Lady Bisons bring first GSC championship Going into the 2000 cross-country season as newcomers in the Gulf South Conference, the Lady Bisons had quite a reputation to live up to. Last year, the women won the Lone Star Conference Championship and qualified for Nationals in the toughest region in the United States. They then went on to place 12th at Nationals. Witl;J. four seniors graduating, there was room for many new faces. Only four runners remained from the previous season: senior Tia TaroIe, juniors Britney Copeland and Sara Treat and sophomore Amy Elliot. Newcomers to the team were sophomore Hanna Ritakallio from Finland, freshmen Janet Kogo from Kenya, Sarah Reeser from Texas and Sarah Reardon from New Hampshire. The team traveled to the following meets: OBU (placed 1st), Missouri Southern, Vanderbilt, Rhodes (placed 1st), Conference at the university of Huntsville (placed 1st), Regionals at Northern Florida @) Women's Cross Country 258 I---------,.-,--;--=-"- Athletics (placed 2nd) and Nationals at Cal-State University. Ritakallio led the Lady Bisons the entire year winning four out of the seven meets. She was the GSC Individual'Champion and received the honor of All-American. Kogo ran second for the team receiving the honors of 1st team All-Conference and All-Region. "A definite high point of the season was when the guys' and girls' teams both won conference," Tarole said. "We knew that it would be very close and everyone's place would count." The team won Harding's first GSC Championship. They received 2nd at the regional meet, missing first by only three points. The Lady Bisons qualified to run at the national cross-country meet, which was in Pomona, Calif. The girls talked about going to Nationals from the start of the season. It was a tough season with many ups and downs, but the team worked together to meet their goals. - Britney Copeland With half the race behind her, sophomore Sara Treat focuses on the end. The Lady Bisons took first place at the Gulf South Conference Championships with a score of 44. Photo by Daniel Dubois. First Row: Janet Kogo, Sarah Reardon, Britney Copeland, Sara Treat, Amy Elliot, Tia Tarote, Sarah Reeser, Hanna Aitakallio. Second Row: John Bob McFarland, Carl Williamson, Linus Chepkwony, Dustin Knudsen, David Schartf, Scott Penick, Scott Wietecha, Andrew Schartt, Olli Haavikko. Not pictured is Japheth Langat. Photo by Jeff Montgomery. the team .... 1------
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