University of Texas Austin - Cactus Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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apping off a winning season ross country by Aaron K ling An expression defining the ac- complishments of the women harrier ' s season would be hard to find, as the Lady Longhorns captured a perfect season record and earned UT its first national title in women ' s cross-country. We ' ve run well all season and I felt like we deserved to win, said Head Coach Terry Crawford after a close win over number two ranked Wisconsin at the national championship meet held in Tucson, Arizona. Texas, ranke d number five in last Karen Warren LONE RUNNER: Kelly Champagne, marketing junior, endures to an llth place finish at regionals. post-season poll and number two in the pre-season poll, climbed to an undefeated record by placing first at all regular season meets including the University of Texas at El Paso, Texas, Arizona, and Wisconsin Invitationals. At the Wisconsin Invitational, Texas upset top-ranked Wisconsin, the cross- country champions for the past two years, and took over the number one spot. They remained there for the rest of the season as the harriers clinched vic- tories in the SWC championships, in the Regional championships, and in the Na- tional Championships. Much of Texas ' dominance this season was led by the three returning All-Americans, Liz Natale, Anne Schweitzer, and Sandy Blakeslee. Blakeslee placed second at the SWC and UTEP Invitational Texas Invitational Arizona Invitational Wisconsin Classic SWC Championship Region VI Championship NCAA Championship . . . 1st of 6 teams 1st of 12 teams 1st of 20 teams 1st of 1 1 teams . 1 st of 8 teams 1st of 12 teams 1st of 16 teams NCAA Champions Regional championships, and placed fifth at the nationals, Texas ' highest finisher. Natale finished first at regionals, and Schweitzer took first at the SWC championships. We really wanted to win the cham- pionship bad this year ... we didn ' t want to finish co-champions again, Schweitzer said. Blakeslee also commented on the SWC championships saying that the race went really well ... the win was definitely a team effort. A team effort it was all season as the three leading seniors received strong support from their other teammates. Trina Leopold earned All-American honors at the national championships and she finished in the top five at all the previous meets. Also helping Texas clinch the nation victory were Kelly Champagne, Laura McCloy, and Tracy Laughlin. This is the deepest team I have ever put together, said Crawford. We have some really tough athletes to throw at people. We ' ve scored so well this season because of our depth, Crawford said of her number one harriers. We ' ve stress- ed running as a team as a pack as close to the front as possible. When we run together we ' re very hard to beat. The finish of the meet was considered the closest finish in the history of the meet with a score of 62-64 over Wisconsin. 1 78 Women ' s Cross Country

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lil Ull uiinvij j tfu wfN FRONT: Trina Leopold, exercise physiology ' ([ unior, pushes to a strong third place finish. Nov. 3. -eopold ' s placing helped Texas win the SWC title. Jou Moore TRIUMPHANT AND EXHAUSTED: Tracy Laughlin, sports medicine sophomore, receives a well deserved rest on the shoulder of teammate Kelly Champagne, marketing junior, after finishing the regional championships in Georgetown. Both tied for tenth place on the 5,000 meter course. RUN- NING AS A PACK: The harriers sprint off to a first place team finish at the regional championships. Individually, Liz Natale, advertising senior, placed first. Sandy Blakeslee, physical education senior, placed second, and Trina Leopold, exercise physiology junior, was third. Karen Warren Women ' s Cross Country 1 79