In a sport in which the top five athletes’ performances calculate a team’s total score, having six team members cross the finish line first would be unprecedented.

The UW women’s cross country team accomplished that perfect feat over the weekend — literally an unheard of event in the history of the Pac-10 Championships.

“It’s pretty amazing for us,” senior Anita Campbell said. “We’re shocked but at the same time we had conversations last night with Coach Metcalf, and he kind of likes to joke around and say we can possibly score 15 points (a perfect team score), and then something like this happens.”

The top finishers for the women included Kendra Schaaf, Mel Lawrence, Christine Babcock, Campbell, Katie Follett and Amanda Miller. Schaaf broke the course record, earning her the first individual title for a Husky at the event since Regina Joyce in 1982.

“I just went to the front and from there I just wanted to run what felt good,” Schaaf said. “We’re stronger when we’re all there running together, and everybody just built so that was the basic plan. I’m surprised with the 15 points; that was awesome.”

While the women’s team entered the conference race with No. 1 national ranking, nobody expected the group to outright embarrass the rest of the Pac-10. No. 2 Oregon was expected to compete with the UW, but it posted a distant second-place score of 55 points.

The Husky men’s team also had an impressive day, finishing in the top three. Jeremy Mineau finished tenth and was the Dawgs’ top finisher, followed by Kelly Spady and Jake Schmitt.

“Being third is kind of like a win for our guys,” coach Greg Metcalf said. “They’ve gotten better every week and that’s as well as we’ve run all year. I still think there’s more in there and we need to get a little better at the regional meet, but this was a great momentum builder. I’m very pleased with our guys.”

The men outran higher ranked teams in UCLA and Cal, coming in behind the No. 1 Ducks and No. 2 Stanford. Coming off an 11th place finish at the Pre-National Meet, the men’s team appears to have bought into its coach’s philosophy of progression and will look to continue to improve at the NCAA Regionals Nov. 15.

Even the women, despite their perfect day, hope to build on what they’ve already developed. According to Campbell, the mentality is fueled by their coach.

“He instilled in us that we need to dream big and expect big things,” the All-American said. “It’s so exciting, and we just can’t wait for the next three weeks. I’m confident saying that we’re not the best that we can be. We want the big prize at the end.”

Reach reporter Ben Foutz at sports@dailyuw.com.