|
SMU and Tulsa Defend Cross Country Championship Titles
Oct. 29, 2012
MOSELLE, Miss. - SMU women and Tulsa men defended their Conference USA Cross Country Championship titles at a chilly Pine Belt National Golf Course Monday in Moselle, Miss. The Golden Hurricane men picked up their third-straight title, and the Mustangs captured their fourth crown in the last five years. SMU scored 38 points to second-place Tulsa's 57. East Carolina women finished a program-best with 123 points for third, followed by fourth-place honors going to Rice and UAB with 149 points each. UTEP's Risper Kimaiyo won her third C-USA Individual Medalist title with a career-best 5K finish of 16:42.8. That performance earned her Outstanding Senior of the Meet merits. She also won the event in 2009 and 2010. SMU was paced by senior Mary Alenbratt who crossed in a personal-best of 16:42.8 for second-place accolades. Senior Stephanie Ledgerwood of Southern Miss also clocked a career-best performance of 16:56.9 for third. Taking fourth and Freshman of the Meet honors was SMU's Ashlee Powers as she completed the hilly course in 17:03.9. Rounding out the women's All-C-USA first team was Sarah MacPherson (17:11.8) of Tulsa, Elinor Kirk (17:16.2) of UAB and Bjork Olsen (17:17.8) of East Carolina. On the men's side, Tulsa finished with 25 points followed by UTEP with 56. The Golden Hurricane has won three championship trophies (2012, 2011, 2008) and place third or higher in event conference meet since joining the league in 2005. The Miners also collected second-place honors in 2010 and 2011 and of the eight years they've been in the league the program has been among the top two each season, winning the titles from 2005-07 and 2009. Rice finished third with 78 points and Memphis was fourth with 101. Tulsa placed six runners among the top-10 scorers and three clocked second-, three- and fourth-place finishes. Clamming runner-up honors was junior Chris O'Hare with a time of 24:03.4, followed by senior Andy Heyes with a 24:10.0 for third-place and Senior of the Meet Honors. Senior Paulo Pinheiro and sophomore Dennis Hodapp rounds out TU's All-Conference first-team honors. Pinheiro ran 24:14.4 for fourth and Hodapp was seventh in 24:31.4. Taking top Individual Medalist honors went to UTEP's Anthony Rotich. The freshman clocked a winning time of 23:32.2 which also earned him Freshman of the Meet accolades. Senior Elkana Rotich and freshman Elphas Maiyo completes the all-conference first team as the duo placed a respective fifth (24:18.9) and sixth (24:19.0). The University of Tulsa head coach Steve Gulley was voted the Men's Coach of the Year and SMU's Cathy Casey -was selected the Women's Coach of the Year for the second-consecutive year. The majority of C-USA teams will be competing in the upcoming NCAA Regionals on Nov. 9, followed by the NCAA Championship on Nov. 19. The official meet results and photo galleries are available on the C-USA Cross Country Championship Central page. Complete coverage of the event will also be posted on the C-USA Digital Network.
2012 C-USA WOMEN'S FINAL TEAM STANDINGS Individual Medalist: Risper Kimaiyo, UTEP 2012 C-USA Cross Country All-Conference Teams Second Team Third Team
2012 C-USA MEN'S FINAL TEAM STANDINGS Individual Medalist: Anthony Rotich, UTEP 2012 C-USA Cross Country All-Conference Teams Second Team Third Team
|
More Headlines
|
