Cross Country: Owls Ready for WAC Championships Saturday
10/29/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
In the preseason coaches poll, the Rice men were picked to finish fourth. That was before team wins in two of the Owls' three scored meets this season. After wins at the Rice and Texas A&M invitationals, Rice climbed to second in the weekly NCAA district VI poll. The only meet the Rice men did not win was the Arkansas Chile Pepper Invitational Oct. 16 in Fayetteville, Ark. The Owls finished second to the Razorbacks, the top-ranked team in the nation.
Junior Lachlan McArthur (Melbourne, Australia/Ivanhoe Grammar) has been the top Owl finisher in all four meets this season, but he is still looking for his first solo win. He and teammate Tyson Hendricksen (Kingwood/High) teamed to win the Rice Relay in the first outing of the season. McArthur finished second at both the Rice and Texas A&M invitationals, though he was the top collegian at the Rice Invitational. He was awarded WAC athlete of the week honors after his second-place effort at Texas A&M. Hendricksen also received WAC weekly honors for his effort at the Rice Relays.
Both McArthur and Hendricksen are among the top contenders in the individual race, but both will have to run better than TCU senior David Lagat, the favorite for the WAC meet who won the Texas A&M Invitational.
SMU, TCU and UTEP were predicted ahead of the Owls to win the team championship back in September, though Rice has won each head-to-head meeting with both SMU and TCU. Rice and UTEP have not met in a meet this season. Rice has not won a conference championship since sharing the Southwest Conference title with Texas A&M in 1928. The Owls finished ninth at last year's WAC meet in Houston.
For the Rice women to win their first conference crown since claiming the 1994 Southwest Conference championship, senior Shaquandra Roberson (Baytown/Lee) will have to have a strong meet.
Roberson has won the Rice Invitational and the Texas A&M Invitational and was the runner up at the North Texas Invitational. She was named the WAC athlete of the week after the wins at Rice and at Texas A&M.
As a team, the Owls won the Rice Invitational and tied for the team title at Texas A&M. Rice was beaten by only eight points at the North Texas Invitational by Texas and then finished third at the Arkansas Chile Pepper. Second-ranked Arkansas and fifth-ranked Wisconsin beat the Owls in Fayetteville.
Rice was picked to finish second by league coaches in the preseason poll. TCU was given the nod to claim the team championship, but the Owls have edged the Horned Frogs in all three meets the teams have competed.
The men's championship will begin at 12 noon, CDT, and the women's race will commence at 1 pm.