John Ortega on Liza Pasciuto at NCAA Div I Championships
Monday, November 22nd, 2004 @ Evansville, Indiana

Below is the text of a note received from former LA Times Prep Sports Writer John Ortega, who has moved to the Midwest, and had the chance to view the NCAA Meet this past Monday. His report on Liza Pasciuto shows the special spirit of this young lady who just last year graduated from Murrieta Valley HS. She was 13th and the #2 runner for the Champion Colorado Buffaloes!! #3 Frosh finisher in the entire NCAA Division I!!

Hola amigos.
How are you? I hope well.
I know you're both aware of Liza Pasciuto's monster race at the NCAA championships, but I thought you might be interested in a few more details in regards to her performance.
I was unable to pick her out of the large pack at the 2-kilometer mark of the 6k race. But she was in about 50th place, just ahead of Anita Siraki of Stanford, when she came through 4k and had moved up to 25th with 800 meters left.
From there, she just kept reeling in several big-name runners in front of her.
She told me afterward that she knew she was running well in the final 2 kilometers of the race, but had no idea how high she was until she heard someone say she was in 20-something place in the last kilometer.
Colorado Coach Mark Wetmore said Pasciuto's performance was the biggest key to the Buffaloes' runaway victory. He said he would have been happy with a 60th-place finish from her so he was ecstatic with her performance. He also admitted that he had no idea where she was during the race as he didn't see her during the first 500 meters and figured she was struggling because she had battled meniscus problems during the season.
Needless to say, it was nice to see a kid from California run that well in a meet that was held on a very sloppy course.

2004 NCAA DIVISION I CHAMPIONSHIPS
HOSTED BY INDIANA STATE UNIVERSITY
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2004
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WOMEN'S 6000 METER INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
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Place TmPl No. Name School 3k Splt
Finish
1 1 646 Kim Smith Providence 9:53 20:08.5
2 2 173 Renee Metevier Colorado 10:05 20:26.4
3 3 217 Caroline Bierbaum Columbia 10:17 20:30.7
4 4 108 Laura Turner Brigham Young 10:15 20:37.5
5 619 Maureen Mccandless Pittsburgh 10:16 20:38.2
6 855 Lindsay Donaldson Yale 10:18 20:40.0
7 5 518 Carol Henry North Carolina Chapel Hill 10:15 20:41.9
8 6 780 Marina Muncan Villanova 10:17 20:42.8
9 82 Angela Homan Auburn 10:16 20:43.8
10 7 640 Fiona Crombie Providence 10:18 20:45.9
11 614 Faithy Kamangila Oral Roberts 10:16 20:47.5
12 8 446 Danette Doetzel Michigan State 10:15 20:47.8
13 9 174 Liza Pasciuto Colorado 10:34 20:48.1 - also top ex-California prep finisher!!
14 10 169 Christine Bolf Colorado 10:18 20:48.1 -ex Notre Dame Academy (LA)

2004 NCAA DIVISION I CHAMPIONSHIPS
HOSTED BY INDIANA STATE UNIVERSITY
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2004
1. 63 Colorado ( 20:52 1:44:20)
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1 2 173 Renee Metevier 20:27
2 9 174 Liza Pasciuto 20:49
3 10 169 Christine Bolf 20:49
4 20 176 Sara Slattery 21:07
5 22 170 Natalie Florence 21:08
6 ( 52) 177 Amber Smith 21:45
7 (187) 180 Laura Zeigle 23:18
2. 144 Duke ( 21:14 1:46:09)