A ChamDionshiD Season :1... ::L... Bisons Honored In Conference After a year of following on the heels of last year's champions, Ouachita Baptist, the Bison cross country team overtook the defending champ and won the crown as Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference District 17 champions . Their winning score of 24 points wa half that of Ouachita. Southern Arkansas was third with 57, Arkansas College took fourth with 105 points , and Ozarks rounded out the scoring with 133 points. "We have had many cross countrywins at Harding during my tenure ," Coach Ted Lloyd said. "But none have ever been more satisfying than this one. " From the starting gun, the A.IC/ District 17 championship was a two-team race. Both Harding and OBU qualified five runners in the top 12, and at the beginning of the race, OBU claimed the top two slots. At the three-mile mark, Sam Rogers , OBU's top runner and defending champion, held a lead of about 15 seconds over Bison Damon Work. But, because of Harding's supreme effort all season, the rest of the herd was closing. Rogers, weak from an earlier sickness, was forced to drop out of the race. Taking advantage of the situation, the Bi on moved in for the kill. The result was an individual victory for senior Damon Work and a great team effort from Coach Lloyd and his crew. "When you are outside looking in, the thing you are seeing always looks better, and that is how we felt about the championship, " Lloyd said. "OBU and Harding were evenly matched. They had some bad luck when Rogers went out, but we would have won easily, even ifhe had won the race and that mak s us feel better. " The Bisons came out on top at the nationals in academics. They received the AIA Scholar T am award for achieving the highest grade point average among teams at the competition. Jonathan Griffin, a freshman team member, aid, "We were a young team and could have done better. We had higher expectations going in, but we 'll have even higher ones next year. We 'v et big goals: to win the conference again and to finish in the top 25 in the national meet. " - Bart Blasengame SEASON AT A GLANCE Harding University 24 Ouachita Baptist University 48 Southern Arkansas University 57 Arkansas College 105 College of the Ozarks 133 Tbe Bisons jigbt to gain footage early in tberace.Due todetenninedpeiformances. tbe men placedfirst in theAJCconference meet . Photo by JeffMontgomery. Damon Workfeels the burn as he crosses the finish line. Work placed first in the AIC conference meet. Photo byjejfMontgome1y . Men s Cross Country -----'---t'==-257 Sport
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