By David Thompson
Never trust Thai food served at a bowling alley. That is the lesson that senior David Kinsella learned after getting sick from some bad shrimp before the West Regional Championships held at the Stanford Golf Course in Palo Alto, Calif.
"It was a big mistake," Kinsella said, who despite the setback, placed fourth overall and second for the Pilots. "Going into the race I was extremely dehydrated and ended up losing blood and fluids pretty rapidly afterward."
The dehydration led to Kinsella spending most of the night in an ER after almost passing out in the airport.
Despite the setback and 85 degree heat, Kinsella's courageous efforts, as well as the clutch runs by freshman Alfred Kipchumba, junior Tommy Betterbed and seniors Colin Longmuir and Justin Houck, enabled the Pilots to place third overall as a team and lock up an at-large bid into Monday's National Championship. The race will be hosted by Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Ind.
Kinsella will be able to run despite the short turn around. "I'm going to have to moderate my individual expectations and run a careful race," Kinsella said. "I think I have a smaller margin of error now.
Kinsella understands his situation and sees an opportunity to help the team improve on the 14th place finish last year. While his goal to finish in the top ten will be more difficult after the ER incident, he will focus more on the team and less on personal ambition.
"I just need to emphasize my ability to help the team out rather than worrying about finishing in the top ten," Kinsella said. "I don't want to risk the team placing by blowing up because I ran a foolish race."
Kipchumba placed third overall in his first ever 10-kilometer race. His previous races (Summer's End Invitational, Bill Dellinger Invitational) have all been eight- kilometer races. Kipchumba came to UP with few expectations.
"I came here and I didn't expect to do that well, just average," Kipchumba said.
The Kenya native, who someday would like to run in the Olympics, has exceeded all expectations in his first year on the bluff. "Alfred has been amazing," Kinsella said.
While most athletes may be overwhelmed by the pressure and intensity of an event such as running in Nationals, Kipchumba embraces the opportunity.
"I'm just excited, not really nervous. I just will have fun." Kipchumba said.
He hopes to place in the top 10 on Monday and says that only the cold weather could disrupt him. "I've never run in the cold before," Kipchumba said jokingly.
The race featured some of the best teams in the nation including the University of Oregon, who won the meet with 28 points, and host Stanford who finished second with 72 points, 13 less than the University of Portland.
Galen Rupp, a 2008 Olympian, won the individual meet. "It is cool to run against people as good as him," Kipchumba said.
Following Kipchumba's and Kinsella's third and fourth place finishes for the Pilots were Betterbed (12th), Longmuir (29th) and Houck (37th). Along with these five, the Pilots will rely on senior Mike Quackenbush and sophomore Matt Frerker to run at Nationals.
The Pilots are currently ranked sixth in the nation and have been ranked as high as fourth earlier this year. Kipchumba, Kinsella and Betterbed all won All-West Region honors.
Teams: 1. Oregon 38, 2. Stanford 72, 3. Portland 85, 4. California 116, 5. Washington 122, 6. UCLA 145, 7. Cal Poly 184, 8. Arizona State 290, 9. Washington State 298, 10. UC Santa Barbara 338, 11. UC Davis 353, 12. Arizona 369, 13. UC Riverside 370, 14. Fresno State 418, 15. Long Beach State 424, 16. San Francisco 451, 17. Loyola Marymount 467, 18. Sacramento State 494, 19. UC Irvine 522, 20. Eastern Washington 565, 21. Santa Clara 584, 21. Boise State 584, 23. Cal State Fullerton 653, 24. Pepperdine 669, 25. Saint Mary's 683.
Pilots: 3. Alfred Kipchumba (28:36.02), 4. David Kinsella (28:43.88), 12. Tommy Betterbed (29:20.81), 29. Colin Longmuir (29:57.20), 37. Justin Houck (30:16.96), 62. Mike Quackenbush (31:01.00), 89. Matt Frerker (31:48.03).
