RICHARDSON, Texas – The Lone Star Conference cross country season continues with meets this week. On Friday, LSC teams will compete in the ACU Jon Murray and Texas Tech Invitational. The Missouri Southern State College Stampede headlines the schedule on Saturday along with the Patriot Invitational.
LSC Runners of the Week - Sept. 13, 2006
Male
David Chirchir, Cameron
Chirchir, a native of Nairobi, Kenya, won the East Central University Cross Country Meet on Saturday, September 9th, 2006, on a very difficult course. His time of 25:10, was fast enough to not only win Chirchir the race, but to finish over a minute faster than the runner who came in second place.
Female
Rachel Ingram, Southwestern Oklahoma
SWOSU cross country star Ingram was the runaway winner at the East Central University Tiger Chase racing past a field of 52 participants to claim the individual title in a record time. Ingram, a junior from Springfield, Mo., blistered the five-kilometer course at the Pontotoc Technology Center in a time of 18 minutes and 45 seconds and finished 38 seconds ahead of her nearest pursuer. She has been beaten only by two runners this year, both international runners from Kenya who compete for Texas Tech and South Plains Junior College.
Other Top Performers
Nimrod Lelei, Eastern New Mexico
Lelei opened the season strong last Saturday at the University of New Mexico Lobo Invitational placing 12th in the eight kilometer run, finishing in 26:17. Seven of the 11 competitors finishing ahead of Lelei were running for NCAA Division I schools, with four of those runners propelling Invitational champion Texas-El Paso to first place.
Thomas Veal, Angelo State
Veal finished in 4th place at the Texas State Invitational with a time of 27:05.5. The team won Texas State Invitational title.
Daniel Castro, Texas A&M-Kingsville
Castro was the top collegiate finisher at the Texas State Cross Country Invitational in San Marcos. Castro covered the five miles in 26:51, 14 seconds ahead of Alex Escontrias of Texas State.
Mariana Chavira, Eastern New Mexico
Chavira was the top finisher for the Zias for the second consecutive week, placing 22nd at the University of New Mexico Lobo Invitational with a finishing time of 24:27 in the 6k race. 15 of the 21 competitors finishing ahead of Chavira were running for NCAA Division I schools. The previous weekend, Chavira paced ENMU at the first annual Mike Boit Invitational with an eighth place finish in the three mile race, crossing the finish line at the 19:16 mark.
Niki Williams, Texas A&M-Commerce
Williams led the Lions to a second-place finish at the UT-Tyler Invitational on Saturday with a third place overall finish. The Fayetteville, Arkansas native finished the 6k course in a time of 23:52. Williams was one of three Lions to finish in the top 10.
Melina Garcia, Angelo State
Garcia tied for 5th at Texas State Invitational, with a time of 18:29.00. The team finished third.
Desiree Cisneros, Texas A&M-Kingsville
Cisneros was the Javelinas top finisher at the Texas State Invitational, finishing 13th with a time of 19:07 over the 3-mile course. The Javelina women finished fourth out of eight teams with 122 points.
Evelyn Berko, Central Oklahoma
Berko continues to impress after making her collegiate debut last week at the Hurricane Cross Country Festival by turning in a runner-up showing to pace UCO to the team championship at the ECU Tiger Chase on Saturday. The freshman turned in a career-best 19:23.7 effort on the 3.2 mile course as the Bronchos took the team championship for the second consecutive year.