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August 27 Release.pdf
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ATHLETE OF THE WEEK The Western Athletic Conference Athlete of the Week for cross country is determined on the best performance against the best competition.
The first selection for both the men and women will be announced Tuesday, September 3.
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.
2002 PREVIEW Defending WAC Champions Rice and Tulsa are looking to gather another championship after squeaking out wins last season. Most teams will be making their annual stops, with Fresno hosting a pre-conference trial in mid October. SMU will host the 2002 WAC Championship on November 2, while the NCAA Championship will be in Terre Haute, Ind. November 25.
WAC RUNNERS TO WATCH -
For The Men... Rice, who edged UTEP by three points for the conference crown, return all-WAC freshman Scott Loftin. Loftin earned a fifth place finish to lead the Owls. UTEP brings back 2001 WAC Champion Bashar Ibrahim and fellow first-teammer Dario Espinoza. SMU loses its top performar from last season in David Geych, but returns WAC Freshman of the Year, Dalibor Balgac. Tulsas second-team all-WAC trio of Bern Orozco, Owain Matthews and Andy Norman will be back. Fresno State looks to make a run with the help from its top performer from a year ago, Roosevelt Cook. Louisiana TechsChris Anderson, Boise States Josh Shevren and San Jose States Will Crane will all try and make an impact in this years field.
For The Women... Even with the loss of first-team all-WAC member Charlotte Sanderson, Tulsa looks to defend its crown with help from Sarah Haskins. Rices Liza Ruckman should step up and lead the Owls to another great season, after a first-team all-WAC perfomance in 2001. Emma Garrard of Nevada leads the way for the Wolf Pack, hoping to move up the WAC ladder after two seasons. With the loss of All-American Cheryl Smith and fellow senior Casey Tucotte-McGuire, Hawaii has some work to do to get back to the top. Boise States Michelle Carman and Adrienne Rogers will lead the way for the Bronocs, in their second season of WAC competition. With the loss of Ana Martinez, San Jose State will rely on Kim Nebeker to carry some weight for the Spartans. Olga Gutierrez is the top Dawg for Fresno State this season. Maria Lleren of UTEP, 2001 WAC Freshman of the Year, SMUs Karin van Rooyen and Mashonda Sneed of Louisiana Tech are all WAC runners to look for.