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Show Soor Sports Editor: Mike Browne Phone: 626-7983 JL By Mike Browne sports editor The Signpost Several words describe the football game played at Stewart Stadium on Saturday night. Blowout. Stomping. Rout. For the Weber State University Wildcats, it was a walk in their home park in front of 9,835 fans. However, it wasn't as lovely for the Eastern Oregon University Mountaineers. EOU won the coin toss, but after that, nearly everything went WSU's way. On the first play from scrimmage, WSU cornerback Marcus Thurman intercepted a pass by EOU quarterback Sean VandeMerghel , setting up a three-yard touchdown run by Nick Chournos to put the first points on the board. "Our offensive line, they deserve the credit," Chournos said. "It the offensive line was opening up holes." Mexican food may improve your - j rV' Mike Browne sports editor .... All the bad things you've heard about Mexican food are false. It helped me run faster at the 20th Weber State University 5K Challenge on Saturday. I ate at a Mexican restaurant Friday night, making sure I was full before I left. At 11 p.m., I managed to eat a piece of cheesecake. I told my wife I was training for the race Saturday morning. I made it to the starting line Saturday just before 9 a.m. About 190 runners and walkers, plus two dogs, had lined up on the Health and Physical Education Center's indoor track. Before the race, Rodney Brady, who founded the race as president of Weber State College in 1982, spoke to us eager runners and walkers. Those who WSU kicker Joe Johnson, who was recently named Big Sky Player of the Week, made every extra point he attempted in the game. Members of WSU's ROTC did a push-up for every point WSU scored in the game, and the newly refinished Victory Bell was rung seven times after every PAT. After WSU's first score, EOU ran three plays and punted. Halfway through the first quarter, Chournos put the game out of the Mountaineers' reach by scoring his second touchdown of the quarter on a one-yard run. Seven and a half minutes into the game, WSU had scored enough points to win the game, but their lead wasn't big enough to call the game yet. Chournos struck for the third time in the opening quarter on a seven-yard TD run to make the score 21-0 in favor of the Wildcats. Then the first quarter ended. The second quarter was more of the same, with WSU quarterback Tate Bennett rushing seven yards for a touchdown. WSU's Matt McFadden seemed to want a touchdown of his own as he intercepted an EOU pass and returned the ball 30 yards for a TD. have been running the race every year since it started must be getting tired, he joked. The horn sounded and I started running. At first, I thought the previous night's dinner and dessert would come back to haunt me if I tried to run too fast. Then I remembered I'm still young, and picked up the pace. I passed a steady stream of runners all the way to the Dee Events Center, where it seemed, at least to me, that people were running faster. After that point, I passed people less frequently, but I still kept passing them. I finally caught up to some of WSU's women's cross country runners as we ran past the west side of Stewart Stadium. Coach Jim Blaisdell was there, telling his runners they were doing well. Toward the end of the race, I passed a couple of guys from Northridge High School , which had a handful of runners at the race. I pulled even with another guy, who told me "go for it" instead of trying to beat me. About 100 yards from the finish line, I could see Rebecca Bennion, a WSU mm s? """3. JA iT-... EOU's Tom Neill (39) attempts to Twenty minutes into the game, WSU led 35-0. WSU wide receiver Justin DeFour cross country runner. She beat me by five seconds, finishing first out of all women in the race. I caught up to Rodney Brady after the race and asked him how the race has changed since its beginning. "As I watched the runners come in, it appeared to me, out of the first 20 runners, 10 were probably women and 10 were men," he said. "Back in my day, out of the first 20, probably 18 would be men and two would be women, so I was really impressed with that development." Why did he start the race? "To involve the community and the alumni a bit more in campus life, and also it was my observation that many of the students could use a little bit more exercise, so hopefully that would stimulate some students to take care of their physical as well as their mental development," Brady said. "Back in those days I did a lot of running myself," he continued. "I tried to stay in sufficient condition to run at least two 26-mile marathons each year. "I challenged everyone to race me, and those who could beat me in the 5K race got a plaque," he said. ST3V tackle WSU running back Nick Chournos (35) on Saturday. scored the final touchdown of the first half on a pass from Bennett. The catch was DeFour's first of the Engraved on the plaques were the runners' times and the president's times, with the words "I beat the president," Brady said. So that's why it's called the "WSU Challenge," I thought. The race isn't only a fun thing to do on a Saturday morning; race fees go toward alumni scholarships. There are four alumni scholarships, which are available for relatives of WSU graduates. However, raising money for scholarships is only one of the race's benefits. For example, last year the race was scheduled to take place soon after the Sept. 11 attacks. There was a lot of discussion about whether the race should happen. WSU did hold the race, donating the proceeds to Sept. 1 1 assistance funds. Julie Atwater, mother of WSU cross country runner Joel Atwater, finished first in her division and said she was happy with her race. "It's the best time I've ever had," she said. I asked her if she got Joel into running, or if he got her into it. season after he sprained his See Game page 6 5I time Atwater said they started at the same time, running a 5K for her son's school in Kanesville, Utah. "We did it just to support the school, and then we got the bug," she said. "He started doing 5Ks before he started junior high." The Davis Hospital Shoe Down was the first "big" 5K her son ran. "I remember talking to Paul Pilkington and Ed Eycstone about him, and what he should do if he wanted to be a runner and all those kinds of things and I remember them saying 'He's young yet, let him do what he wants,'" Atwater said. I ran the Shoe Down as well , and I remember passing Atwater during the race. I also remember how he flew past me in the last 50 yards. Ah, the memories. I hope I can run the WSU 5K Challenge for several years to come, and I plan to eat Mexican food as part of my training. Believe rnc, it works. - v- |