Cross Country Travels To Cowboy Jamboree This Weekend
September 26, 2000 | Men's Cross Country
Sept. 26, 2000
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Upcoming for the Red Raiders...
Both Red Raider teams travel this weekend to participate in the Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater, Okla., hosted by Oklahoma Sate University.
Last season Leigh Daniel won her third straight race in Stillwater to pace the women's squad to a third-place finish among 16 teams in the event. Seniors Kristen Koppes and Evette Turner finished fifth and sixth, respectively, to give Tech three harriers in the Top 10.
The men were ninth among 13 teams in last year's Cowboy Jamboree, led by senior David Leigh's 38th-place finish. Boniface Ndungu did not race in the meet due to injury.
Both teams raced fairly well in last weekend's Sundodger Invitational in Seattle, Wash. Daniel led the women with a sixth-place finish on the 6K course at Lincoln Park with a time of 21:26.28. The women's team finished third among eight teams at the invitational. The women came in second in 1999.
The men were paced by senior Gezachw Yossef, who ran the 8K race in 24:17.91 to finish second behind Michigan's Mark Pilja. Fellow senior Ndungu came in seventh in the 87-runner field, crossing the line in 24:41.89. The men's squad was fourth among nine teams in the meet.
Yossef Earns Runner of the Week Honor
Texas Tech senior Gezachw Yossef was honored as the Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week by the conference office on Monday.
Yossef, a senior from Ashdod, Israel, crossed the finish line in second-place among 87 runners at the Sundodger Invitational in Seattle, Wash., last Saturday. He finished less than 18 seconds behind first-place finisher Mark Pilja of Michigan with a time of 24:17.91 on the 8K course. The Red Raiders finished fourth in a field of nine teams behind Washington, Michigan and UCLA. Last season, Texas Tech finished sixth at the Sundodger Invite.
Missouri's Ann Marie Brooks joined Yossef in the weekly honor, earning Big 12 Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week.
Brooks, a two-time All-Big 12 harrier, finished sixth in the women's 6K at the Roy Griak Invitational in Lincoln, Neb., last Saturday with a time of 21:43. The senior led her team to a 12th-place finish out of 31 teams, with seven squads ranked in last week's FinshLynx Women's National Cross Country Coaches Poll. The 20th-ranked Tigers edged out No. 16 Colorado State and 23rd-ranked Marquette.
Missouri heads to the Lakefront Invitational in Chicago, Ill., this weekend, while Texas Tech will participate in the 64th-annual Cowboy Jamboree, hosted by Oklahoma State.
Tech Women Take Third at Sundodger Meet
The Texas Tech women's cross country team raced to an impressive finish at the Sundodger Invitational in Seattle, Wash., last weekend, finishing third among eight teams at the meet hosted by the University of Washington.
The women took third place in the 6K event at Lincoln Park with four harriers in the Top 20, led by senior Leigh Daniel's sixth-place time of 21:26.28. Freshman Katie Lyman, the much-heralded recruit from Cheyenne, Wyo., followed Daniel with a 12th-place mark of 22:02.06.
Freshman Bridget Tidwell kept pace and finished 17th, 13 seconds behind Lyman at 22:15.60. Tracie Akerhielm, another first-year runner, finished in 20th place with a time of 22:22.51. Redshirt freshman Melissa Ernst finished the scoring for Tech, crossing the line in 23:07.29 for 29th place. Shannon Spaulding came in 32nd in the 63-runner event with a time of 23:11.86, and Jennifer Marable was 46th (24:02.10).
The third-place finish for the team is Tech's worst so far this season, saying much about the team's depth and progression thus far, despite having one senior, one sophomore and 12 freshman. The Red Raiders finished first and second in their first two meets of the 2000 campaign.
Men Take Fourth in Seattle
The Texas Tech men took fourth place at last Saturday's Sundodger Invitational, including a second-place showing from senior Gezachw Yossef.
Yossef finished 25 seconds behind race winner Mark Pilja of Michigan in a time of 24:17.91. The race was only the second of Yossef's cross country career in the Red and Black.
Senior Boniface Ngundu crossed the line in 24:41.89 for seventh, 45 seconds faster than he ran the Lincoln Park course in 1999 when he finished eighth at the Sundodger meet.
Other men placing in the 87-person event included: Scott Moore in 27th (25:16.75), Nick Hulstrom in 35th (25:31.27) and Joseph McCellon in 41st place (25:43.80). Also participating in the meet for the Red Raiders was Dwayne Benoit, who came in 48th (26:14.28), and George Odom, who finished 52nd (26:34.86).
The men improved to fourth in this year's meet after finishing ninth last season. The other three men placing in Saturday's race were all true freshmen, as the Red Raiders have nine freshmen overall on the roster, seven of them who participated at the high school level in 1999.
Freshman Lyman sets course record
With some research and help from coach Dave Smith, it was discovered during the off-week that harrier Katie Lyman set a new freshman course record at the Red Raider Open.
The Cheyenne, Wyo., native posted a time of 16:58 for a fourth-place overall finish. She was the first Tech runner to cross the finish line, breaking the old mark of 20:02 set by Kristen Koppes at the 1996 Red Raider Open.
Lyman came to Tech with a list of accomplishments at the high school level, including posting victories at the Simplot Games, the nation's largest and most prestigious high school indoor meet.
Head Coach Dr. Dave Smith
Dr. David Smith (Michigan State `93) enters his third year as head coach of the Texas Tech Cross Country program. In 1998, Smith implemented a new rigorous training program that resulted in a number of new personal bests for his runners and four of his runners qualified to compete at the Regional Championship meet.
In addition to his duties for Cross Country, Smith is the distance coach for the track and field team. Smith made an immediate impact on the track in 1999, helping coach Leigh Daniel to a pair of national titles in the 5,000 and 10,000 meter runs.
Smith entered into coaching after an outstanding collegiate career as a distance runner. At Michigan State University, Smith was a top performer for the Spartans from 1990-93. He was the Big Ten champion in the 10,000 meters and runner-up in the 1,500 meters in 1993. Smith was also a three-time all-Big Ten performer and three-time academic All-America as well as seven-time academic all-Big Ten.
After leaving East Lansing, Smith moved to Washington state, where he was the competitive manager and women's distance coach for Club Northwest. At Northwest, he led the women's cross country team to a second place finish at the USATF National Cross Country Championships. Smith also organized several major distance races in the Seattle area.
He also earned his doctorate from the University of Washington in Pharmacology during his stay in Seattle.