WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY WINS LONE STAR CONFERENCE Five minutes remain until the gunshot that will signal the start of the race - and (he air is thick with tension. Little clusters ofcolor representing dozens of schools stretch across (he starting line. Occasionally, a few runners spring into the air or take shorr sprints across the field to keep their muscles warm and loose. While each runner struggles to keep her mind focused on the race ahead, each ooe is preoccupied with the same dauntingquesrion: who will cross the finish line as the winner? The answer was cause for great celebration at the 1999 Lone Star Conference Women's Cross Country Champion- "I THINK THERE WERE HIGH EXPECTATIONS, BUT COACH MADE IT SEEM ATTAINABLE. HE MADE US FEEL LIKE WE COULD ACTUALLY DO IT, NOT LIKE IT WAS AN UNREACHABLE GOAL." -DIANE GRUBBS, SENIOR ships in Ada, Okla. The Harding women 's team captured the first Lone StarConFerence ti tle in anysport in the school's history. Bur Coach Bryan Phillips was hardly surprised at the team's histOne VICtory. "At the beginning of the season, we had twO objective goals: to win conference and qualifY for narionals," hesaid. "Ofcourse, rhe nebulous goal is to perform to the bes(ofyour ability, but that's something you can't tangibly evaluate. So in lieu of that, we set our sights on conference and nationals." The team managed to achieve the second part ofthe overall goal as well. At ehe regional meet in Fort Hays. Kan., the women finished third (Q qualifY for rhe NCAA narionals in Joplin, Mo. This feat was also unprecedented, since no Harding women's cross country team had ever made it to NCAA nationals. Phillips attributed this achievement to "the cohesiveness of the team and the sen ior leadership. " The Lady Bisons finished in 12rh place ar rhe National Meet. Cheri Scharff, sen ior, led Harding's women, finishing the six kilometer race in 22:45. The women kept the major goals for the season in sharp focus as they practiced and competed. Instead of cracking under pressure, they used their coach's expectations to motivate them to give 100 percent effort to everyworkout and race, according to Diane Grubbs, senior. 196 Athletics "I think there were high expectations, but Coach made it seem attainable," Grubbs said. "He made us feel like we could actually do it, not like it was an unreachable goal." The four seniors on the team had an extra impetus to achieve these goals. Katie Fane, senior, said they had been working toward these same goals for four years, and they knew it was their final opportunity to make them a reality. "Being seniors. we knew this was our last chance," she said. "We knew we were capable?f qualifying for nationals. so we worked hard toward that goal all season." Of course, the strong sen ior presence on the team meant that its makeup would change dramarically rhe following year. Phillips' goals for next year's team were decidedly different from this year's high aspirations. "Next year. our goal will be to start over," he said. "My first goal will be to try to find more runners to come in, since we're losing four seniors, three ofwhom are in our top five. We're returning some good runners, but wewon't have the same depth that we had this year." Apart from the powerful senior element and their record achievements, the season was remarkable in another sense. Harding hosted its first home cross country meet In many years. According CO Phillips, rhe school used co have home meets every year, butwas forced todiscontinue them when the new tennis courtS and softball complex took over the course. Phillips rerouted the course this yea r for the firsc Ted Lloyd Bison Srampede. The women's team swept the race with a perfect score of 15, raking 10 of rhe cop II places. Scharff won rhe race with a time of22:50. While the home course was not as varied or scenic as some of the courses they ran on, team members still relished the benefits ofcompeting on their home turf. "1 loved it," Kelly Lauterbach, senior, said. "1 hope it becomes a tradition because it makes you feel so much pride in representing Harding when you have so many people from school out there supporting you." The team looked back on its landmark season with satisfaction, hoping its success would carry over into future generations of Bison runners. "1 hope it will be the starting point to a tradition of high expectations and good seasons," Lauterbach sai d. "Hopefully, seeing what we've been able to accomplish this year will help future teams believe that they can do it too." - Sara Hardesty
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