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By Joel Flom
Arizona Daily Wildcat
September 6, 1996
The race to the NCAA championships begins Saturday for the men's and women's cross country teams.Arizona will be in Brea, Calif., for the Jammin' Invitational, hosted by Cal State-Fullerton. The men will run an 8,000-meter and the women a 5,000m race at Carbon Canyon Regional Park.
The Wildcats will be racing against teams from Fresno State, Southern Methodist, Long Beach State, UC Irvine and Cal State-Northridge.
The Wildcats have enjoyed some success at this meet. Last season the men's team placed second, led by Bob Keino's individual title. The women won the team trophy, and Viola Schaffer won the individual title.
"I know our team is anxious to compete and this will be an excellent chance to see just where we are," UA coach Dave Murray said.
"I think that our men's team will be much improved over last season," Murray said. "I really like our depth, in that we have 10 solid runners who all have a chance at running in the top five."
The men's top four runners are all back from last season. That includes Keino, who finished 11th at the national championships last year, senior Margarito Casillas, sophomore Jeff McLarty and senior Jon Pillow.
Casillas, however, will not be able to run this weekend due to a sore knee.
The women are poised to be one of the top teams in the country.
"As for the women, I think that we could be a team that may place among the top four at nationals," Murray said.
The women are led by sophomore Amy Skieresz, last season's NCAA runner-up. Also back our senior Viola Schaffer, who placed sixth at last year's Pac-10 championships, sophomore Emily Nay, and juniors Virginia Camacho and Tone Bratteng.
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