Tech Women Finish Fifth at Conference Meet
October 30, 1999 | Women's Cross Country
Oct. 30, 1999
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Led by Leigh Daniel and Kristen Koppes, the Texas Tech women's cross country team came away from the Big 12 Cross Country Championships this morning at the Texas A&M Cross Country course in College Station with a fifth place finish. It was a big improvement on the team's 11th place finish from last season. Daniel led the way with a second place finish in a time of 17:00 and Koppes finished 9th in 17:28. Both runners earned all-conference recognition for their efforts.
"It was really a great race for us," Tech coach Dave Smith said. "If we run this way in two weeks (at the district championships) we'll have a great shot at qualifying for nationals. All of them had a great day. It was the race of their lives."
Tech finished with a score of 130. It put them ahead of Baylor and Texas, two teams ranked No. 15 and 16 in the nation coming into the race. Colorado won the team title with a score of 62 while the Buff's Kara Wheeler took individual honors with a first place finish in a time of 16:48.
Tech will bring home some hardware for the trophy case as the top 15 finishers all received medals. Evette Turner was the third Tech runner to cross the finish line, coming in 15th in a time of 17:43. Rounding out the scoring for the women were Courtney Nolen (38th, 18:17) and Shannon Spaulding (72nd, 66th adjusted, 19:22).
The Red Raiders may have had an even more impressive team finish had it not been for some bad luck. Tara Hangge, the team's fourth runner all season, suffered a stress fracture midway through the race and was unable to finish.
"The way Tara was running we definitely would've moved up some, possibly even to a third place finish," Smith said. "She was looking real good but unfortunately she couldn't finish the race."
The next action for the women will be in two weeks when they travel to Fort Collins, Colo. for the district championship race. A good showing at the meet will automatically qualify the women for a spot in the national championship race on November 22.
TTU