Thursday, October 30. 1997
The University Daily Kansan
Section B · Page 3
Kansas runners stride toward championships
Cross country hopes to peak at Big 12 meet
By Alex E. Runner sports@kansan.com Kansan writerspirit
If there is a time to peak, it is now for the Kansas men's and women's cross country teams.
The Big 12 Championships will be Saturday in Stillwater, Okla., and the pressure will be on Kansas runners to show
the conference that they are competitors.
Other than the NCAA District V meet in mid-November, this is the biggest race of the year. Both teams agreed that this is time of year not to hold back.
"We're hoping that everyone will have their best race," said senior Lynn LoPresti, women's team co-captain.
Although this is his first Big 12 Championship, sophomore Andy Tate understood the importance of the race.
"The Big 12 is very,very competitive. It's the toughest conference in the country." Tate said. "Personally, I think we should be in the top half of the conference."
For the men's team, senior co-captain Jerry Pullins will be missed. Although Pullins has been a steady leader on the
team all year, he will miss his second consecutive race because of a knee injury.
If the men's team was at full strength, Kansas cross country coach Gary Schwartz said he saw no reason why the it could not win the Big 12.
"I think that if we were healthy across the board, with Jerry running, we could compete for No. 1," Schwartz said.
Schwartz said that freshman Ricardo Amezcua, who placed second overall at the Iowa State Invite, sophomore Lewis Theobald and Tate had the best chances of finishing among the top five.
In the men's 8K race, Tate said that powerhouse Colorado was the run-away favorite.
Other strong teams include Nebraska and Iowa State.
"They've done a better job of preparing than any team I've had. We just haven't had that one complete race yet."
Gary Schwartz
Kansas cross country coach
Colorado is once again the favorite in the women's 5K race because it has the advantage of practicing at a higher altitude.
"We haven't seen Colorado yet, so we really don't know what to expect."
said LoPresti.
The women's team expects to finish in the middle of the pack in the championships.
LoPresti said the biggest thing the team now needed after a difficult season was confidence.
"We've had a lot of new people, and the adjustment from high school is difficult because everything's a lot more structured here," she said.
Schwartz said that because of the teams' hard work during the summer and early season, the teams were ready to put everything together.
"They've done a better job of preparing than any team I’ve had," Schwartz said. "We just haven’t had that one complete race yet."
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