Saturday, October 25, 1997

ACU favored to repeat as LSC champion

STEPHENVILLE -- Nationally ranked Abilene Christian University will be favored in both divisions to repeat as champion in the Lone Star Conference men's and women's cross country meet today.

The league will conduct the largest cross country meet in its history with 11 men's teams and 13 women's teams scheduled to compete at Hunewell Ranch near Stephenville. The men will race 8,000 meters at 10 a.m. and the women will run 5,000 meters at 10:40 a.m.

Joining ACU and host Tarleton State will be men's and women's teams from Angelo State, Central Oklahoma, East Central Oklahoma, Eastern New Mexico, Harding, Ouachita Baptist, Texas A&M-Commerce, Texas A&M-Kingsville and West Texas A&M and women's teams from Southeastern Oklahoma and Southwestern Oklahoma.

ACU is ranked third in the south central region and 11th in the nation in women's cross country and fourth in the region and 14th in the nation in men's cross country.

Both individual champions return for the Wildcats. They are Musa Gwanzura in the men's division and Vivian Ruijters in the women's division.

Other key members for ACU's teams include Fallody Moonga, Dustin Hawes, Kyle Jackson and Chuck Pinson in the men's race and Casi Florida, Freda Valdez, and Josie and Joyce Martinez in the women's race. Gwanzura and Moonga own the top two times in the LSC men's division this season, and Ruijters and Valdez rank 1-2 in the women's division.

ASC meet

IRVING -- McMurry University's Mitchell Wolowicz will try to defend his American Southwest Conference title from a year ago when he runs today in the 1997 American Southwest Conference cross country championship meet on the University of Dallas campus.

Wolowicz, of Buffalo Gap, ran a course record 24:40 in the 5-kilometer event last year in Brownwood. McMurry teammate David Chandler posted a time of 26:08 to finish third last year. The pair are considered contenders for the title today, along with Seth Jones of Mississippi College

At the University of Dallas Invitational earlier this year, Chandler finished first, Jones second and Wolowicz third -- all within 30 seconds of each other.

Other McMurry men competing are Rogelio Garcia, Tim Kennedy, Davin Davis of Lueders-Avoca, Jody Power and Matt Parker of Hawley, Steven Penney and D.J. Miller.

The McMurry women's team is led by two-time ASC runner of the week Jessica Thompson, a junior from Abilene High. She finished third in the conference meet last year and is considered one of the top 10 runners in the field. The ran a 20:25.3 in the 3-kilometer ASC race last year.

Running with Thompson are Jeannette Wingert and Deborah Smith Collins of Abilene High, Janet Ramage and KiKi Carthel.