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Show 16B Signpost Tuesday, September 23, 1986 Blaisdell's cross country crews look to outdistance the competition Michael J. Tupa Ass't Sports Editor Five weeks into the quarter, most students will only be worrying about mid-terms, but the women's cross country team will already be into their athletic finals. The championships for the Mountain West Athletic Conference will be on Nov. 1 and the District 7 meet two weeks later. In between now and then, the Lady Cats will have only three meets at which to prepare for postseason competition. The WSC females have already got their team off to a successful start at the first meet held at the University of Montana last Saturday. They tied for first with UM in the five-team field, which included the final standings: WSC 30; UM 30; Boise State 61; Ricks College 113; and Spokane Community College 142. Individually, WSC runner Michelle Green came in first on the 5K course with a time of 18:36.25, more than nine seconds ahead of second place Loren McRae of UM. The other WSC runners included veterans Dana Willie, Mari Green, and Melinda Smith who took 4th, 5th and 6th places respectively, and freshmen Kelly Davis, Shauna Steeles, Brandy Peterson, Kristi Allen, who took 15th, 19th, 26th and 29th places. "It's not a long time to prepare for a conference championship," WSC women's track coach Jim Blaisdell said, about the five-week space between the beginning of quarter to the post-season competition."We've only been together for about ten days," Blaisdell continued, "while a lot of the schools in our conference on a semester schedule have been working out since the end of August." Blaisdell praised the physical shape his runners started out in for this season. "The veterans reported in great shape which is really important for the short cross country season," he said. "The freshmen did a pretty good job" of working out in the summer, Blaisdell said, but it usually takes a year or two before they really prepare well. "Cross country runners have really got to put in the summer miles," he explained.Blaisdell expects his Lady Cat team to be one of the three MWAC clubs to fight for the championship, with Montana and Montana State being the other two favored squads. The team should do better in the District 7 meet this year than their lOth-place finish last year, according to Blaisdell. "We ought to finish in the top five or six in the district meet," he said. He also believes that his top runner Michelle Green might qualify this year for the national championships. This will happen if she finishes in the top three places after those runners who belong to the top two finishing teams. The key to a successful season will lie primarily with his four veterans, but Blaisdell said, "We need to bring along a couple of those freshmen" to reach a high level of team success. "I thought we might have a freshman runner do a little better at the first meet," Blaisdell said. He expressed confidence the freshmen will come along and give the Wildcats a top flight fifth runner. That's important, according to Blaisdell,. because meets are decided on the cumulative total of where the top five runners place in the field. You don't have to be an art major to appreciate the beauty of First Security's free student checking account ' ' V Picture this: A checking account with no monthly fee. You can write ten free checks a month (.50 a check after ten). And your first set of fifty checks are free. Add to that unlimited use of HandiBank and Plus System automated teller machines, and you've just created the picture-perfect account. (Which just happens to be-First Security's student checking account.) There's no minimum balance required, you get a free First Security Cash Card for 24-hour access to your account through HandiBank and Plus System automated teller machines, and if you qualify, a free Visa Banking Card to use like a check where checks aren't accepted. Plus vou can earn 5 lA interest on every dollar over $1,000. And all it takes to open is a mere $25. With all these extra services, we think the student checking account is a work of art. But of course, we'll let you draw your own conclusions. Just ask about it at any First Security office. For free student checking, we're right where you want us to be First: Bank Member FOIC |