State's 139. The Badgers were led by Mohammed Ahmed's third-place finish.

Lalang, a native of Kenya, finished 13 seconds ahead of Stanford's Chris Derrick, covering the 10,000 meter-course in 28 minutes, 44.1 seconds. He is the third Arizona runner to claim the individual title, joining Aaron Ramirez (1986) and Martin Keino (1994). Lalang won all six races he entered this year by an average of 20.5 seconds.

"This is really nice," Lalang said. "(It's exciting) when you are a running in a race and they announce you as 'national champion.' This is my first national title so it is a good start for me."

The Georgetown women, who battled Villanova to a tie at the regional qualifying meet, finished with 162 points, followed by Washington (170) and two-time defending champion Villanova (181). Senior Emily Insfeld paced the Hoyas by finishing fourth.

Villanova's Reid capped her college cross country career by holding off Oregon's Jordan Hasay in the final 100 meters of the 6,000-meter race. Reid was timed in 19:41.2 and Hasay in 19:41.8.

"I really wanted to finish cross country on a strong note and win the individual title again," said Reid, who also won the 1,500 and 5,000 meters at the 2011 NCAA outdoor track meet. "It may sound trite, but I love to win and after college the opportunities to race in cross country are limited."

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

Posted | Updated

Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more