PHOTO | MEGAN GERBER - AND THEY'RE OFF!: Women's Cross Country begins the six-meter race.

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The Lady Buff cross country team seized fifth place with 58 points at the 2009 Lone Star Conference Cross Country Championships hosted by West Texas A&M University on Oct. 24. The six kilometer race trailed through the pastures of the WTAMU Horse Center.

This is the first time WTAMU has hosted the LSC Cross Country Championships, so there was much preparation involved, including the design of the course.

“The past year has been preparation as far as the course layout to meet NCAA regulations,” Kimberly Dudley, head coach, said.

The men’s coach has done most of that. I work on the administrative of getting the information to the coaches and communicating with them on scheduling and locations and hotels and things like that. It’s a gradual process but we are very excited to host the meet.”

Coach Dudley had more to prepare than just the meet; her runners also had to have special preparation.

“We’ve done a lot of progressive runs in practice, and that has really helped,” freshman runner Aries Bazaldua said.

Progressive runs are where you cut down each mile and run faster each mile, and that really helps with these longer races.”

The Lady Buffs had their fair share of practice on their home course.

“Our course is pretty tough compared to a lot of the other courses,” sophomore runner Allie Reyna said.

It’s really uneven, so you feel like you can’t get a pace going. It’s pretty tough, and it’s hard on you. We definitely had an advantage being able to run here every day.”

WTAMU did not win the meet but did make it into the top five. First place went to defending 2008 champions Midwestern State with 70 points. Angelo State took home second with 73 points, and East Central followed with third place at 92 points. Central Oklahoma grabbed fourth with 111, and the Lady Buffs fifth with 123 tallied points.

“Midwestern definitely had a target on their back,” Reyna said. “We haven’t raced Angelo all season, but we were pretty sure that they were going to be tough, and they showed that they were tough today.”

Individually, Sydney Cole of Midwestern State finished the six kilometer race first with a time of 23:02.5. In second, Erice Avarado of Texas A&M Kingsville finished with a time of 23:36.9. Bazaldua of WTAMU finished third with a time of 23:46.4.

Bazaldua was named LSC Freshman of the Year shortly after.

“My goal was just to place as high as I could for the team,” Bazaldua said. “I was in it for my whole team, and I did my job by getting third. I am really happy with my place.”

West Texas A&M runners filed into the finishers shoot one-by-one. Sophomore Eddah Toroitich finished as WT’s number-two runner. With a time of 25:00.5, Toroitich grabbed 16th place. Reyna came in as the number-three runner with a time of 25:20.4, capturing 21st place.

Freshman runners, Jessica Blakely, Nicole Hudgens, Allison Medina, and Brieana Garcia followed.

“We are a very young team,” Dudley said. “We have seven freshmen and two sophomores, so we are definitely on the young side. I am not hesitant at all with them though. They have stepped up and competed at very high levels. I’ve got girls on my team who have a lot of experience at big meets, and I feel they can handle that very well.”

Blakely placed 34th with a time of 25:46.5 with Hudgens in 49th place with a time of 26:27.0. Medina finished in 56th place with a time of 27:11.7, followed by Garcia in 58th with a time of 27:21.1.

The Lady Buffs are set to reach their running climax at the upcoming regional competition.

“We taper off for the conference meet to prepare the girls for a great day of fitness and performance,” Dudley said.

We actually set our peak for the regional meet with how we design our training programs.”

NCAA South Central Regionals will be held Nov. 7 in Abilene, Texas.