By Linda Poncin
Colorado Media Relations
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — University of Colorado senior Jenny Barringer recorded her second individual victory of the season and led the No. 19 women to a first-place finish in the ‘blue’ race at the NCAA Pre-National Invitational on Saturday at the La Vern Gibson Cross Country Course.
The CU men, who are tied for fourth in the national poll, also had a solid performance and came away with a second-place team finish in the men’s ‘white’ race. Christian Thompson was the men’s top finisher by crossing the finish 14th overall.
Barringer ran the 6-kilometer course in 19 minutes, 50.9 seconds and finished almost a full 30 seconds ahead of Florida State’s Susan Kuijken, who ran a mark of 20:22.8. Barringer ran the majority of the race as a time trial, coming across the midway point at 9:46.6. She was 25 seconds in front of Kuijken, whose 3k split was 10:10.5, and was able to cruise to the finish.
The win for Barringer helped to propel the Buffs to the top placing in the team standings, but she couldn’t do it on her own. Two freshmen had an outstanding showing for the Buffs to help earn the top honor. Allie McLaughlin, who was the runner-up at the Rocky Mountain Shootout two weeks ago, recorded a top-10 finish by crossing the tape in 20:45.6. She was .5 seconds behind ninth-place finisher Emily Infield (Georgetown) and beat Michigan State’s Emily MacLeod by .6 seconds (20:47.2).
In total the Buffalo women recorded 94 points and defeated No. 11 Florida State by 46 points as the Seminoles tallied 135 points. Oregon, which is ranked No. 3, took third overall. The Ducks were lead by freshman Jordan Hasay who finished third in 20:33.00.
