Cross country teams off to strong start in new year

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by David Gordon

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The meet gave the runners an early-season chance to run under race conditions.

On the women's side, sophomore Shaquandra Roberson completed the two-mile course in 11:44 for a first-place finish.

Junior Alexis Smith was the next Owl across the line.

She finished in third place with a time of 11:48.

Fifth through seventh place were claimed by Owls as well:junior Sheila Madigan, sophomore Kari Vigerstol and sophomore Heather Howard, respectively.

Freshman Kate Fearney crossed the line in 13:14 to finish18th.

The team's strong showing impressed Assistant Track and Field Coach Jim Bevan, who works with the women's cross country team.

"I was very pleased with the performance for our first meet, especially since it was run at 7:30 a.m.," he said.

"We have been training hard and will be for quite some time. Most of our team has come back well-prepared for cross country.They worked hard during the summer."

The team will have to do without two of its top runners from last year. Stacy Swank, the Owls' lone representative at the NCAA national championship, and Katy Eklof have both graduated.

However, the bulk of the team consists of sophomores who will have a chance to step up.

"They have adapted and are getting stronger with a year' s worth of training behind them," Bevan said.

On the schedule for 1996 are trips to the University of North Texas, Texas A&M University and Cal-Poly San Luis Opisbo.

The Western Athletic Conference championships will be held in Dallas, and the NCAA district meet will be the team's second trip to the North Texas course.

The men's team also had an impressive performance.

Fifth-year senior Jeff Lewis, who has no cross-country eligibility remaining, competed unattached to the team and won the race. He finished the 3.2-mile course in 16:01.

The Owls also took second and third place. Senior Adam Reiser finished with a 16:14 and senior Jamie DeMahy crossed in 16:25.

Freshman Scott Palmer was the team's fourth finisher; his time of 16:31 earned eighth place.

Senior Dan Brooks, senior Greg Lewis and sophomore Stormy Suberville finished 10th, 12th and 13th, respectively.

With the ineligibility of Jeff Lewis and graduation of Luis Armenteros, the men's team also lost their top two runners from last year.

Reiser and DeMahy seem to be the heirs to those spots.

Assistant Track and Field Coach Jon Warren, who works closely with the men's cross country team, said, "Jamie and Adam have put in a lot of work this summer, and it is starting to pay off."

Warren also credits the team's improvement to a goal he set for the team to work toward this summer.

"If they couldn't run 10 miles in 60 minutes, they would not be a part of the team. Some people woke up and ran in the summer," he said. "We expect great improvement this year from everybody."

This weekend Rice will host the Rice Invitational.

There will also be a college meet. Scores will be determined by the top two finishers for both male and female races.

Each college can enter as many runners as it wants. The winning college will get five free pizzas.

This item appeared in the Sports section of the September 13, 1996 issue.

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