Sharples Places First at Nationals,
Women Harriers Continue Excellence A season of aches and injuries came to a dramatic conclusion in November when Patsy Sharples placed first out of 260 runners to win the individual national cross country crown while the team placed seventh overall. The Vandals opened the season in winning style at the Pelleuer Invitational at Spokane. The women captured three of the top four placed at the meet, marking the first time an Idaho woman placed in the top 10 at the meet. Sharples placed first on the 2.5 mile course, followed by Sonia Blackstock at second , and Kelly Warren at fourth. Other Vandals placing were LeeAnn Roloff, 11th; Robin McMicken, 12; Penny Messenger, 14, and Cindy Partridge-Fry, 15th. At the Camp Casey Invitational at Whidbey Island, Washington, the Vandals took a solid second place with 70 points . The University of Oregon won with 72 points. Idaho was followed by Seattle Pacific University with 104. There were 17 full teams and 235 runners at the event. " I was extremely pleased with our runners," commented Coach Roger Norris. Sharples led Idaho with a fifth place finish. She was followed by
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Blackstock at ninth place , Roloff, 17th; Warren, 18; Caroline Crabtree, 21st; Messenger, 23rd ; and Partridge-Fry, 61st. Idaho hosted Washington State with the University of Montana winning with 21 points followed by UM with 47 and WSU at 67. The meet was held on the Idaho golf course over what Norris termed " a very tough course." Sharples won the 5000m race . 路 Crabtree placed third over-all topping teammate Blackstock who placed fourth. Only the top five finishers from each school scored . The Vandals , ranked in the national top three by Harrier magazine in the AIAW Division II, earned the right to advance to the national championships. Sharples won the regionals followed by Blackstock. At the national AIAW Division II Cross Country Championships, the University of Idaho captured seventh place. Vandal Patsy Sharples crossed the finish line first to earn the individual national crown. She lead 260 other runners from 24 full teams and representatives from 21 other schools. Finishing the 5000m race in 17.44.0, she was followed by Blackstock who placed ninth. Both women earned AII-Amer-
ican honors for their outstanding effort. Sharples, a freshmen from Fish Hoek, South Africa, took the lead with a mile to go on the tough course at Tyee Valley Golf course in Burien, Washington that was designed to tease an athlete both physically and mentally. " Once she took the lead she pretty well controlled the race," Norris said. "Both she and Blackstock had a terrific race. I couldn 't be happier." In the field that requires five scores, Messenger, a returnee from last year's ninth place national team, was Idaho 's third finisher placing 62nd in 19:26. She was followed by Roloff, who placed 73rd in 19:31 and McMicken who placed 124 in 20:17. McMicken was also a returnee from last year's national team. The national finish for Idaho breaks a long standing women's athletic program record for national ranking held by the bowling team which finished eighth in 1977. Idaho scored 224 points in earning the seventh spot. Winning the event was South Dakota State with 82 followed by Seattle Pacific with 99.