ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
MEN - Dalibor Balgac, a sophomore from Kutina, Croatia, took first at the Auburn Invitational in 23:47.59 (8k), topping 191 other runners. The Mustangs grabbed their second first-place finish of the season (SMU Invite, 9/21), topping 29 other squads.
WOMEN - Karin van Rooyen, a sophomore from Lothair, South Africa, earned her second athlete of the week honor, winning the Chile Pepper Festival 6k in Fayetteville, Ark., with a time of 20:32.57. In taking top honors, she ousted 2000 Chile Pepper winner Lilli Kleinmann of Arkansas and 2001 champion Amy Mortimer of Kansas State.
OTHERS NOMINATED Men - Carlos Arrizon, Louisiana Tech; Adam Davis, Rice; Matt Heard, San Jose State; Bashir Ibrahim, UTEP; Andy Norman, Tulsa ... Women - Victoria Chang, Hawaii; Kate Gorry, Rice; Corine van Beek, UTEP.
NOTES FROM THE COURSE
Fresno State competed in its final invitationals of the season, sending the men to San Luis Obispo and the women to Santa Clara ... for the men, Fernando Cabada led the Bulldogs, taking first at the Cal Poly Invite with a time of 26:16.5 ... Roosevelt Cook finished eighth, coming in at 27:08.5 ... the women were at the Bronco Invite ... Kara June was the top Bulldog finisher placing fourth with a personal-best time of 18:06 in the 5k ... Olga Gutierrez-Nunez came in eighth overall (18:52).
Hawaii hosted the Sprint Invitational taking first in the four-team field ... Victoria Chang won the 3k event with a time of 10:33, her second first-place finish this season ... Hanna Bremler finished third at the meet (10:53)
Louisiana Tech men competed at the Auburn Invitational, where Carlos Arrizon led the way for the Bulldogs taking 17th with a time of 24:43 in the 8k ... Karoly Varga was 71st with a time of 26:25.85.
Nevada finished first at the Bronco Invitational in Santa Clara, Calif., behind another top team finish from Emma Garrard ... Garrard finished fourth with a time of 17:59 ... Jenna Huber finished 6th (18:31).
The Rice men ran at the SW Texas State Short Course (3 Mile), while the women competed at the Pre-National Meet ... Adam Davis and Tim Oberg finished seventh and eighth, respectively, giving the men a thrid-place finish ... Kate Gorry led the way for the Lady Owls finishing 122th with a time of 22:16 ... Summer Bell was the next best finisher, taking 127th.
San Jose State traveled down the road to the Bronco Invitational in Santa Clara, Calif., where the men took third and the women fifth ... Matt Heard was the top male Spartan, winning the event in a time of 25:53 ... Jesse McLeod ws fourth (26:02) ... Kim Nebeker was the top female Spartan, taking 12th (19:10), while Anna Connelly was 23rd (19:17).
SMU headed to Arkansas and Alabama ... the men won the Auburn Invitational, taking the honor out of 30 teams ... Dalibor Balgac and Mindi Pukstas finished first and second, respectively with times of 23:47 and 23:51 in the 8k ... only two Mustangs competed at the Chile Pepper Invitational for the women, Karin van Rooyen who won the 6k event in a time of 20:32, and Emily Field who took sixth (21:05).
UTEP competed at the Chile Pepper Invite, the men taking sixth and the women seventh ... Bashar Ibrhahim was the top Miner, taking ninth (29:48) ... Corine van Beek was the top UTEP female, finishing sixth with a time of 21:17.
Tulsas Andy Norman and Owain Matthews led the way for the Hurricane at the Pre-National Meet, taking 14th and 34th, respectively ... on the womens side, Sara Haskins finished 130th, while Monica Joannes was 160th.
WAC CHAMPIONSHIP TO BE HELD IN DALLAS Dallas, Texas and SMU will play host to the 2002 WAC Championships. The event will take place on Saturday, November 2. The Rice men and Tulsa women will both look to defend their titles from the 2001 Championship held in Hawaii.