Cross country to face stacked field

By Joel Flom
Arizona Daily Wildcat
October 18, 1996

The UA cross country teams will experience their first taste of home course advantage and stiff competition tomorrow when they host the 1996 Pre-NCAA Invitational at Dell Urich Golf Course.

The action begins at 9:45 a.m. with the women's event and the men follow at 10:30 a.m.

Many of the top teams in the nation will travel to Tucson this weekend. There will be 31 teams on both the men's and women's side, and 21 of those teams are nationally ranked. On the men's side, besides No. 15 Arizona, there will be No. 2 Wisconsin, No. 3 Stanford, No. 4 Northern Arizona, No. 6 Colorado, No. 10 Portland, No. 11 Notre Dame, No. 13 Wake Forest and No. 21 Nebraska.

For the women, No. 6 Arizona will run against No. 2 Colorado, No. 3 Stanford, No. 4 Villanova, No. 12 Wisconsin, No. 13 Weber State, No. 14 North Carolina, No. 19 Northern Arizona, No. 20 Florida, No. 21 Notre Dame, No. 24 Nebraska and No. 25 Colorado State.

The meet gives teams a chance to run the same course that will be used for the NCAA National Championships on Nov. 25. The men will run in an 8,600-meter event, while the women run in a 5,100-meter course.

Junior Bob Keino leads the UA men's squad. Keino took fifth last weekend at the Murray Keating Invitational and has placed second in the previous two meets.

Other runners include senior Jon Pillow, sophomore Jeff McLarty, freshmen Micheil Jones and Jeremy Lyon, junior Chad Wenger and senior Luther Kopf.

Sophomore standout Amy Skieresz leads the women. Skieresz has cruised to first place in each of the Wildcats' three meets this year, setting two new course records along the way. Joining her will be sophomore Emily Nay, senior Viola Schaffer, freshman Kristen Parrish and juniors Virginia Camacho, Tone Bratteng and Kelly Chavez.


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