Oct. 3, 2000

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Upcoming for the Red Raiders...
The Red Raiders host the Texas Tech Open this Saturday at Mae Simmons Park in Lubbock. The men's 8K race begins at 9 a.m., while the women's 5K race begins at 9:45 a.m.

In last year's Texas Tech Open, many of Tech's top runners rested in preparation for the Pre-Nationals, which were the next week. The women finished second out of seven teams at the meet, led by Courtney Nolen's second-place individual finish. Shannon Spaulding is the only member of this year's squad to race in last season's race, finishing eighth with a time of 21:10.

The men did not compete in last year's race.

Tech women place third at Cowboy Jamboree
Four runners finish in Top 30 for another strong showing
The Texas Tech women's cross country squad put on yet another impressive performance at the Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday morning.

Senior Leigh Daniel led the way for the Red Raiders with a fourth-place showing in the 5K meet hosted by Oklahoma State University. The Lubbock native crossed the finish line in 18:03.

True freshman Katie Lyman posted her best time of the season with a mark of 18:19 for sixth place. Fellow frosh Bridget Tidwell also posted her best time in her young career, finishing in a time of 18:49 for 20th in the 119-runner event.

Sulphur Springs, Texas, product Tracie Akerhielm posted a 29th-place finish in a time of 19:11, also her best time in her freshman campaign. Sophomore Shannon Spaulding finished in a time of 19:39 for 45th place. The meet was only Spaulding's second of the season after a preseason injury sidelined her until last week's Sundodger Invitational.

Two other freshmen also raced in Saturday's meet, with Emily Kepple crossing the finish line in a time of 23:01, and Megan Beaty coming in right behind Kepple with a mark of 23:16.

The third-pace showing for the women equals last year's team performance at the Cowboy Jamboree when 16 teams participated. The 2000 meet involved 13 squads. TCU won the team portion of the event, with Horned Frogs runner Gladys Keitany winning the indivudual honor in a time of 17:16.

Men harriers place eighth at Cowboy Jamboree
Senior Boniface Ndungu paces Red Raider squad
The Texas Tech men's cross country squad finished eighth in Saturday's Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater, Okla., led by senior Boniface Ndungu's 20th-place time.

Ndungu crossed the finish line in a time of 25:30, about 90 seconds behind race-winner Alfred Rugema of Abilene Christian. Sophomore Ryan Cruz finished 50th in the 186-runner event with a mark of 26:12, only his second race of the season.

Freshman Scott Moore posted a time of 26:23 for 55th-place in the 8K race hosted by Oklahoma State University. Also scoring points for the Red Raiders were freshmen Joseph McCellon (26:38, 69th) and Nick Hulstrom (27:06, 83rd).

Eight other Red Raiders participated in the event, including: Dwayne Benoit (27:21), George Odom (27:26), Brian Wade (27:59), Chris Thomas (28:38), Tom Williams (28:46), Jeremy Granger (29:13), Chris Ramirez (30:24), and Cullen Shaw (31:42).

Twenty teams competed in the men's race, including six squads from the Big 12 conference.

Host of Tech Harriers Set Best Times of Season
A number of Texas Tech runners set personal best times in this past week's Cowboy Jamboree, including six of the seven women who competed in Stillwater, Okla.

True freshman Katie Lyman posted her best time of the season with a mark of 18:19 for sixth place. Fellow frosh Bridget Tidwell also posted her best time in her young career, finishing in a time of 18:49 for 20th in the 119-runner event.

Sulphur Springs, Texas, product Tracie Akerhielm posted a 29th-place finish in a time of 19:11, also her best time in her freshman campaign. Sophomore Shannon Spaulding finished in a time of 19:39 for 45th place. The meet was only Spaulding's second of the season after a preseason injury sidelined her until last week's Sundodger Invitational.

Two other freshmen also raced in Saturday's meet, with Emily Kepple crossing the finish line in a time of 23:01, and Megan Beaty coming in right behind Kepple with a mark of 23:16.

Yossef Earns Runner of the Week Honor
Texas Tech senior Gezachw Yossef was honored as the Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week by the conference office on Monday.

Yossef, a senior from Ashdod, Israel, crossed the finish line in second-place among 87 runners at the Sundodger Invitational in Seattle, Wash., last Saturday. He finished less than 18 seconds behind first-place finisher Mark Pilja of Michigan with a time of 24:17.91 on the 8K course. The Red Raiders finished fourth in a field of nine teams behind Washington, Michigan and UCLA. Last season, Texas Tech finished sixth at the Sundodger Invite.

Missouri's Ann Marie Brooks joined Yossef in the weekly honor, earning Big 12 Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week.

Brooks, a two-time All-Big 12 harrier, finished sixth in the women's 6K at the Roy Griak Invitational in Lincoln, Neb., last Saturday with a time of 21:43. The senior led her team to a 12th-place finish out of 31 teams, with seven squads ranked in last week's FinshLynx Women's National Cross Country Coaches Poll. The 20th-ranked Tigers edged out No. 16 Colorado State and 23rd-ranked Marquette.

Missouri heads to the Lakefront Invitational in Chicago, Ill., this weekend, while Texas Tech will participate in the 64th-annual Cowboy Jamboree, hosted by Oklahoma State.

Freshman Lyman sets course record
With some research and help from coach Dave Smith, it was discovered during the off-week that harrier Katie Lyman set a new freshman course record at the Red Raider Open.

The Cheyenne, Wyo., native posted a time of 16:58 for a fourth-place overall finish. She was the first Tech runner to cross the finish line, breaking the old mark of 20:02 set by Kristen Koppes at the 1996 Red Raider Open.

Lyman came to Tech with a list of accomplishments at the high school level, including posting victories at the Simplot Games, the nation's largest and most prestigious high school indoor meet.

Head Coach Dr. Dave Smith
Dr. David Smith (Michigan State `93) enters his third year as head coach of the Texas Tech Cross Country program. In 1998, Smith implemented a new rigorous training program that resulted in a number of new personal bests for his runners and four of his runners qualified to compete at the Regional Championship meet.

In addition to his duties for Cross Country, Smith is the distance coach for the track and field team. Smith made an immediate impact on the track in 1999, helping coach Leigh Daniel to a pair of national titles in the 5,000 and 10,000 meter runs.

Smith entered into coaching after an outstanding collegiate career as a distance runner. At Michigan State University, Smith was a top performer for the Spartans from 1990-93. He was the Big Ten champion in the 10,000 meters and runner-up in the 1,500 meters in 1993. Smith was also a three-time all-Big Ten performer and three-time academic All-America as well as seven-time academic all-Big Ten.

After leaving East Lansing, Smith moved to Washington state, where he was the competitive manager and women's distance coach for Club Northwest. At Northwest, he led the women's cross country team to a second place finish at the USATF National Cross Country Championships. Smith also organized several major distance races in the Seattle area.

He also earned his doctorate from the University of Washington in Pharmacology during his stay in Seattle.