1998 Articles
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August 22, 1998
Two-Mile Time Trial - Gunnison (Ohio Creek Road)

In the Mountaineers annual first race of the season, junior college transfer Heather Taylor for the women and the men's Rees Buck were the top finishers in the two-mile time trial. The women ran first with Taylor, a junior from Spokane, Wash., finishing first in 11 minutes, 8 seconds. Senior Christina Cooper was second with a personal record of 11:14. Jennifer Michel, an All-American in 1997, finished third at 11:19. Fourth was junior college transfer Renee MacDonald, whose time was 11:20; Davonne Kimbrough was fifth and Becky Wenger sixth; and redshirt senior Maria Lopez - an All-American in 1996 - finished seventh. Jodi Day, Carrie Barnett and Najeeby Quinn rounded out the top 10. Buck, an All-American in 1997 who hails from New Zealand, led the way for the men with an impressive time of 8:49. His time was ten seconds shy of the course record, 8:39, that was set by Philip Spratley in 1994. Following Buck was fellow countryman, freshman Michael Aish with a time of 8:53. Three-time All-American Dave Fagan was third at 9:02. Juco transfers Derrick Davis and Nelson Laux were fourth and fifth, respectively. Rounding out the top 10 for the men: Christian Madsen; Jeff Dickin; Carl Jackson; Marc Johnson; and Tyler Keene. Senior Humberto Sanchez, a 1997 All-American who is expected to be one of the Mountaineers' top seven runners, did not run in the time trial.
"For the women, it's going to take a little longer time to come together because we have so many new people," head coach Duane Vandenbusche said after the race. "We have a lot of big holes to fill and we have a lot of girls running at altitude for the first time. But this team does have the talent... and we will be one of the top teams in the nation by the end of the year if we stay healthy.
"For the men, it certainly was one of the more impressive time trials we've ever had. Three surprises for the men were Davis, Dickin and Laux. I told the guys that they ran very well. It was a run befitting a team that is one of the best in the nations ... and hopefully we'll challenge for another national championship."

September 5, 1998
Adams State Invitational- Alamosa, Co

Host Adams State College won the men's and women's races while Western's men's team finished second and the women placed third.
In the men's race, ASC scored 32 points while WSC had 74. Rees Buck was the top finisher for WSC, placing second in 25:18. Michael Aish, who ran unattached, finished third. Christian Madsen was 10th; Humberto Sanchez and Nelson Laux, both of whom also ran unattached, were 12th and 13th, respectively; and Carl Jackson was 19th.
Adams had the top four finishers in the women's race to easily win with a score of 17 points. Colorado College was second with 64 points and WSC was third with 75. Christina Cooper finished 11th with a time of 19:35 and was the top finisher for Western. Running unattached, Heather Taylor was 12th. Renee MacDonald was 14th; Najeeby Quinn and Jodi Day finished 20th and 21st, respectively. Jennifer Michel, running unattached, finished 22nd.
"We had a very good weekend. The men ran particularly well," head coach Duane Vandenbusche said. "Rees Buck ran very well ran, a great time at elevation. Senior Dave Fagan, the team's top runner, started the race but dropped out after two miles because of a hip injury.
"For the women Najeeby Quinn had a very good race, and so did Jodi Day, Renee MacDonald and Christina Cooper," Vandenbusche said. "The pieces need to fall in place for the women and it will take a little while longer. For a lot of these kids it was their first intercollegiate race."

September 12, 1998
Colorado State University Invitational- Fort Collins, Co

At a Division I dominant field, the WSC men's and women's teams each finished sixth in the seven-team field. The University of Colorado won both the men's and women's race. Adams State, the only other Division II team in the race, finished second in the men's standings and third in the women's.
For the third straight race, Rees Buck was the top finisher for the Mountaineers, placing fourth on the 8-kilometer course in 25 minutes, 22.63 seconds. Christian Madsen was the next-highest finisher for WSC, placing 32nd in 26:40.82. Carl Jackson was 37th; and Nelson Laux placed 40th.
For the women, junior Renee MacDonald ran the 5-kilometer course in 19:08.53 and finished 25th. Redshirt freshman Najeeby Quinn was 29th; Christina Cooper was 32nd; Liz Robles was 34th; Jodi placed 36th and Becky Wenger was 40th. Jennifer Michel and Heather Taylor ran unattached and finished, 31st and 36th, respectively.

September 19, 1998
Fort Lewis Invitational- Durango, Co

Paced once again by junior Rees Buck, Western's men's team easily outdistanced the rest of the field at the Tom Strandt Challenge, Saturday in Durango. Ranked #5 in the nation, the Mountaineers won with a team score of 29 points. Colorado Mines was second and host Fort Lewis College finished fifth. The women, ranked No. 6 in the nation, was edged out by one point and finished second to host Fort Lewis, which is ranked No. 25. The Skyhawks won the women's race with a team score of 27-28.
In the men's race,WSC's Michael Aish ran unattached and was the top finisher on the 8,000-meter course, finishing in 26 minutes, 34 seconds. Buck placed second in 26:56. Humberto Sanchez, running for the Mountaineers for the first time this season, finished fourth. Christian Madsen and Nelson Laux were seventh and eighth, respectively and Carl Jackson was ninth.
Heather Taylor, who like Aish ran unattached, was the first lady to cross the finish line with a time of 20:28 on the 5,000-meter course. Western's Renee MacDonald and Maria Lopez - who was competing for the first time this season - were fourth and fifth, respectively. Jennifer Michel, competing unattached, finished right behind Lopez in 21:06. Liz Robles, Becky Wenger and Christina Cooper rounded out the top 10.

September 26, 1998
WSC Invitational- Gunnison, Co

Humberto Sanchez was the men's individual winner, finishing the 8,000-meter course in a time of 26 minutes, 36.26 seconds. Western's men finished second to Adams State while WSC's women were fourth. Adams State also won the women's race.
Najeeby Quinn was the top women's finisher for Western, plcaing fourth on the 5,000-meter course in 19:12.81. Jodi Day placed eighth and Jena Pohle and Davonne Kimbrough were 27th and 28th, respectively. For the men, Joe Packard was 15th and Tyler Keene and Tracy Jex finished 17th and 18th.

October 3, 1998
Rocky Mountain Shootout - Boulder, CO

This was another successful weekend for both the Men's and Women's Cross Country teams. Running against some tough competition they placed second and third respectively. The women ran first and put up a tough fight against #1 ranked Adams State and formidable Division 1 opponent Colorado University. Jennifer Michel led the Western women with a 14th place finish with Najeeby Quinn only 22 seconds behind in 22nd place. Christina Cooper, Heather Taylor and Liz Robles rounded out Westerns top five and joined with Michel and Quinn to score 110 points and beat a number of Conference rivals including, Fort Lewis, UNC, and New Mexico Highlands.
With the Men's team finally at full strength for the first time this season they managed to beat Adams State and showed Colorado University why they are considered one of the top teams in Division II. Early on the Adams runners looked strong but CU and Western made it a battle up front with CU placing six runners in the top ten and Western placing three. Michael Aish led the Mountaineers with an outstanding run, placing third. Following Michael was Rees Buck who finished fourth and Humberto Sanchez in tenth. Carl Jackson and Christian Madsen finished in 16th and 21st and helped the Men to their second place team finish.
The team heads to BYU on the 17th and hopes to improve on these excellent performances at the Rocky Mountain Shootout.

October 17, 1998
Brigham Young University Invitational - Provo, Utah
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October 24, 1998
RMAC Championships - Durango, CO
For the fourth straight year, the men's team is the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference champions. Led by Rees Buck, who became the fifth straight Mountaineer to win the men's individual title, Western won with a team score of 30 points. Adams State was second with 41. For the women, Adams State also won its fourth straight conference title, with Western finishing second, 16-40. For the men, Western had three of the top four and four of the top 10 finishers. Buck's time on the 8,000-meter course was 25 minutes, 55 seconds. Teammate Michael Aish was second, 26:01; Humberto Sanchez finished fourth, 26:28; and Christian madsen was ninth, 26:47. Also scoring points was Carl Jackson, who was 14th. On the women's side, ASC had the top four finishers, led by Kim Bosen. Jennifer Michel was the Mountaineers' top finisher in the 5,000-meter race, placing fifth in 19:43. Christina Cooper placed eighth, 20:03; Heather Taylor and Najeeby Quinn were 10th and 11th, respectively, with times of 20:06 and 20:08; Maria Lopez was 13th, 20:13; and Jodi Day placed 15th, 20:21.

November 7, 1998
NCAA Division II South Central Regional Championships - Abilene, TX
With three of the top five finishers - led by Michael Aish's second-place finish - WSC won the men's South Central Regional championship, Saturday in Abilene, Texas. The win propelled the #1 team in the nation to the NCAA Division II National championships. The women's team placed second to Adams State College, and also qualified for the national meet in two weeks in Lawrence, Kans. Adams (5) and Western (4) combined to have the top nine finishers. Aish finished second overall on the 10,000-meter course in 30 minutes, 35 seconds. Rees Buck (31:00) and Humberto Sanchez (31:20) were fourth and fifth, respectively. Chirstian Madsen finished 13th; Nelson Laux was 17th; and Carl Jackson placed 19th. For the women, Liz Robles - who was an alternate on the roster after Maria Lopez was unable to compete - finished fifth and was the top finisher for Western. Her time on the 6,000-meter course was 21:29. Jennifer Michel (21:40), Jodi Day (21:42) and Heather Taylor (21:44) were seventh, eighth and ninth. Senior Christina Cooper placed 12th

November 14, 1998
WSC-Alumni Meet- Gunnison, Co
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November 23, 1998
NCAA Division II National Championships - Lawrence, KS
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