Freese Wins Individual SCIAC Title; Women's XC Team Second
Senior Alicia Freese ran away from the competition to win the 2009 SCIAC individual cross country title and lead her team to an unexpected second place finish Saturday, October 31 at Prado Park in Chino.
Freese shadowed Jennie Tave of CMS for the majority of the 6000 meter (3.7 mile) race before pulling away in the last 400 meters to win by 11 seconds in 22:42. Tave had won the SCIAC Multi-Duals in mid-October. With her win, Freese earns SCIAC Runner of the Year honors to go along with the same honor she won in 2007 as a sophomore.
Behind Freese for Pomona-Pitzer were senior Rose Haag (5th, 23:50), frosh Roxanne Cook (10th, 24:16), senior Rachel Haislet (20th, 24:37) and senior Zoe Meyers (23rd, 24:53). Freese, Haag, and Cook earn First Team All-SCIAC honors, while Haislet earns Second Team honors.
"Alicia ran a spectacular race," said Head Coach Kirk Reynolds. "She's a phenomenal runner who's just hitting her stride as we head into Regionals and Nationals. It's hard to believe, but she still wasn't at 100% today. Rose also ran a very smart, tactical race-one of the most brilliant of her career. The four seniors in our top five really put good races together today. It was a lot of fun to watch."
Freese's win is Pomona-Pitzer's third individual title in a row at the SCIAC Champs. Freese won in 2007, Anna Scharfen in 2008, and Freese again this year. Freese becomes the second Hen to win two SCIAC titles; Laura Bishop won for Pomona-Pitzer in 2000 and 2001.
Pomona-Pitzer scored 59 points to finish second behind SCIAC Champions Occidental (44 points) and ahead of cross campus rival Claremont-M-S (74), Redlands (87), Whittier (106), Cal Lutheran (156), La Verne (204), and Caltech (224). Combined with their 5-2 dual meet record from the Oct. 17 Multi-Duals, the Sagehens finish tied for second in the overall SCIAC standings.
The Sagehens don't race this coming Saturday, but resume competition by hosting the 2009 NCAA Division III West Regional meet at home on campus on Saturday, November 14. The women's race is at 9am, while the men's race begins at 9:45am. On the line are team and individual berths to Nationals, which are a week later on Nov. 21 in Cleveland, Ohio.
