October 31, 1998

LARAMIE, Wyo. -

The University of Wyoming mens and womens cross country teams took part in the Western Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships today in Houston, Tex., on the campus of Rice University.

The men took third-place and the women finished in 14th-place. Brigham Young University captured both the mens and womens team championships.

On the mens side, the Cowboys were led by Joe Hall, who finished sixth. Hall was followed by Chris Lee in ninth. With those places, both runners earned All-Conference honors.

The Cowgirls were led by freshman Tara LaMay, who finished in 63rd-place. Following LaMay for the women were Galena Ackerman (68th), Christy Burgess (69th), Amy Hill (75th), Melissa Greer (79th), and Lisa Sims (95th).

"The men had a great team effort, altogether," said Larry Judge, University of Wyoming head track and cross country coach. "It was a great run by Joe and Chris, they fed off of each other. The team worked hard in the offseason and its great to see it payoff. Were really excited about our third-place finish, ahead of teams like Utah and Colorado State. We aimed towards peaking at the WAC Championships, and when it all comes together like this, itreally pays it off.

"I was pleased with Tara. She did very, very well. Our top three runners all ran a very gutty race and did very well for their first WAC Championships. We are a young team and we are rebuilding, but the future is bright for us."

WAC honorees for 1998 were as follows:

WOMEN

Freshman of the Year: Gladys Keitany, TCU

Athlete of the Year: Maggie Chan, BYU

Coach of the Year: Patrick Shane, BYU

MEN

Freshman of the Year: Epharan Mokgukhu, SMU

Athlete of the Year: Jeff Simonich, Utah

Coach of the Year: Mike Jones, Utah

Here are Wyomings individual results:MENJoe Hall25:016thChris Lee25:209thDavid Roberts        25:4218thAndy Shellenbarger      26:2837th   Greg Schabron        26:3139thNathan McLeland         26:4647th
WOMENTara LaMay        19:4963rdGalena Ackerman         19:5168thChristy Burgess         19:5269thAmy Hill20:0875thMelissa Greer        20:1879thLisa Sims20:4395th