Cross country team holds its own over tough weekend

The Arizona men's and women's cross country teams finished first and second, respectively, at the Mountain West Classic in Missoula, Mont. It was both teams' toughest meet to date.

The UA men's team was impressive, beating fourth-ranked and Pacific 10 Conference rival Oregon, fifth-ranked Big-10 preseason favorite Michigan and 10th-ranked Washington State. Senior Abdi Abdirahman led the way, finishing fourth overall at 24 minutes, 24 seconds. Junior Micheil Jones was next for UA, finishing ninth (25:07), followed by sophomore David Lopez (11th, 25:09), junior Jeremy Lyon (15th, 25:16) and freshman Steve Smith (20th, 25:25).

For the women, senior Amy Skieresz and freshman Tara Chaplin took the top two spots for the third meet in a row. Skieresz took first place for the fourth consecutive year, finishing in 20:41. Chaplin was nipping at her heels, finishing in second place only 10 seconds behind. Junior Kristen Parrish finished 11th (21:41), while senior Brooke Murphy finished 19th (22:16) and freshman Jennifer Burris was the final Wildcat finisher, in 37th place (22:58).

The next meet for the Wildcats will be in two weeks when they travel to Lawrence, Kan., for the Bob Timmons Invitational/NCAA Pre-Meet.