UH Cross Country Rises in Rankings
9/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
South Central Region Rankings
The men moved up two spots to 12th place, while the women jumped to 10th after their second-place performances at the Johnny Morriss Invitational. The women's improvement from 13th to 10th came on the heels of their second-place performance to nationally ranked Texas.
"Two seasons ago our women placed seventh in the South Central Region championship, the highest finish for a UH women's team," said head coach Ryan Turner. "Since then we've replaced three women from that team, and I feel pretty confident that our current group of women are every bit as talented as that group.
"We expect our men's team to continue to improve each week and develop into one of the top teams in the region. If we stay healthy and continue to train with a purpose, anything is possible with this group of young men."
Previous Outing
Houston had a solid first outing as both teams finished second in the, UH-hosted Johnny Morriss Invitational Sept. 2 at Buffalo Bayou Park.
For the men, freshman Yonas Tesfai highlighted the contest as he finished first, completing the course in 15:20.79. Sophomore David Smith finished third, and senior Nate Pineda finished ninth, giving the Cougars three top-10 finishes.
The women were able to notch four top-25 finishes in the opener. Senior Kathryn Ducommun led the women, finishing 15th with a time of 12:13. Starla Garcia (18th), Megan Munoz (21st) and Eryn Barroso (23rd) rounded out the top-25 finishes for the women.
Missouri Southern Stampede
The top-eight, UH distance runners, will travel to Joplin for the Missouri Southern Stampede as they face defending Conference USA champion Tulsa and No. 15, Arkansas. The Razorback men have earned the No. 1 spot in the South Central Region, while the women are ranked No. 2.
Wesley Ruttoh, Nate Pineda, Andres Santaolalla, Anthony Jordan, David Smith, Drevan Anderson-Kaapa, Yonas Tesfai, and John Cantu will compete for the men's team.
For the women, Megan Munoz, Starla Garcia, Kat Ducommun, Eryn Barroso, Julie Reinwald, Taylor Beer, Jaime Johnson and Alexis Vick will compete.
"The Missouri Southern Stampede is one of the largest early season meets in the Midwest. It'll be a great opportunity to see where we stand against defending C-USA champion Tulsa and nationally ranked Arkansas. As always, our expectations are to compete to the best of our ability and bring acclaim to the University of Houston, our alums, supporters, friends and family."
The women are set to start at 8:30 a.m., Saturday, followed by the men at 8:50 a.m.
Rice Invitational
After a weekend of rest, the teams will return to the course for the Rice Invitational on Friday.
"Our team is excited to get back to racing this week after having last weekend off," says Turner. "Wesley, Nate, Drevan and AJ had a great week of training and benefited from the off week. We expect each of them to contribute as their fitness improves throughout the season."
The field at the Rice Invitational will include Houston, Rice, Lamar, Texas Southern, and Prairie View A&M.
For the men, Doug Kelly, Anthony Coleman, Sam Dufford, Mark Fernando, John Salazar and Lexington Turner will be competing for the Cougars. Ciera Johnson, Yasiris Gonzalez and Hali Beam will represent the women's team.
"The group of runners competing at the Rice meet will consist primarily of our freshmen and middle distance runners. As a young group representing our University, they understand that they need to compete with pride and passion while pursuing excellence in every competition."
The women are slated to run at 6:30 p.m., and the gun will sound for the men at 6:50 p.m. The course is located just off of Rice Blvd.between Sunset/Main and Greenbrier. Parking will be located in the lot directly east of the football stadium.
Players Mentioned
