Cross Country Looks to Defend Title at LSU
9/22/2010 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Sept. 22, 2010
HOUSTON - The University of Houston cross country team will leave the city of Houston for the first time this season to compete in the LSU Tiger Cross Country Festival on Saturday.
Head coach Ryan Turner will take a deep women's roster and a healthy men's squad to Highland Road Park in Baton Rouge, La. Located eight miles south of the LSU campus, Turner and his men's and women's teams return to the Tigers' course as the meet's defending champions.
"It's hard to know how we're going to do without knowing what the other teams have, what they've recruited and how their kids have developed," Turner said. "I do know that we're going to go in and worry about the things we can control. We're going to go there with the mindset that we're going to work hard to try and win it again."
The Cougars head to Louisiana after opening their season at home on Sept. 3 and staying in Houston to compete at cross-town rival and fellow Conference USA member, Rice on Sept. 17.
At Rice, the women took second for the second time this season while the men's team repeated its third-place performance. Sophomore Kathryn Ducommun and junior Nate Pineda have led their teams in both races this season. Ducommun finished 6th at Rice last Friday and Pineda took fifth as each team placed four runners in the top 20.
"Our girls team right now is better depth-wise than we have been the entire three previous years that I've been here," Turner said. "Our men last year kind of snuck up on some people and won it. Whether or not we can do that again this year, we won't know until we get there."
UH brings positive news heading into race day as Turner announced each of his top men will return to competition on Saturday. The Cougars were without the use of three of their top-six runners last Friday, but all will be ready for use on Saturday morning. Seven men and 11 women are on the travel roster for Baton Rouge.
"It's nice to be able to travel," Turner said. "We went to Rice and competed away from home, but really it's like another home meet. It's good for our kids because they're not missing a lot of class and their families get a chance to watch them run, but I think going away from campus is good. It gives our team an opportunity to grow and spend some time together. We'll stay in the same hotel together, eat together and spend a lot of time around each other. They get a chance to really develop and grow as a group."
Players Mentioned
