Women’s
Junior Shelby Houlihan finished 2nd overall at the NCAA West Regional Championships Friday afternoon, giving the women’s team a 6th place finish.
Houlihan’s performance clinches an invite to nationals, her second invite as an individual and her second in as many years.
Houlihan has been the driving-force behind much of the women’s success this year and proved it again Friday with an outstanding performance.
Individual accolades are one thing but ASU’s sixth place team finish doesn’t guarantee it a spot in the NCAA Championships. Only two teams from every region can qualify for the tournament.
Coach Ryan Cole said that the team had a good run in the 6k event. Cole said when the season began ASU was projected to finish 14th in the region.
“Finishing sixth was a strong day for us," Cole said. "The girls ran hard, we were just a handful of points behind Washington and they’re typically one of the better women’s distance programs in the country ... sixth place was a pretty solid day for us.”
Cole said he isn’t surprised at how well Houlihan has run all season and that her leadership has helped the rest of the team.
“It was good redemption for her just to know she can run with those girls and she can beat those girls,” Cole said. “That gives her some confidence going into the NCAA meet. She’s in a good spot going into the national championships; she’s got good fitness under her belt and today being second in the West Region is a pretty strong run.”
Freshman Chiara Warner finished 32nd, injured sophomore Adriana Olivas finished 37th, freshman Kala Stone finished 44th and junior Shaina Corbin finished 60th to round out the team.
Although only the top two teams in each region automatically make it to the NCAA Championships, there is still a chance the ASU women’s team could sneak in with based on points from its wins throughout the season.
Men’s
The ASU men’s team finished 5th overall behind freshman Bernie Montoya’s 20th overall finish.
With the 20th place finish, Montoya clinched All Region honors at the NCAA West Regionals, the first region honors for Montoya in his freshman year.
The team ended in 5th place Friday afternoon and looks to be just outside the 31 teams slotted for the NCAA Championships. Currently, the team sits at 33rd overall just two spots from the automatic qualification needed for the NCAA Championships.
Montoya, who has been solid in his first full season on the team, finished with a time of 30:13 to lead the men’s team.
Rounding out the team's finishes were Senior Garrett Seawell at 30:31, senior Steven Schnieders at 30:41, junior Garrett Baker-Slama at 30:42 and sophomore Jeff Bickert at 31:11.
Reach the reporter at lzazueta@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @lorenzozazueta