Sept. 29, 2005

The West Texas A&M University men's and women's cross country teams will be competing in the Oklahoma State University Cowboy Jamboree Invitational on Saturday, October 1, at Stillwater, Okla. at the OSU Cross Country Course.

The event, which is in its 69th year, the longest running consecutive meet of its kind, features 68 junior colleges, colleges and universities.

WTAMU's men's team will be running in the college division, while the women will be running in the university division. The college and junior college women will start at 8:05 a.m., followed by the college and junior college men at 8:30 a.m. The university women will kick off at 9:10 a.m., and the university men will follow at 9:40 a.m.

The Lady Buffs are coming off another successful weekend, finishing second overall last weekend in the New Mexico Highlands Invite. The only team that was able to finish above the Lady Buffs was last year's Division-II national champions, Adams State. WTAMU finished with 71 points while Adams State only had 20 points, one place away from a perfect score. Senior Stephanie Williams finished first for the Lady Buffs for the second week in a row. Williams finished the 5k race in 10th place with a time of 19:43. Finishing right behind Williams was junior Amy Garcia who finished 12th with a time of 20:04 and sophomore Jisel Bailon who finished 13th with a time of 20:06.

The Buffs are coming off of a fifth-place finish this past Saturday in Las Vegas, New Mexico. West Texas A&M tied with South Plains College in fifth totaling 144 points while Eastern New Mexico won the meet with only 41 points. The Buffs were led by freshman Jose Velasquez, who finished 21st overall with a time of 27:51. Also running well over the 8K course last weekend was junior Victor Duran who finished 34th with a time of 28:29. Velasquez has been WTAMU's top runner each of the last two weeks.

The Buff and Lady Buff runners will continue their season on Oct. 11 in San Angelo, Texas at the Angelo State Invite. The men will begin at 5 p.m. and the women at 5:10 p.m. The Angelo State Invite will be the last tune up for both teams as the LSC Championships will be taking place in Weatherford, Okla. on Oct. 22.

-WT-