April 26, 2006

West Texas A&M University Athletics has announced the hiring of former WTAMU harrier Kyle Winter as the men's cross country coach in replacement of longtime coach Eric Lathrop, who lost a five year battle with cancer this spring.

Winter joins the athletic office after running cross country at WTAMU for four years from 1999-2002, including three years as captain from 2000-2002. While a student, he studied History and received his Bachelor's Degree in the spring of 2003 before moving on to Baylor University in Waco, Texas to complete his Master's Degree in History in 2005.

As an athlete, Winter was a four time letter winner and three time qualifier in the NCAA Regional Cross Country Championships. He served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Board for the Buffs all four years of his undergraduate career and was a scholar-athlete his last two years as a student at WTAMU.

"Taking over for Coach Lathrop is a big job, but having run for him, it makes it easier," says Winter. "I know his philosophies and the cross country program at WTAMU. I feel incredibly excited and very blessed for the opportunity to coach the Buffs. We're looking to move forward this season and [Women's cross country] Coach [Kimberly] Dudley and I have pretty good teams coming in for the next season."

The 2005 men's cross country team finished eighth of nine teams at the Lone Star Conference championships in October. The Buffs' top finisher was freshman Jose Velasquez who turned in a 31st place finish, completing the 8k course in 28:52.