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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