Tulsa
WAC Championship
Women's Cross Country Team Finishes Second at WAC Championships
11/2/2002 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Nov. 2, 2002
Dallas - The Tulsa women's and men's cross country teams turned in solid performances at the 2002 Western Athletic Conference Championships at Norbuck Park in Dallas, Texas.
The Hurricane women, seeking their second straight WAC title, finished in second-place, trailing first-place Rice by 17 points. The Owls scored 68 points, followed by Tulsa's 85 points. Nevada's 87, UTEP's 93 and host SMU's 95 points rounded out the top-five teams.
Tulsa's men's squad finished with a school-best third-place performance with 71 points on the 8K course. Host SMU captured five of the first nine places en route to a 33-point victory. The Mustangs scored 30 points, followed by UTEP (63), Tulsa (71), Boise State (85) and Fresno State (110) rounding out the top-five finishers.
For the women, SMU's Karin van Rooyen and Emily Field captured first and second place individually, with times of 17:01 and 17:20, respectively. Tulsa senior Sarah Haskins was Tulsa's top finisher with a 10th place performance clocking a time of 18:24 for the 5K course, while sophomore Natalie Rasmussen placed 11th with a time of 18:26.
In addition, Tulsa senior Monica Joannes placed 14th overall with a time of 18:46. Freshmen Erin Deasy, Megan Langwell and sophomore Melanie Hardy placed within the top-30 in the field of 77 participants. Deasy placed 22nd in a time of 19:95, followed by Langwell in 28th place with a time of 19:20 and Hardy in 30th place, clocking a time of 19:24. Freshman Lacy Leifeste finished in 43rd place with a time of 19:52.
On the men's side, Tulsa senior Andy Norman clocked a time of 24:56 to finish in third-place, just 32 seconds behind individual champion Bashar Ibrahim of UTEP, who clocked a time of 24:24. SMU's Mindi Pukstas finished second with a time of 24:29.
Three more Hurricane runners finished among the top-20 performers. Junior Ben Orozco placed 10th overall with a time of 25:48, followed by 14th-place Owain Matthews, a junior, with a time of 26:01, while freshman Taylor Williams clocked a time of 26:10 to finish in 18th place.
Tulsa also had senior Jared Christianson place 26th overall in a time of 26:27, junior Justin Rempel finished in 32nd place with a time of 26:35. Seniors Brian Erwin and Derek Sparks placed 49th and 52nd overall, with times of 27:55 and 28:09, respectively.
Women
1. Rice 68 (7, 9 , 13, 16, 23, 25, 28)
2. Tulsa 85 (10, 11, 14, 22, 28, 30, 43)
3. Nevada 87 (5, 8, 21, 26, 27, 32, 36)
4. UTEP 93 (4, 17, 19, 20, 33, 45)
5. SMU 95 (1, 2, 15, 29, 48)
6. Boise State 157 (6, 18, 39, 42, 52, 58, 59)
7. Hawaii 158 (3, 24, 34, 47, 50, 55, 60)
8. Fresno State 165 (12, 31, 37, 41, 44, 49, 53)
9. San Jose State 226 (35, 40, 46, 51, 54, 56, 57)
10. Louisiana Tech 315 (61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66)
Men
1. SMU 30 (2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 15, 30)
2. UTEP 63 (1, 5, 6, 24, 27, 33, 50)
3. Tulsa 71 (3, 10, 14, 18, 26, 32, 47)
4. Boise State 85 (11, 13, 16, 17, 28, 31, 39)
5. Fresno State 110 (12, 19, 21, 23, 35, 43, 49)
6. Rice 150 (22, 25, 29, 36, 38, 41, 52)
7. Louisiana Tech 190 (20, 37, 42, 45, 46, 48)
8. San Jose State 222 (34, 40, 44, 51, 53, 54, 55)
