LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) _ Adam Goucher had never quite put it all together in the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championship, even though he showed a lot of promise since finishing second as a freshman.
"I hadn't really done anything since then," the Colorado senior said. "I wanted to go out with a bang."
And he did, winning the men's race Monday in 29 minutes, 26.9 seconds before a crowd of more than 5,000 on the Rim Rock Farm course at the University of Kansas.
Goucher, along with Abdi Abdirahman of Arizona and Julius Mwangi of Butler, led a pack of front-runners in the field of 255 starters through a series of sharp turns and steep climbs and drops on the hilly 10,000-meter course.
Abdirahman led the field through a 4:33 first mile, then threw in a series of surges that dropped the rest of the field by Suicide Turn, a sharply dropping switchback in the fourth mile.
Mwangi, who had beaten Goucher and broken his Rim Rock course record at 8,000 meters in a tuneup race last month, dropped back at that point. Goucher responded each time Abdirahman surged, then took the lead on the steep Billy Mills ascent in the fifth mile.
"That's where I took over," Goucher said. "That hill's not fun. My goal was just to get up it and not let it take too much out of me."
Abdirahman said he could not catch up.
"I ran my best race and gave my best shot," he said. "I felt good the last 800 meters, but he already had 20 or 30 meters on me."
Goucher finished 23 seconds ahead of Abdirahman, with Mwangi outsprinting Matthew Downin of Wisconsin for third, 10 seconds back.
Many of the runners commented on the spectators, who were lined up several deep at many points along the fan-friendly course and who ran from point to point to see key parts of the race.
"The crowd was unbelievable with their screaming," Goucher said. "They were so excited, it was wonderful."
Arkansas won the team title, its ninth, with two-time defending champion Stanford runner-up and Colorado third for the second straight year.
In the women's 5,000-meter race, Katie McGregor of Michigan caught Amy Skieresz of Arizona in the last quarter-mile to win in 16:47.21.
Skieresz, who was also runner-up last year and in 1995, was six seconds behind, with Amy Yoder of Arkansas 10 seconds further back for third.
"I was kind of dead at the end and didn't have a lot left," Skieresz said. "It was kind of like flashbacks of last year."
Skieresz took the lead from Brigham Young's Maggie Chan about one mile into the race and led until McGregor caught her on a rolling, open stretch that followed a long uphill through the woods.
"I knew I had the speed to catch her if I was close," McGregor said.
Villanova won the women's team title in a close three-way battle even though defending champion Carrie Tollefson dropped to 11th this year. Villanova placed four runners in the top 18 scorers and finished with 106 points to edge out Brigham Young, the 1997 winner, which had 110 points, and Stanford at 111.
The win was the seventh title for Villanova, which failed to qualify its team for last year's national meet.
The Division I and II championships were held on the same site for the first time, and Adams State won both Division II titles over Western State in a battle of Colorado schools.
Kimberly Bugg won the women's individual title in 21:43 over 6,000 meters to lead the Adams State women to their seventh consecutive team championship. Sonia Eudy of Missouri Southern was second in 21:48.3 with Sarah Parker of Adams State third, 10 seconds back.
"The course was tough, but cross country is all about running hills, so I enjoyed it," Eudy said.
Shawn Nixon finished fourth in the men's race as Adams State placed five runners among the top 18 scorers and edged out Western State, which had beaten the Grizzlies last week in their regional meet.
Yi Min Wu of Edinboro, Pa., won in 31:06.6 for 10,000 meters with Musa Gwanzura of Abilene Christian second in 31:16.5 and Ben Kapsoiya of Southern Indiana third, nine seconds back.
Copyright 1998 By The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved