Cross Country Releases 2010 Schedule
8/9/2010 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Aug. 9, 2010
HOUSTON - The University of Houston cross country team will open the 2010 season with back-to-back Houston meets according to head coach Ryan Turner, who announced the upcoming season's schedule on Monday.
The men's and women's cross country teams are slated to compete in five regular-season meets prior to the Conference USA Championships. The NCAA South Central Regional and NCAA Championships are set for Nov. 13 and Nov. 22, respectively.
Houston will host its annual Johnny Morriss Invitational to kick off the season on Sept. 3. The meet will give each athlete an opportunity to see where they stand after training on their own all summer.
"Many of them have been training really hard all summer and are excited to compete," Turner said. "What better place to do that than here at home. I think they are going to have a lot of fun running at home."
A week later, the Cougars head to cross-town rival Rice for the Rice Invitational. UH only ran a small group of runners at Rice last season and Turner is excited for his crew to match-up with the other Houston squad.
"It's good for us to be able to compete at Rice," Turner said. "They have very talented teams. The Owls will challenge us, but it will be a good race."
Each of the first two races are scheduled for Friday night, rather than the more typical Saturday morning race time for an important reason; Turner's commitment to the University of Houston.
Rather than schedule home races on a Saturday, Turner chose Friday night meets early in the season so his student-athletes also have the time to enjoy Cougar football as fans.
"We had some guys from the football team out watching our home meet last year," Turner said. "I think it's important to support other sports when we can."
The Cougars leave home for the first time in 2010 to head to a venue where the teams have been successful. On Sept. 25, the men and women set out to defend their team titles from a year ago at the LSU Tiger Cross Country Festival in Baton Rouge, La.
"We've had a lot of success at LSU so it makes sense for us to continue to go there," Turner said. "That's a good, early-season meet that keeps our kids improving without wearing on them too badly."
From there, the teams will race twice in October. The first in Orlando, Fla., for the Disney Cross Country Classic and the second at the final addition to the schedule - the Arkansas Chili Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Ark. Hosted by the University of Arkansas, the Festival will mark the last competition before the Conference USA Championships.
The C-USA Championships will debut a significant change this season as the conference race is set for Monday, November 1. Thus moving from the traditional Saturday morning.
"I'm a traditionalist," Turner said. "I feel like cross country should be ran on Friday nights and Saturday mornings, but they made the best decision they could and it's our job to go out there and compete. Our athletes will probably feel like they should be in class since it's on a Monday, but we'll prepare in advance and go out and compete just like everyone else."
2010 Cougar Cross Country Schedule
Sept. 3 (Fri.) - Johnny Morriss Invitational (Houston)
Sept. 17 (Fri.) - Rice Invitational (Houston)
Sept. 25 (Sat.) - LSU Tiger Cross Country Festival (Baton Rouge, La.)
Oct. 9 (Sat.) - Disney Cross Country Classic (Orlando, Fla.)
Oct. 16 (Sat.) - Arkansas Chili Pepper Festival (Fayetteville, Ark.)
Nov. 1 (Mon.) - Conference USA Cross Country Championships (Tulsa, Okla.)
Nov. 13 (Sat.) - NCAA South Central Regional (Waco, Texas)
Nov. 22 (Mon.) - NCAA Championships (Terre Haute, Ind.)
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