Eight cross country runners earn All-Academic honors

Eight Wildcats on the men's and women's cross country teams earned Pacific 10 Conference All-Academic honors, the conference announced yesterday.

Three Wildcat women earned first team honors, along with two on the second team and one honorable mention. On the men's side, two Wildcats were selected as honorable mentions. This is the first time six of these athletes have earned the honor.

Sophomore Adrienne Goeller, senior Nicole Gurnicz and junior Beth Hoge earned first team accolades. Hoge led the Wildcat women throughout the season, capping off the year at the NCAA West Regional, where she led the team to an eighth-place finish.

Goeller and Gurnicz have been significant contributors to the team throughout the season, with Goeller consistently finishing behind Hoge towards the end of the season.

Sophomores Jenn Ford and Michi Hirakawa-Wong were named to the second team. Sophomore Robin Tierney earned her second straight honorable mention.

Senior Eric Bohn earned his second honorable mention from the Pac-10 conference for his academic efforts. Junior Mike Howard joined Bohn on the list, a first-time honor for him. Both Bohn and Howard were scorers for the Wildcats during the 2003 season.

To be eligible for selection to the academic team, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.0 grade-point average and be either a starter or significant contributor.

Nallen takes trifecta at All-America Golf Classic

EL PASO, Texas - UA senior Chris Nallen played 54 holes of bogey-free golf to card a three-round total of 196, capturing medalist honors yesterday at the 2003 Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic at the El Paso Country Club.

Nallen entered the final round at 13-under par and added four more birdies yesterday to finish the tournament at 17-under. He tied the tournament record held by former Arizona teammate Ricky Barnes, who carded a 196 to capture the 2000 Golf Classic title.

Nallen also became the first golfer in the 29-year history of the tournament to win the Titleist Longest Drive Contest, the Ping Putting Contest and medalist honors. His six-stroke victory is the largest margin of victory since Utah State's Jay Don Blake won by six strokes over Oral Roberts' Joe Rassett in 1980.

"This is probably the best golf I have played ever," Nallen said. "Being put in Ricky's company is great."

It was Nallen's thrid career victory at Arizona and his first since winning the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate in Oct. 2002.

The tournament, hosted by the Sun Bowl Association, is played at the Par-71, 6,781-yard El Paso Country Club. Each university is awarded a $1,000 scholarship if one of its golfers competes in the tournament.