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The Rice Thresher
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by Jason Gershman thresher editorial staff The road to defending their Western Athletic Conference Championships just got a whole lot bumpier for the men's and women's cross country teams. And they have the dreaded injury bug to thank for that. Senior Lachlan McArthur, who led the Owls at last year's WAC Championships with a third-place finish, and junior Katie Waite, who captured the individual title at the first two women's meets of the year, may both be out for the season. McArthur is suffering from tightness in his hip due to a muscle strain. "My hip is getting better," McArthur said. "I am not sure what is wrong with it, but it is tight and restricting me when I run. I am not running very much at the moment and I can't do the workouts with the team." McArthur's injury slowed him as he faded to fifth in the season-opening Rice Invitational, and he was unable to run at last weekend's Paul Short Run in Bethlehem, Pa. If he is forced to miss the remainder of the season, he could apply for a medical redshirt and be eligible to run for Rice again next season. "The plan at the moment is that I am not running at the Texas A&M meet this weekend," McArthur said. "But I will run unattached the week after at Southwest Texas to see if I am able to contribute to the team and run at conference. If I can't do that, I will redshirt and run next season." On the women's side, Waite is suffering from a medical condition that has been bothering her since the UTSA Invitational Sept. 22. It appears that it may force her to sit out the rest of the season. "She had been having problems in training ever since the San Antonio meet two weeks ago," head coach Jim Bevan said. "We don't know how long she will be out. If she is not able to run at 100 percent, we will have to decide on whether or not she will run this season." If Waite is unable to return to action this season, it will mean Rice's top three runners from last year's WAC championship team will be missing, since Shaquandra Roberson graduated and sophomore Tanya Wright is on a leave of absence this semester. Also, sophomore Liza Ruckman did not race last weekend due to health concerns but is expected to return to action this weekend. Meanwhile, three of McArthur's teammates, all among Rice's top seven men's runners, are also suffering from injuries. Sophomore Tom Ring has a back strain, junior Justin Burrow has a stress fracture in his foot and freshman Sean O'Brian has patellar tendinitis. The status of all of the injured runners and when they will return to action remains unknown. "Though any of them may race for us this year, most likely Justin will be the only one who will put on a Rice jersey," head coach Jon Warren said. "As far as our chances of winning the WAC, I think we still have a chance. The real key to winning the WAC will be the great group of redshirt freshmen that we have on the team." Redshirt freshman Tom Oberg leads the group that will have to fill in the gap. In the first race that he scored for Rice, Oberg finished in the top half of the competitive Paul Short field last weekend. From last season's team that earned a berth to the NCAA Championships, only senior John Jura and junior Keith Pierce are healthy and running for Rice. "Of course, I am not happy with the current string of injuries," Jura said. "But injuries are a risk you take when you push your body to extremes. Sometimes you remain healthy and sometimes you don't and sometimes half the team doesn't. How we perform in spite of these unanticipated occurrences will reveal a lot about how good a team we truly are."
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