UA runners prepare for Pac-10s

Arizona Daily Wildcat UA senior Virginia Camacho, shown here running at practice, has posted four consecutive fourth place finishes this season. Camacho and the rest of the Wildcat cross country team are off for the next three weeks before heading to the Pac-10 Championships in Palo Alto, Calif. on Nov. 1.

Saturday's Murray Keatinge Invitational in Orono, Maine, was the UA cross country team's last race before the "championship season" begins.

On Nov. 1 the Wildcats will travel to the Pacific 10 Conference Championships, the first of three championship meets to close out their 1997 campaign.

Their fourth and final meet of the "preliminary season" might have been their best, according to UA head coach Dave Murray.

"I'm very pleased that we beat a lot of good teams from the East Coast," he said, as the Wildcats finished ahead of William and Mary, Iowa and Dartmouth.

UA junior Amy Skieresz won her 11th consecutive race, repeating as champion at the Murray Keatinge.

Her time of 16 minutes, 32.9 seconds on the 5,000-meter course beat her nearest competition, Jenne Rogern of Dartmouth, by 39 seconds.

Both the men's and women's cross country teams posted better showings in Maine then they had at the Mountain West Classic in Montana two weeks ago.

The women came in third with 63 points, behind Dartmouth (43) and Ball State (58).

Also posting impressive finishes for UA were senior Virginia Camacho, who recovered from a bout of the flu earlier in the week to come in fourth (17:37.2), and senior Tone Bratteng, who came in eighth (18:02.1).

Murray was especially pleased with Bratteng's finish, her best of the year thus far.

"We thought she was going to be our number five runner at the beginning of the year," he said. "She's really been a surprise for us."

To date, Murray has been pleased with the women's showings, but he feels that there is still room for improvement.

"The women need to get up there with faster times," he said.

While the top three runners from the women have been getting stronger, Murray is still hoping for the rest of the team to catch up.

Freshman Erin Doherty has been "intimidated by the competition so far," Murray said. He felt that she showed more confidence in Maine, however.

Freshman transfer Katrin Engelen has been trying to get in shape ever since she arrived in Arizona from her native Germany in September. Engelen missed the Wildcats' first two meets of the season.

"As soon as she gets in shape she's going to be one of our best," Murray said.

Most of the team's worries surround sophomore Kristen Parrish, who has been slowed by illness and injury for most of the season. Parrish missed the trip to Maine because her potassium level once again dropped too low.

On the men's side last weekend, the Wildcats came in second with 91 points, behind only Michigan (27).

UA junior Abdi Abdirahman came in third with a time of 24:03.2 on the five-mile course.

Murray said that the only downside for the men's team of late has been sophomore Micheil Jones' last two finishes, when he came in 99th and 63rd, respectively.

"Micheil started out strong and then he just went dead at the two mile mark," Murray said. "I think it's a confidence thing more than anything."

Murray also feels the senior Margarito Casillas, who missed all of last season with an injury, is finally coming around.

"He hasn't been in a racing mode all season until this weekend," Murray said. "He's definitely looking much, much better."

Casillas finished 23rd in Maine and ran what Murray called "his best race so far."