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October 22, 2004 > Sports > Men’s cross surprises, third at Chile Pepper

Men’s cross surprises, third at Chile Pepper

By Matt McCabe | Thresher staff

On a day with nearly perfect conditions, the men’s cross country team ran an almost flawless race last weekend at the Chile Pepper Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark. Rice finished third at Saturday’s meet with 183 points, losing only to third-ranked University of Arkansas and a team of Arkansas alumni which consisted of two former NCAA champions and an eight-time all-American. Individually, junior Marcel Hewamudalige completed the 10-kilometer race in 29 minutes, 45.6 seconds to take third place, and sophomore Steve Magness finished eighth, just 4.7 seconds behind his teammate. The Chile Pepper Invitational marked the return of 2003 Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year Magness, who did not run two weeks ago at the Islander Opener Splash. ‘Marcel and I ran really well together, and the end result was good,’ said Magness. ‘This past weekend went better than expected [despite senior] Adam [Davis] and [junior] Scott [Loftin] not racing. We weren’t expected to do that well. As a team, everyone stepped it up to another level. I think we surprised a lot of people with Rice running at the front of the race.’ Head coach Jon Warren (Jones ‘88) said he was impressed by Magness’ performance in his first race in more than a month. ‘To run a sub-30[-minute] 10k, even though conditions were absolutely perfect, is phenomenal,’ Warren. ‘It was one of the best races that he has ever run.’ Also running for the third-place Owls were freshman Aaron Robson, who finished 55th, junior David Axel in 108th, sophomore Pablo Solares in 183rd, senior Seth Neumuller in 268th, and sophomore Leor Pantilat in 375th.
Warren said he was particularly impressed with his team’s performance since two of the Owls’ top runners, Davis and Loftin, did not compete. ‘It was a big surprise,’ Warren said. ‘It is hard to look past Marcel and Steve’s performance and not get a little attention [nationally].’ The Chile Pepper Invitational allowed the Owls to gauge their progress against other WAC teams such as 13th-place UTEP, 17th-place Tulsa and 20th-place Boise State, before the WAC Championships Oct. 30 in Ruston, La. ‘The three teams that beat us last year [at the WAC Championships] were there: UTEP, Boise and Tulsa,’ Warren said. ‘I think they ran everyone, and we were able to win. We should be the favorites going into WAC.’ At the WAC meet Oct. 30, Davis and Loftin will rejoin the seven runners that competed last weekend. Davis is still recovering from a nagging knee injury but is expected to be able to run at the WAC Championships, where the team hopes to capture its first conference title since 2001. ‘I think our team is well prepared, especially after this weekend,’ Neumuller said. ‘Steve and Marcel definitely moved up their position, almost onto a national stage.’

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