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Nov. 11, 1997
Women's Cross Country to Compete at NCAA Mountain Regional
1997 NCAA Cross Country Mountain Regional
On Saturday, the Texas Tech women's cross country team will compete in the 1997 NCAA Mountain Regional meet. Hosted by Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, the race will take place on the Riverside Golf Course. The women's race is set to begin at 12:15 p.m.
The Mountain Region (formerly District 7) is comprised of teams from six states: New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. This year's Mountain Region meet also includes the squads from Texas Tech, UT - El Paso, and the University of Nevada.
The top two teams (seven-person teams) at each of the nine regional meets will automatically qualify for the NCAA National Championships. Four additional teams will also be selected at large. The top three individuals in each region will also move on to the NCAA Championships, plus three individuals selected at large.
The six of the eight runners who helped Texas Tech to a fifth place finish at the Big 12 meet will also be competing at regionals. Among the squad are junior Evette Turner, sophomores Leigh Daniel, Dawn Charlier, Kristen Koppes and Tara Hangge and senior Lori Knowles.
Evette Turner Earns All-Big 12 Honors
Junior transfer Evette Turner (Trelawny, Jamaica) was named to the 1997 Women's All-Big 12 Cross Country team after taking seventh place at this year's Big 12 Conference Cross Country Championships on Nov. 1. The top seven finishers at the meet, hosted by Oklahoma State, were designated to the conference team. Turner completed the 5K course in 17:59, finishing on top of the Red Raider pack. She was just 30 seconds behind first place, and her time was her second best this season. Turner was previously named Big 12 Women's Runner of the Week for October 14.
Texas Tech Women Selected to Academic All-Big 12 Teams
Eight Texas Tech women's runners were selected to the 1997 Academic All-Big 12 Women's Cross Country teams. Five women were named to the first team, including sophomore Keeli Hanzelka, who was one of eight women to earn a perfect 4.0 grade point average. Also listed on the first team were sophomores Tara Hangge and Kristen Koppes, senior Shannon Keel and junior Amiee Roberson. Earning honorable mention honors were sophomores Dawn Charlier and Charity Garrison and senior Lori Knowles. Texas Tech was second to Iowa State's 10 in number of student-athletes honored.
All members of the all-academic teams have posted at least a 3.0 GPA either cumulative or in the previous two academic semesters and are letterwinners on their respective teams. First-team honorees have at least a 3.2 GPA, while those listed for honorable mention carry between a 3.0 and 3.19 GPA.
Flash Back to the Big 12 Championships
On Nov. 1, the Texas Tech women's cross country team claimed fifth place at the 1997 Big 12 Conference Cross Country Championships, hosted by Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla. The men's team improved a notch from last year, finishing 11th overall.
For the women, junior Evette Turner led the pack, earning seventh place, while sophomore Leigh Daniel finished 11th with a time of 18:01. Sophomore Kristen Koppes was also among the top finishers, crossing the line in 18:29 for 20th.
The team titles were swept by Colorado, while the men's individual 8K race was won by Colorado runner, Adam Goucher. The women's individual 5K title was taken by Erin Windler, from Missouri.
Men's Season in Review
The Texas Tech men wrapped up the 1997 cross country season with a trip to the Big 12 meet. The team earned 11th place, with sophomore David Leigh leading the way for the Red Raiders. Leigh finished 59th with a time of 27:19.
The Red Raider unit was led by young runners this season. Leigh was Texas Tech's top runner in four of the six meets he ran in this season. Freshman Scott Rackers also put together several top performances, including a third place finish at the Red Raider Invitational.
1996 Regional Meet
Last year, the Texas Tech women competed in the District 6 Championships in Denton, Texas, pacing the way to a sixth place finish. Leigh Daniel led the Red Raiders, clocking a time of 18:12 for seventh and earning a bid to the NCAA national meet. Kristen Koppes and Dawn Charlier also put forth strong performances, finishing 12th and 28th respectively.
Around the Big 12
The Big 12 Conference is splitting up for Regional competition. Three separate meets will welcome conference schools. Iowa State University is hosting the NCAA Midwest Regional, which will include the tournament hosts, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Kansas and Kansas State. At the NCAA South Central Regional, hosted by North Texas, Baylor, Texas and Texas A&M will be competing. Colorado will be running along side Texas Tech at the Mountain Regional meet.
Times Are Changing
Over the past three years, head coach Greg Sholars was in charge of the men's track and field team, but this season he has taken on a new role. With recent departures among the staff, Sholars has become head of the men's and women's cross country and track and field teams. He brought both units together to compete as a whole this season.
Sholars has been joined this year by Trece Hayslett and Darrel Robinson. Hired as track and field assistants, both have taken on additional duties with the cross country teams as well. Hayslett has been with the program since August and Robinson moved on last month.
WOMEN'S POST SEASON ROSTER
Name Ht. Cl. Home Town / Last School Major
Dawn Charlier 5-3 So. Green Bay, Wis./Green Bay East HS Undecided
Leigh Daniel 5-4 So. Lubbock, Texas/Monterey HS Res, Hotel, Inst. Mgmt.
Tara Hangge 5-5 So. Richland, Wash./Eisenhower HS Family Studies
Keeli Hanzelka 5-11 So. La Porte, Texas/LaPorte HS Pre-Med
Lori Knowles 5-3 Sr. Ft. Worth, Texas/Richland HS Art History & PR (Dbl.)
Kristen Koppes 5-6 So. Redding, Calif./Foothill HS Civil Engineering
Courtney Nolen 5-9 So. Houston, Texas/Langham Creek HS Pre-Physical Therapy
Evette Turner 5-5 Jr. Trelawny, Jamaica/Jere Technical HS Elementary Education
Women's Season Results
Name 9/6 9/20 9/26 10/4 10/11 10/18 Big 12 District 7
Dawn Charlier 6-21:12 21-18:43 --- 27-19:03 --- 17-18:12 33-18:58
Leigh Daniel 1-19:09 4-17:41 --- 4-18:02 --- 3-17:23 11-18:01
Tara Hangge 3-20:32 27-19:08 --- 37-19:17 --- 30-18:39 70-19:55
Keeli Hanzelka 8-21:32 35-19:36 6-21:12 53-19:39 --- 51-19:15 73-20:03
Lori Knowles 5-20:59 23-19:00 --- --- --- 61-19:28 50-19:24
Kristen Koppes 2-19:53 10-18:11 --- 13-18:26 --- 11-17:51 20-18:29
Courtney Nolen 10-22:11 86-21:42 --- 70-20:24 --- 58-19:27 80-20:10
Evette Turner --- --- --- 14-18:33 1-19:24 5-17:40 7-17:59
MEN'S POST SEASON ROSTER
Name Ht. Wt. Cl. Home Town / Last School Major
Alex Aldaco 5-7 138 Jr Denton, Texas/Aubrey HS Exercise & Sports Sci.
David Leigh 5-10 135 So. Grapevine, Texas/Grapevine HS Marketing
Dan Miller 6-0 145 Jr. Media, Penn./Penncrest HS Biochemistry
Scott Rackers 5-11 157 Fr. Plano, Texas/Plano East HS Business
Jessie Williams 5-8 140 So. Rantoul, Ill./Rantoul Township HS Exercise & Sports Sci.
Jason Winkle 6-3 145 Sr. Deer Park, Texas/Deer Park HS Chem. Engineering
Men's Season Results
Name 9/6 9/20 9/26* 10/4 10/11 10/18 Big 12
Alex Aldaco 7-28:59 78-29:05 14-26:58 84-27:59 --- 56-27:14 75-28:54
David Leigh 20-30:33 54-28:14 5-25:31 65-27:18 --- 39-26:43 59-27:19
Dan Miller 16-30:08 91-29:26 --- 100-29:30 --- --- 77-29:10
Scott Rackers 6-28:58 85-29:19 --- 82-28:13 19-28:05 46-26:53 65-27:28
Jessie Williams --- 81-29:06 3-25:21 94-28:49 --- 81-28:01 70-27:48
Jason Winkle 12-29:33 57-28:22 7-25:49 79-27:46 --- 59-27:17 69-27:42
*Course was 7.5K. All others were 8K distances.
FinishLynx Women's Cross Country Rankings
*Poll conducted Nov. 4, 1997.
1 Stanford(9) 225
2 BYU 216
3 Wisconsin 206
4 Colorado 197
5 Providence 185
6 Oregon 171
7 Georgetown 164
8 N. Carol. State 162
9 Washington 157
10 Boston Coll. 125
11 Michigan 123
12 Colorado State 122
13 Florida 115
14 Arkansas 106
15 Dartmouth 105
16 Will. & Mary 88
17 Weber State 71
18 UCLA 69
19 Nebraska 63
20 James Madison 55
21 Marquette 50
22 Minnesota 37
23 N. Arizona 30
24 Coastal Carol. 23
25 Missouri 21
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