Sunday, October 28, 2001
When Hawaii associate coach Andy McInnis handed out race numbers on Friday, Cheryl Smith got No. 1 and Casey McGuire-Turcotte No. 2. Wahine runners finish
1-2 in conferenceBy Tim Crouse
tcrouse@starbulletin.comAnd that's just how the Wahine seniors finished at the Western Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships yesterday at the Kaneohe Klipper Course.
Smith set a course record with a time of 17 minutes, 42 seconds and McGuire-Turcotte crossed the finish line 15 seconds later to edge Southern Methodist's Karin Van Rooyen for second place by four seconds.
"When Andy passed out our (numbers) and Cheryl and I were 1 and 2, I got a feeling." McGuire-Turcotte said. "I knew a week of rest was really going to do us good. I knew that mentally we were doing it just the right way. We weren't stressing out, we were relaxed. And it paid off."
Charlotte Sanderson finished fourth (18:23) to lead the charge for Tulsa, which captured the team title a year after failing to convert an opportunity on its home course.
"We actually decided last year after we did badly that we had to do something about it," Sanderson said. "We finished (today) and it wasn't quite what we wanted, places-wise, and we were panicking. We still can't believe it."
Said Tulsa coach Steve Gulley: "We were sixth last year and we really only brought in one kid, a freshman. For everybody else to step up and make an adjustment from sixth in the conference to first speaks a lot about them."
Tulsa's Sarah Haskins placed 10th and the third, fourth and fifth runners placed 19th, 20th and 27th, giving the Golden Hurricane 80 points. Rice was second with 89 points, followed by Nevada (101) and Hawaii (102).
Wahine Courtney Barlow was 26th overall (19:34). Diane Kohara was 36th (20:08) and Brittney Keith was 37th (20:09).
"Coming into this we didn't really have a lot of information on the other teams," Hawaii coach Carmyn James said. "All we had was our team and with each race they were running better and better. So all we could ask of them and expect of them was to run their best race here."
The UH runners did have some of their best times of the season yesterday (not counting the results of the Willamette Invitational, where the top five UH finishers all recorded season-bests). Barlow, a senior, shaved 30 seconds off the time she ran on the same course during the UH Invitational on Oct. 3.
In the men's 8K race, Rice edged Texas-El Paso 51-54 for the team championship. Southern Methodist, Tulsa and Fresno State rounded out the top five.
UTEP's Bashar Ibrahim took individual men's honors, finishing the race in 24:58. David Gerych was second at 25:10.
The individual win was the fifth in seven races this season for Smith, who was named the WAC Female Runner of the Year after the race. Smith has also set two course records this season.
"It was a relief because it was really, really tough, the toughest race I've run in a long time," she said. "This course is really tough. Its deceiving to the eye. It's rolling, its not a smooth golf course."
Smith got off to a quick start in the race and kept up her pace the entire way.
"Mentally (you're thinking), 'What's going on behind me?' You're running scared almost. That can be hard."
Smith was never seriously challenged, but McGuire-Turcotte and Van Rooyen were neck-and-neck throughout. McGuire-Turcotte was able to pull away just as the runners approached the finish line.
"In those places it's not so much about who is the better runner, it's about who is going to make the move and put themselves in the best position and I decided I wanted to make sure I did that," McGuire-Turcotte said.
Part of her family, including her dad, Russell, came from Big Island to watch the WAC meet.
"She ran as well as I've seen her run since high school," Russell McGuire-Turcotte said.
Hawaii heads to the NCAA West Regional Nov. 10 in Tucson, Ariz. The top individual and team finishers from that meet go on to the NCAA Championships Nov. 19 in Greenville, S.C.