CROSS-COUNTRY / NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS : Two UCLA Women in Top 20

Josephat Kapkory of Washington State was the men’s individual winner and Carole Zajac of Villanova won the women’s race Monday in the NCAA Division I cross country championships at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa.

In the women’s race, Zajac won her second individual championship, finishing the 3.1-mile course in 16 minutes 40.3 seconds, beating the second-place finisher, teammate Jennifer Rhines, by four seconds.

UCLA runners Karen Hecox and Beth Bartholomew placed 10th and 16th, respectively. Hecox, a junior, finished in 16:58.3 and Bartholomew, a senior, finished in 17:01.1.

Hecox, who won the NCAA District 8 championship on Nov. 13, was hoping to place in the top five.

“At a mile and three quarters, I fell off the (lead) pack a little bit, and then, once I fell off, I never caught them again,” Hecox said.

The Villanova women’s team won its fifth championship with 66 points, followed by Arkansas with 71 and Georgetown with 199. UCLA did not compete as a team.

In the men’s race, Kapkory, a senior, completed the 6.2-mile course in 29:32.4.

Arkansas won its fourth consecutive men’s team title with 31 points, followed by Brigham Young with 153 and Iowa State with 156.