ACU looks to defend titles

Wildcats run at LSC meet in Ada, Okla.

ADA, Okla. -- The ACU men's and women's cross country teams will put their respective Lone Star Conference championships on the line Saturday at the annual LSC championship meet on the campus of East Central University.

The men have won 11 straight LSC titles, while the women's title in 2001 was their first since 1997. Both ACU teams are heavily favored to win the men's and women's titles, respectively.

The ACU men -- ranked No. 1 in the South Central region and No. 2 in NCAA Division II -- have made the LSC meet their personal playground with 11 straight team wins and 11 straight individual conference champions. Seniors John Kemboi and Alfred Rugema won the 2001 and 2000 LSC titles, respectively, and are two of the favorites to win this year's individual title.

Those two athletes will be complemented by Bernard Manirakiza, Arthemon Sindayigaya, Jean-Marie Ndukimana, Nick Branen and Martin O'Kello.

ACU head coach Jon Murray knows his team is the overwhelming favorite to win the league crown, and knowing that means he has to come up with different ways to motivate his team for the league meet. And he has done just that for this year's meet.

"We want to go out and finish 1-7 and set another standard for the rest of the LSC," Murray said. "We've finished 1-5 and had seven all-conference runners (seven in the top 10 finishers), but no one has ever gone 1-7. But we have the depth to be able to do that this year."

The ACU women also figure to bring home the title, which would be ACU's first back-to-back women's championships since winning five straight titles from 1993-97. No ACU runner has won the individual title since Vivian Ruitjers won back-to-back titles in 1996 and 1997.

Murray sees this Saturday's race as the first step in getting the women's team back to the NCAA Division II national championship meet for the first time since 1997.

"I'm happy with our development, and we're in a great position to defend our title," he said of his women's team, which is ranked No. 3 in the South Central region. " Our No. 1 goal this year is to get back to the national meet, and this will be our first step towards accomplishing that goal."

ACU will be led by senior Angie Waters, junior Justine Nahimana and sophomore Cassie Chaffin, along with senior Amie Lindley.