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The Rice Thresher
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Jason Gershman thresher editorial staff Although weakened by injury and illness, the Rice men's and women's cross country teams used some fresh faces to assemble a competitive team performance at last weekend's Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Penn. Freshman Shannon Murto led the Owls with a 24th-place finish in the six-kilometer race in a time of 22 minutes, 7.16 seconds. Murto was followed to the finish line for the Owls by junior Erin Brand, freshman Whitney McAlpine and freshman Magdalena Sandoval, who finished 53rd, 55th and 75th, respectively. Sophomore Summer Bell, who finished 111th, was the final scorer for Rice. All five scoring Owls finished in the first half of the pack. With junior Katie Waite and sophomore Liza Ruckman sidelined due to health concerns and senior Marisa Bono taking the LSAT, the freshman trio of Murto, McAlpine and Sandoval led the young, inexperienced Owls to a ninth place finish in a strong field of 34 teams. "The three freshmen are doing a fabulous job," women's head coach Jim Bevan said. "They all ran very competitively last weekend. This was the first 6,000 meter race for any athlete at Rice. Shannon and Whitney are used to running two miles in high school, so even 5,000 is stepping it up for them." Murto, who had finished second behind Waite in her two previous meets, made an impressive charge to the finish in the field of over 230 runners by passing 22 runners in the final 700 meters. Her efforts earned her the title of WAC Runner of the Week. "I'm completely surprised to have been named WAC Runner of the Week," Murto said. "Katie [Waite] deserves the honor much more than I do after finishing so far ahead in both of the opening meets. I don't know that my races have merited anything like this, but it's definitely a nice surprise." This weekend, the Owls travel to College Station for the Texas A&M University meet. The Aggies, currently ranked 19th, present another tough challenge for the Owls. "At A&M, we need to run closer together among our one through five runners and get ourselves back on track," Bevan said. "Historically, we have run well at this meet, and we're hoping to repeat our past successes there." On the men's side, senior John Jura assumed the role of men's team leader after an injury to senior Lachlan McArthur. Jura led the Owls with a 21st-place finish in a time of 25:11.35 over the eight-kilometer course. As a team, the Owls finished 15th in the 36-team field. Also injured and unable to compete were senior Justin Burrow, sophomore Tom Ring and freshman Sean O'Brien. "I think I ran all right for the shape I am in right now," Jura said. "I know I have the base to run better, and the speed should come over the next couple of weeks." Following Jura were sophomore Keith Pierce, senior Scott Palmer, redshirt freshman Tim Oberg and sophomore Jeremy Lebuff, all of whom finished in the top half of a competitive field. The recent string of injuries provided Oberg his first chance to travel with the Owl team. "I was looking forward to the opportunity to prove myself in a big meet and this was my chance," Oberg said. "It's unfortunate that several of my teammates couldn't run due to injury, but I wasn't thinking about that as the race approached." The men's team will also compete at the Texas A&M invitational this weekend. "The team focus has not changed," head coach Jon Warren said. "With some of our top guys out, it becomes even more important to get our timing right. This weekend, the goal is to have everyone run a solid and intelligent race as practice for what is ahead."
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