By Jason A. Vrtis
Arizona Daily Wildcat
The Arizona men's cross country team captured its first win of the season, while the women ran to a first-place tie with No. 9 Wisconsin at Savoy, Ill., Saturday.
Sophomore Bob Keino easily won his second consecutive race of the year in 24 minutes, 26 seconds, leading the ninth-ranked Wildcats to victories over Illinois and Southern Illinois in the 8,000-meter race. The rest of the Arizona scorers finished in the top 10, as the Wildcats finished with 22 points. Illinois was second with 41 points and Southern Illinois finished with 61 points. Junior Margarito Casillas placed second in 24:40, and junior Jon Pillow finished fourth in 24:44.
"The men's race was a complete runaway for us," head coach Dave Murray said. "Our top five ran extremely well."
Other UA men and their finishes: freshman Jeff McLarty, sixth, 24:57; senior Jeff Haynes, ninth, 25:15; senior Art Jiminez, 21st, 26:22; and junior Timur Voitetsky, 24th, 26:49.
The women, with their first-place tie, remain undefeated on the season, but it wasn't as easy as last week's dominating victory. Eighth-ranked Arizona was led by freshman Amy Skieresz, who was second in 17:05, behind Wisconsin's Kathy Butler. Senior Viola Schaffer followed just behind Skieresz in 17:10 and freshman Emily Nay placed fourth in 17:43.
Senior Ann Colonna, with just half of the race remaining, needed to pass three Wisconsin runners to give Arizona a shot at the victory. Colonna did just that, finishing seventh in 17:50, enabling the Wildcats to tie the ninth-ranked Badgers at 29 points in the 5,000m race. Illinois was third with 78.
Other UA women and their finishes: sophomore Virginia Camacho, 13th, 18:24; senior Lisa Quaintance,16th, 18:41; and Tone Bratteng, 18th, 18:59.