Coach Greg Metcalf spent his birthday traveling to Indiana this past weekend, where he took his No. 1 ranked women’s cross country team to the Pre-Nationals hosted by Indiana State University. The coach had good reason to celebrate, as his runners gave him the greatest gift of all: a victory.

The UW women made a statement Saturday, showing the country exactly why they deserve their No. 1 ranking, by taking first in their 6000-meter event with a total score of 36 points. The charge was led by some of Washington’s youngest runners with freshmen Kendra Schaaf and Christine Babcock and sophomore Mel Lawrence placing third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

Returning All-Americans Katie Follett (eighth place) and Anita Campbell (16th) rounded out the top five UW women scorers, while Lauren Saylor (27th) and Kayla Campbell (51th) also recorded impressive finishes. Coach Metcalf couldn’t have been happier with his squad’s dominance.

“This group is capable of excellence and showed it again today,” he said. “You know you’re going to have great team success when five women are thinking about winning a race.”

The men’s team finished 11th in their 8000-meter run, due in part to an impressive effort by junior Jake Schmidt, whose time of 24:07 was enough to earn him 27th place. Jeremy Mineau also placed in the top 50, followed by Colton Tully-Doyle, Jon Harding, Chris Ahl, Jordan Swarthout and Alec Bromka.

Metcalf remains fully confident in the men’s team, noting that they are on schedule with where he wants them.

“We’re still following a deliberate plan to run better later in the season at 10,000-meters,” Metcalf said. “All in all, our men took a step in the right direction.”

As the Huskies look ahead to the Pac-10 Championship on Oct. 31, the teams will need to have everything going for them to beat Oregon, one of the top teams in the nation.

Like any other high-powered machine, the Dawgs must maintain their energy to continue their elite performance.

“There is more in the tank for sure,” Metcalf said. “Lots more.”

Reach reporter Ben Foutz at sports@dailyuw.com.