TERRE HAUTE, IN - On the strength of three top 10 individual finishers, and five in the Top 25, the Colorado women's program took the 2004 NCAA Division I Cross Country National Championship in damp conditions at the LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course hosted by Indiana State University.

Overnight and early morning rain yielded to partly cloudy skies as the race began just after 11 a.m. (EST). Kim Smith of Providence College ran the course in a time of 20:08.5 to win the individual tile. Smith, who has previously won NCAA Championships in indoor track for the 3,000 and 5,000 meters as well as in outdoor track for the 5,000 meters during 2004, finishes the cross country season undefeated * taking first place in every race. She took All-American honors in cross country a season ago; finishing second at last year's national championships.

Smith is the first runner from the Providence women's program to win an individual national title.

"I wanted to go out hard from the gun," Smith said in the post-race press conference. "That's how I race and that's where I am comfortable. After the first mile, I started to relax a bit. I didn't feel much pressure today. I wasn't really bothered by the conditions of the course, being from New Zealand, I am used to running in rain and mud, so I wasn't affected. This was my last race, and I couldn't think of a better way to go out."

Colorado's previously unbeaten Renee Metevier finished second with a time of 20:26.4, while Columbia's Caroline Bierbaum was third with a time of 20:30.7. 2002 NCAA Champion Shalane Flanagan's 6K course record of 19:36.0 was not challenged due to the muddy conditions.

Colorado, ranked third in the nation by FinishLynx, took the national title paced by Metevier's second place finish. The Buffaloes had Liza Pasciuto place ninth with a mark of 20:48.1 while Christine Bolf rounded out the Top 10 with a mark of 20:48.1. Other scorers for Colorado were Sara Slattery in 20th place with a time of 21:07 and Natalie Florence in 22nd with a mark of 21:08. CU finished the meet with 63 points to claim the title.

The win marks the second national championship for Colorado, having previously won in 2000.

"Our race plan was to try to be patient and not fight the conditions of the course," victorious Colorado coach Mark Wetmore said. "The conditions changed a lot from yesterday to today. We got up this morning (and saw that is was raining) and realized that we would need to be more patient than we originally planned. We are very pleased and excited, and whoever managed today the best would win, and luckily for us, it was our team."

Duke finished as the runner-up, with three athletes in the Top 25, paced by 11th place Sally Meyerhoff who ran a time of 20:50. The Blue Devils finished with 144 points. Providence College, which featured the day's top runner, Smith, compiled 164 points to finish third. Providence had two runners place in the Top 10.

This year marks the second time that the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships have been hosted by Indiana State University, with the first in 2002. The event will return to the LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course in both 2005 and 2006.

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