Photo by Bryan Phillips Men's Cross Country Team: Front Row: Andrew Scharff, Carl Williamson. Back Row: Albert Tabul, David Scharff, Jerry Mari/im, Scott Pennick. Cross Country teatn races into regionals The Bison cross country team had a great season, finishing fourth in the Lone Star Conference (LSC) meet. Led by junior Jerry Maritim and senior Albert Tabut, the men's cross country team advanced to the regional meet. Maritim and Tabut received all-conference honors. "There was a lot of mud and water at the Lone Star Conference meet, " Maritim said. "The mud made it pretty difficult and '~e didn't really have the best times of our season." "Although we didn't have the best runs of the season, we sti ll were ab le to pull off decent runs ," Tabut said. "We were all wanting to do our best in the race. We had been looking forward to the conference meet all year long. " The Bisons entered their third year of the LSC looking forward to improving on their third-place finish in 1997. The Bisons were all newcomers to the Harding cross country team. Maritimwas a junior college champion who ran track last year, but did not run in the 1997 cross country season. Tabut ran track for the Bisons last year, but took the "red shirt" route for cross country. Four freshmen had to compete for the final three spots. Theywere twins David andAndrew Scharff, Scott Pennick and Carl Williamson. "There is definitely a difference in running in high school and running for a Division * fill-Stars LSC All Conference Jerry Maritim Albert Tabut NCAA Division II All American Jerry Maritim II school," David Scharffsaid. "The continuous workouts gettiring, butweall know that it's to make us better as a team. " Members of the team felt that their workouts with each other helped them mature. "Jerry has really pushed me this year, " Tabut said. ' 'I'm more ofan 8,OOO-meter runner and Jerry has spent more time training for the longer distances. We have really helped each other a lot this year." At the regional meet in Abi lene, Texas, the men ran hard and finished ninth out of 16 teams. "It was really tough to qualify as a team this year, "Maritim said. "But we had our eyes set on regionals all season long." Maritim finished in 11 th place and qualified for nationals. He quali fied by being the top finisher on a team that failed to qualify for nationals. "I felt pretty good going to Lawrence, Kan., for nationals because that is where my career blossomed by winning two junior co ll ege national championships, " Maritim said. "I really wanted to win this race because it was in my home state." Maritim placed ninth in the national race at the University of Kansas in November. "I thank God for letting me come to Harding," Maritim said. "It's great to behereand to run not only as an athlete but also as a Christian. It makes me happy and makes me feel different. " - Philip Murphy M EN'S CROSS COUNT RY 219 •
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