ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
MEN - Mindi Pukstas, a junior from Kaunas, Lithuania, was the top finisher for the Mustangs, taking eighth at the Notre Dame Invitational. His time of 24:38 is 22 seconds better than his first-place finish in late September at the SMU Invitational.
WOMEN - Kara June, a junior from Santa Maria, Calif., won the 6k San Francisco State Invitational with a time of 21:46. She helped the Bulldogs to a first-place finish in the nine-team event. It is the fourth-straight week she has led the Bulldogs and is also her best 6k time this season.
OTHERS NOMINATED Men - Fernando Cabada, Fresno State; Matt Heard, San Jose State ... Women - Victoria Chang, Hawaii; Judy DeLong, San Jose State.
NOTES FROM THE COURSE
Fresno State travled to San Francisco for the SFSU Gator Invite ... the Bulldogs took first and were again led by Fernando Cabada who took first with a time of 25:36 in the 8k ... teammate Alex Mason was sixth coming in at 26:17 ... the women also grabbed first, as Kara June took top honors with her fastest time of the season in the 6k, 21:46 ... Olga Guiterrez-Nunez finished fourth (22:45).
Hawaii ran at the Williamette Invite taking seventh in the 5k meet ... Victoria Chang earned a time of 17:20, the fastest in the WAC this season... behind her was fellow Wahine Hanna Bremler in 10th (17:28).
The Louisiana Tech men competed at the NSU Invitational in Natchitchoes, La., where they grabbed first out of 12 teams ... the Bulldogs were led by Carlos Arrizon who took second in the 8k event with a time of 25:15 ... Karoly Varga was 8th (26:07).
San Jose State made the jump to San Francisco for the SFSU Gator Invite ... Matt Heard was the top Spartan finisher, taking third with a time of 26:08 ... teammate Will Crane was fifth (26:20) ... for the women Judy DeLong led the Spartans as she was fifth (23:17) ... Lindsay Peters 23:47 was good for ninth.
The SMU men ran a split squad at the Notre Dame Invitational ... the A team took sixth in the 21-team field, lead by Mindi Pukstas (24:38) ... the B team was third in the five-team field, lead by Lukas Musil who was third (27:29).
Tulsa stayed instate and made its way to Stillwater for the Cowboy Jamboree ... the men took eighth lead by Andy Normans 25th-place finish (25:14) ... the women sixth, behind the finishes of Sarah Haskins (18:28) and Monica Joannes (18:42), who finished 13th and 24th respectively.
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.