Frog Runners Set For WAC Championships
10/25/2000 12:00:00 AM | General
Each team will name a maximum of nine representatives to run in the championships. The women's 5,000-meter run will commence at 1:00 p.m. and will be followed by the men's 8,000-meter race at 2:00 p.m.
The men's field will be lead by TCU juniors Eluid Njubi and Herbert Mwangi, who have run consistently well all fall. Njubi won the North Texas Season Opener and the North Texas Invitational, while finishing second at the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree. At Pre-Nationals on October 14, Njubi was 13th, clocking a 10k time of 31:19. Mwangi was five seconds behind, taking 15th. Defending champion Rice will be paced by John Jura and Keith Pierce, who have been the Owls' top finishers all season. San Jose State's duo of Trevor Marca and Matt Heard are contenders for the individual title, as are UTEP's Dario Espinoza and Bashar Ibrahim. Tim Surface has been Tulsa's top runner, winning the Hurricane Invitational and collecting sixth-place finishes at the Fayetteville Invitational and Missouri Southern Stampede. David Gerych and Ephraim Mckgokhu will keep pace for SMU.
In the women's race, TCU's Glady's Keitany and Hawaii's Cheryl Smith should provide an exciting finish. Smith, a junior, is the only Wahine in school history to win four different collegiate meets in the same season. Keitany collected three individual titles and a third-place finish in her junior campaign. Also contending for the top spot will be junior Anita Looper, who in her first season with UTEP earned two titles, while finishing second twice. Junior Ana Martinez, San Jose State's premier runner, is one to watch, having won the Santa Clara Invitational and placing in the top five in five other meets. Defending champion Rice will look to freshman Shannon Murto, who performed well towards the end of the regular season.
Results will be posted on the WAC website at www.wacsports.com. Following the WAC championships, teams will compete at the NCAA Regionals, held at different sites on November 11. Fresno State will host the West Regionals. Individuals and teams qualifying for the NCAA Championships will then travel to Ames, Iowa on November 21 for the national meet.
| TCU HORNED FROGS | |||
| Date | Race | Team Finish | TopTwo Finishers |
| September 9 | at UNTSeason Opener (Denton, TX) | 1st of 4 (2 miles) | G. Keitany (1st/10:49),R. Schacht (3rd/11:12) |
| September 23 | at BaylorOpen (Waco, TX) | 1st of 13 (5K) | G. Keitany (1st/18:03), R. Schacht (2nd/18:20) |
| September 30 | at OklahomaState Cowboy Jamboree (Stillwater, TX) | 1st of 16 (5K) | G. Keitany (1st/17:16),R. Schacht (3rd/17:58) |
| October 7 | at UNT Invitational(Denton, TX) | 2nd of 5 (3 miles) | S. McKinney (8th/18:54), B. Lanzara (9th/18:54) |
| October 14 | at ArkansasChili Pepper (Fayettville, AR) | 2nd of 25 (6K) | G. Keitany (3rd/20:57),R. Schacht (5th/21:14) |
| October 28 | at WAC Championship(Tulsa, OK) | ||
| November 11 | NCAA DistrictVI Championships (Denton, TX) | ||
| November 20 | NCAA Championshipsat Iowa State (Ames, IA) | ||
WAC SEASON BEST TIMES Women's 5km 1. 17:16 Glady's Keitany, TCU 2. 17:25 Anita Looper, UTEP 3. 17:35 Cheryl Smith, Hawai'i 4. 17:58 Robin Schacht, TCU 5. 18:01 Adriana Vitkova, SMU 6. 18:08 Ana Martinez, SJSU 7. 18:14 Casey McGuire-Turcotte, Hawai'i 8. 18:24 Sarah Haskins, Tulsa 9. 18:29 Katie Singleton, Rice 10. 18:34 Camielle Sanderson, Tulsa 11. 18:37 Maria Llerena, UTEP Men's 8km 1. 24:12 Njubi, TCU 2. 24:27 Mwangi, TCU 3. 24:30 Roddy, Fresno State 4. 25:11 Jura, Rice 5. 25:17 Espinoza, UTEP 6. 25:31 Gerych, SMU 7. 25:58 Bashar Ibrahim, UTEP 8. 26:02 E. Mokgokhu, SMU 9. 26:11 Marco Gallegos, UTEP 10. 26:13 Keith Pierce, Rice Men's 10km (Pre-Nationals) 1. 31:16 Gerych, SMU 2. 31:19 Njubi, TCU 3. 31:24 Mwangi, TCU 4. 33:24 Moseby, Tulsa 5. 33:42 Orozco, Tulsa FEMALE ATHLETES OF THE WEEK September 5 Tim Surface, Tulsa September 11 Trevor Marca, San Jose State September 18 Dario Espinoza, UTEP September 25 Bashar Ibrahim, UTEP October 2 Eliud Njubi, TCU October 9 Herbert Mwangi, TCU October 16 John Jura, Rice MALE ATHLETES OF THE WEEK September 5 Anita Looper, UTEP September 11 Gladys Keitnay, TCU September 18 Ana Martinez, San Jose State September 25 Cheryl Smith, Hawai'i October 2 Robin Schacht, TCU October 9 Shannon Murto, Rice October 16 Cheryl Smith, Hawai'i
