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October 22, 2004 > Sports > Gorry takes seventh at national meet

Gorry takes seventh at national meet

By Melissa Dominguez | Thresher staff

In its final preparation for the Western Athletic Conference Championships, the women’s cross country team traveled to Terre Haute, Ind. for the 2004 Division I Pre-Nationals meet Saturday. The meet, hosted at the site of this year’s NCAA National Championships, featured the nation’s top teams, including past NCAA champions Stanford and Notre Dame. Rice finished among the top 25 teams at the meet, defeating reigning WAC champion Nevada, which will attempt to defend its title in next week’s WAC Championships at La. Tech. Junior Kate Gorry completed the 6-kilometer race in 20 minutes, 47 seconds and finished in seventh place. For her efforts, Gorry earned her second WAC cross country Athlete of the Week honor this season. ‘It was a very great field, in terms of competition,’ Gorry said. ‘It is a much more competitive meet than the WAC, mainly because of the size.’ Despite the difficult competition, the cold weather and a wet course, Gorry ran with the lead group for the entire race. ‘I went into the race calm, but definitely focused and raced like I always do,’ Gorry said. ‘I did not feel threatened by the number of good people — I just tried to get out well, which helped a ton because of the masses competing.’ Senior assistant track and field coach in charge of cross country Jim Bevan said he was impressed with Gorry’s performance. ‘Kate was the top WAC finisher of the race,’ Bevan said. ‘She just had the best race of her life.’ Freshman Marissa Daniels recorded the best time of her nascent career at Rice, crossing the finish line in 21:33. ‘The competition was amazing and I think that is what really helped to push me through the race,’ Daniels said. Gorry said she has high expectations for Daniels at the WAC meet. ‘Marissa ran a tremendous race,’ Gorry said. ‘For a freshman to place 40th at pre-Nationals is incredible. She has been solid all season and will undoubtedly be huge for us again at conference.’ Juniors Lauren Murphy and Anna Reeve, sophomore Jessica Cox and freshman Laura Kelley also competed in the race that featured more than 500 runners. ‘This competition and race is beneficial because it allows our young team exposure to this course,’ Bevan said. ‘This course has been made especially for cross country and will be the site of future meets to come.’ Earlier this week, the rest of the Rice team traveled to Beaumont for the Lamar Invitational. Led by sophomore Megan Sandler, the Owls finished in fourth place among the meet’s 14 teams. ‘This race demonstrates the great potential our young team has,’ Bevan said. ‘We have plenty of time to work toward our goals.’ SMU will be the favorite at the WAC meet Oct. 30, as the Mustangs are currently ranked 13th nationally. ‘I am happy with how things are going, and I think with another week of quality training we will be in a good spot heading into [the] conference [meet],’ Gorry said. The Rice women finished third in the conference last year, paced by Gorry’s third-place finish individually. The team last won the WAC championship in 2002. ‘In the remaining week and a half we are going to do the best we can to prepare and show our best,’ said Bevan. ‘We are not 100 percent as of right now, but we hope to have the team ready to compete in Ruston, La.’

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