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The Rice Thresher
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by Jason Gershman thresher editorial staff
Murto, who became the Owls' top runner when an illness sidelined junior Katie Waite earlier this year, finished fifth to pace Rice to an impressive second-place finish at Saturday's WAC Championship meet. Murto, who finished the five-kilometer race in 18 minutes and 22 seconds, received the WAC Freshman of the Year award and was named to the all-WAC first team. Her finish is the best ever for an Owl freshman cross country runner at a conference championship. "Finishing that well wasn't something I expected, having only run two-mile races in high school," Murto said. "The award is quite an honor. It's been a great year." Texas Christian University claimed the championship in dominating fashion. The Horned Frogs' top five runners all finished in the top 12, and their final score (the sum of their top five places) was just 35. Rice took second with 100 points, and the University of Texas at El Paso finished third with 110 points. After Murto, the Owls' top five was rounded out by a pack of runners. Freshman Magdalena Sandoval, sophomore Summer Bell, junior Aimee Teteris and freshman Whitney McAlpine finished 22nd, 23rd, 24th, and 26th respectively. "It was a fun race," Bell said. "We all ran as a group. I wish that our group was closer to the front. It seems like we're all starting to come together as a team. We just need to move that pack closer to the front next time." Junior Erin Brand and sophomore Liza Ruckman finished 30th and 33rd to round out the Rice contingent. After an excellent week of training, neither runner was at full strength in the meet. Brand aggravated an old injury when she fell at her apartment a few days before the race, and Ruckman was hampered by the same mysterious leg injury that has plagued her all season. "Erin was battling a freak injury from Thursday night that aggravated an old injury," head coach Jim Bevan said. "Liza started the race well and gave it all she had but couldn't keep it up for the distance. Even if they had been 100 percent, it would have been tough to beat TCU." With the WAC meet out of the way, the Owls must now focus on the NCAA South-Central District meet, which will be held at the University of North Texas in Denton on Nov. 11. The top two teams and the next four highest individual finishers will receive bids to the NCAA Championship meet. With district foes including the University of Arkansas, Texas A&M University and TCU - all ranked in the top 30 nationally - the Owls know the path to the NCAA tournament will be a tough one. For the first time ever, the district meet and the NCAA Championship meet will be over a six-kilometer course rather than a five-kilometer course. The Owls raced a six-kilometer course once this season, at the Lehigh Invitational last month, and Murto led the team to a ninth-place finish in a field of 34 teams. "I believe that we have one great race that we can still put together," Bevan said. "We're a better team than we've shown this year. I really believe we can finish this season on the highest note of all. Our region is the strongest it's been in years, but I think we can do it."
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