Nov. 10, 2001

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Paced by senior Kara Newton's fifth place finish Baylor's women's cross country team placed third, while the men's team finished fourth at the NCAA South Central Regional Saturday.

Finishing with 98 points the Lady Bears just missed an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships placing third behind 12th-ranked Arkansas (36) and Texas (85).

"Kara ran a tremendous race today," said Baylor head coach Todd Harbour. "Stephanie (Bennett) and Erin (Dixon) ran great races as well. Our younger runners need to mature a little, but we improved on last year's finish and overall they had a great year."

Newton was the first Bear to cross the finish line turning in a time of 20:57 in the 6K race. Newton was just 12 seconds off Arkansas' Byrd Andreina's winning time. Newton's fifth place finish qualified her to compete at the NCAA Championships. It marks the second year in a row and the third time in her career Newton has qualified for the national meet.

Other top finishers on the women's side included juniors Erin Dixon and Stephanie Bennett who finished 14th (21:33) and 15th (21:34), respectively.

The men's team concluded their season finishing fourth behind (#3) Arkansas (56), Texas (115), and Tulane (125), with 131 points.

"It was a close race," said Harbour. "We didn't count on Tulane slipping up on us. We didn't run a bad race we just didn't finish where we wanted to."

Individually, junior Ferenc Bekesi and sophomore Matt Chance were the top two Bear finishers placing 13th (30:59) and 15th (31:02), respectively in the 10K race. TCU's Njubi Eliud was the overall winner turning in a time of 30:02.

"I am really proud of the men this season," said Harbour. "They came a long way and did a really great job."

Team Results

MEN
1. Arkansas	        56
2. Texas	        115
3. Tulane	        125
4. Baylor	        131
5. SMU	                134
6. Texas A&M 	        136
7. North Texas	        184
8. Stephen F. Austin	201
9. Louisiana State	203
10. Rice	        234
11. SW Texas State	243
12, Arkansas-LR	        266
13. Texas Christian	336
14. Texas-Pan Amrican	421
15. Louisiana-Lafayette	430
16. Houston	        439
17. Louisiana-Monroe	449

WOMEN
1. Arkansas	        36
2. Texas	        85
3. Baylor	        98
4. Texas A&M	        109
5. TCU	                137
6. Rice	                145
7. Arkansas-Little Rock	200
8. Houston	        202
9. SW Texas State	288
10. Louisiana-Monroe	294
11. Louisiana State	300
12. Texas-Pan American	319
13. Stephen F. Austin	330
14. Louisiana-Lafayette	339
15. Nicholls State	410

Baylor Individual Results

MEN
13. Ferenc Bekesi	30:59
15. Matt Chance	        31:02
36. Alex Adler	        32:01
40. Nick Devenport	32:09
48. Sam Bernal	        32:19
51. Jason Baker	        32:29
53. Aaron Ward	        32:33

WOMEN
5. Kara Newton	        20:57
14. Erin Dixon	        21:33
15. Stephanie Bennett	21:34
38. Candice Kolb	22:25
48. Jessa Vacek	        22:46
53. Leah Marbach	22:53
55. Anna Kaczmarek	23:00