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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 6, 1996)
t Page y • September^ i students andfacut ibout the acquis r said, some art jut the name chaif of the older student of the communit rroblem with itrhti 1’t like the fact that is swallowing a ir system.” A&M instil i said, is encoura? ts individualidente from Page 1 This is just anij Aggie taking the Ik buses, Bennett said eral problems stun ng out. ggies per weekenc tt said. "And if you u won’t have to * gas, parking or driv Benning, owner i Duddley’s Draw te convenient for (« ring out drinking, inty is a little lightir .iness,” Benning: OOO Aggies who Ira hey can use the bi ies, a bar, or, fort :et home late at nigt ano, a sergeant wit : Beverage Commiss cy will remain net te said people might i about the buses, lie might think theht luragement to infi s, the general attii ansit is positive, received letters of: veral political to President A1 Gore,! tchinson, Texas Lt( d Ciiollege StationMe lung a child, the kin'^ w has put into tis I. "It’s very difficult^ up their cars inTeil )AB] much success.' r AB bus passes can m the Residence hi Bothers Bookstesan market. PeopletW tester pass can We for a toll of 50 ceife. The Battalion P 0 Page 11 Friday • September 6, 1996 Going the Distance outhful Aggies have tough Big 12 road ahead r. Tim Moog, The Battalion Cross Country runners (from left) Stephen Erath, Todd Fox and Jim rcey enjoy an afternoon workout Tuesday. By Jamie Burch The Battalion The Texas A&M Cross Country Team will be running against the wind this sea son as the team prepares to make the transition into the Big 12 with a squad depleted of experience. Matt Priest, the first Aggie since 1966 to win the Southwest Conference championship, and the first back-to- back NCAA qualifier for the Aggies since 10,000-meter world record hold er Arturo Barrios, is the biggest loss for the men. On the women’s side, three of the top four runners graduated, including two- time All-SWC pick Shannon Etchberger, and sisters Belle and Cecille Sangalang. A&M Head Coach Greg Hinze said that in order to speed the development of the underclassmen, he redshirted several of the seniors. "I have a lot of freshmen,” Hinze said. “By redshirting the would-be seniors, that will give the freshmen a year to mature and a year to grow.” The only senior who was not redshirt ed was Jerry Snider. The Aggies have a tough road ahead of them this year against a deep field in the Big 12. Hinze said the toughest competition will come from conference powers Iowa State University and the University of Colorado. The Cyclones have recruited several ballyhooed run ners from Kenya recently. “Iowa State has traditionally been very good,” Hinze said. “They’ve had the Kenyan connection for many years.” He said Colorado’s advantage stems from the natural conditions under which they train. “Colorado is strong because they get to train at (a high) altitude,” Hinze said. Against such a deep field, Hinze said strong leadership will be the key to success. Sophomore Scott Lengefeld, who was last season’s number two runner, is expected to take over the leadership reigns from the departed Priest. Lengefeld fell short of earning All-SWC honors, but finished 27th in the district championships. “I expect a lot out of Scott,” Hinze said. "He is definitely the guy who’s going to step into Matt’s shoes, and that’s who we’re looking at to be the leader.” However, Lengefeld said he does not feel any added pressure to perform. “The goal is still the same,” Lengefeld “The goal is still the same. We still want to compete well and make A&M look good.” Scott Lengefeld A&M Cross Country said. “We still want to compete well and make A&M look good.” Hinze said the women are looking toward sophomore Amy Stanberry to ignite the squad. Stanberry, who was the number two runner behind Etchberger last season, placed in the top 11 in all three meets she ran in last season. But she pulled out of the SWC championship meet because of an injury. "She exceeded my expec tations as a freshman,” Hinze said. “Going into this year, I expect her to be our number one runner.” Stanberry said she looks forward to the challenge. “There are a lot of expec tations of me,” Stanberry said. “Hopefully, I can use that as a positive force.” The Aggies’ first meet is this Saturday at the Audubon Invitational in New Orleans. The team will host the Texas A&M Invitational on Oct. 12. Hinze said the team will continue to practice hard all season and has one specific goal. “We’re shooting at the district meet to try to qualify the team or individuals for the NCAA tournament,” Hinze said. inider’s special socks, track experience keys to success B! fions us Room outhgate ate Tim Moog, The Battalion Snider was the only senior who was not Ihirted by Coach Greg Hinze this season. By Matt Mitchell The Battalion efore each meet, A&M cross country runner Jerry Snider peruses his sock drawer to find his one pair of socks that he buys specifically for meets each year. No other pair will do. Call it eccentric, but it works, and Snider will be one of the top returning harriers for the Aggies this season. Snider became interested in dis tance running almost by accident dur ing a two-mile distance running con test his freshman year in high school. He ended up beating all but one runner. Included among the surprised were four other cross country team members and their coach. “I had planned to run track, but not cross country,” Snider said. “But after that, the coach kind of came after me and put me on the team.” So from then on, Snider subjected himself to grueling workouts — not only in the afternoon, but in the early morning as well, most times as early as 6:30 a.m. Cross country is not considered a glamour sport; there are no endorse ment contracts to look forward to, and the sport requires pushing one’s body to its absolute limit over punishing terrain. Snider said the motivation was nei ther fame nor glory, but a different track event altogether. “I’m a miler in track,” Snider said. “I always think the more people I can beat who are more cross country ori ented, the better I’m doing. Their strong point is endurance and mine is more speed. “If I know that a competitor of mine runs the 5,000 or 10,000 [meters] in track, then if I can beat him in cross country it makes me feel that much better. It’s a confidence builder.” Striving for improvement in other events has worked well for Snider and has made his cross country career, among other things, an unqualified success. The Baton Rouge, La., native was among the Southwest Conference’s finest harriers last season, placing fifth overall in the UT-San Antonio Alumni Meet and ninth overall at the Vanderbilt Invitational. The men’s cross country team finished first in both meets with 20 and 23 overall points, respectively. “From an athletic standpoint, Jerry always has real good fall seasons, which he uses as a springboard into the indoor and outdoor season,” A&M Cross Country Head Coach Greg Hinze said. “But this year he only has cross country and indoor seasons. So instead of looking at this as a training phase this year, he’ll be looking at it more as a competition. “I think he’ll step up and do some things in cross country that he’s never really done before.” Snider holds the distinction of being the only senior cross country runner who will not be redshirted this season. Accordingly, he will be count ed on to provide leadership to the rebuilding Aggies. Snider said he steps into the vacant leadership role left by Matt Priest, who led the Aggies into one of its best sea sons in A&M history. “Last year Matt did a lot for us,” Snider said. “We have a lot of young guys with no experience. I think it’s going to come down to making sure everyone is where they need to be at the meets. “They’re going to be pretty scared, pretty nervous, and it’s going to be up to us to just tell them what’s going on and reassure diem, because once the race starts, the nerves last about five seconds.” Hinze said Snider will be instru mental in helping the freshmen adjust to college. “The team is very young and inex perienced and I’m going to look to him to help the freshmen make the adjust ment from high school to collegiate competition,” Hinze said. Tim Moog, The Battalion Senior Jerry Snider stretches before running around the campus during his afternoon workout Tuesday. This season might be cause for more nerves than usual. The season’s imminent challenge arises from the Aggies’ move to the Big 12 Conference. Snider said competing against larg er schools with subsequently larger athletic department budgets signals tougher competition than ever for the young Aggies. In fact, the Big 12 is expected to boast one of the top cross country leagues in the nation. “Overall, it’s (the Big 12) going to be real tough,” Snider said. “The tal ent level is very high and the teams have a lot more depth. We’re also going to see more foreigners. Individually, we’re looking at runners going from top-five finishes [last year] to it being an accomplishment to place in the top 20. Personally, my goal is to finish in the top 25.” To do that, he’d better have his special socks. THE BATTALION’S 1996 STAFF PICKS Thgate next to he Match-ups Tom Day Kristina Buffin Jamie Burch Sara Duesing Jeremy Furtick Colby Gaines Ross Hecox Matt Mitchell Dennis Ramirez Nicole Smith CONSENSUS ach day and Michigan State at Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska Michigan St. Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska: Burch going for the upset of the century .m. each da; meeting Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma State Texas Tech Texas Tech Texas Tech Texas Tech OSU Texas Tech Texas Tech Texas Tech Texas Tech Texas Tech Texas Tech: Cowboys get spiked by Red Raiders TCU at Oklahoma TCU Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma: TCU not wise to invade Big 12 country Wyoming at Iowa State Wyoming Iowa State Iowa State Wyoming Wyoming Iowa State Iowa State Iowa State Iowa State Iowa State Iowa State: Troy Davis continues Heisman quest Texas Texas Texas Texas Texas Texas Texas Texas Texas Texas Texas: Can't beat these Aggies on Kyle Field Baylor: Bears beat Aggies to the punch \T ONE OF OUi Baylor at Louisiana Tech Baylor Baylor Baylor Baylor Baylor Baylor Baylor Baylor Baylor Baylor Indiana State at Kansas State Kansas State Kansas State Kansas State Kansas State Kansas State Kansas State Kansas State Kansas State Kansas State Kansas State Kansas State: Too bad this isn't a basketball game Colorado at Colorado State Colorado Colorado Colorado Colorado Colorado Colorado Colorado Colorado Colorado Colorado Colorado: 1300-pound Ralphie stampedes over Rams Washington at Arizona State Arizona State Arizona State Washington Arizona State Arizona State Washington Washington Washington Washington Washington Washington: Huskies thinking upset Oakland at Kansas City Kansas City Kansas City Kansas City Kansas City Kansas City Kansas City Kansas City Kansas City Kansas City Kansas City Kansas City: No Hostetler = No win for Raiders Oilers at Jacksonville Oilers Oilers Jacksonville Oilers Jacksonville Oilers Oilers Oilers Oilers Jacksonville Oilers: Who's the expansion team again? Giants at Cowboys Cowboys Giants Cowboys Cowboys Cowboys Cowboys Cowboys Giants Cowboys Cowboys Cowboys: Giants defense suffers another humiliation Last Week 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Everyone's off to a good start — tied for first Cumulative 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Day on quest to repeat
