15th-Ranked Women's Cross Country Team Begins Season Saturday
September 16, 1998
PASCO - The Washington women's cross country team, ranked 15th in the preseason coaches poll, joins the Husky men's squad in opening the 1998 season on Saturday, Sept. 19 at the Big Cross Invitational in Pasco, Wash.
The UW women finished 14th at the 1997 NCAA championships. Four of the top-seven runners return from that team, including junior Anna Aoki (Vancouver, Wash.) who won the Pacific-10 Conference 10,000-meter track title last spring.
Joining the team is sophomore Jennifer Smith (Spokane, Wash.), a two-time NCAA track All-American who transferred from Colorado. A product of Spokane's (Wash.) Ferris High School, Smith helped the Buffaloes to a third-place NCAA cross country finish last year and was voted the Big 12 Conference Newcomer of the Year.
The Husky men's team also returns four of its top-seven, including senior Christian Belz (Bolligen, Switzerland) who qualified as an individual to the 1996 NCAA cross country championships.
Washington competes at home the following weekend, hosting the Sundodger Invitational, Saturday, Sept. 26 at Lincoln Park. The first of four races begins at 9:30 a.m.
