University of Houston Athletics
Cougars Eye NCAA Bid at South Central Regional
11/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
HOUSTON â€" The Houston Cougar men's and women's cross country teams continue their march through the postseason when they head to the NCAA South Central Regional on Friday, Nov. 13, in College Station, Texas.
The meet will be held at Dale Watts '71 Cross Country Course on the campus of Texas A&M University, with the men competing in a 10K and running three laps around the course, and the women going two laps for a 6K. The women's race will begin at 10 a.m., with the men following at 11 a.m.
The women will compete against Arkansas, Arkansas State, Baylor, Houston Baptist, Lamar, McNeese State, North Texas, Rice, Sam Houston State, Southeast Louisiana, SMU, Stephen F. Austin, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas-Arlington, UTRGV, Tulane and UTSA, while the men will face those same teams and add Central Arkansas, New Orleans, UL-Lafayette and UL-Monroe to the mix. The top two teams in each race, as well as the first four finishers in the race not associated with those two teams will advance to the NCAA Championships, held Nov. 21, in Louisville, Ky.
Maddie Brown, Jennifer Dunlap, Britani Gonzales, Emely Morgado, Nikita Prasad, Meredith Sorensen, Kyndall Tyler and Ebony White are scheduled to compete in the women's 6K, while the men scheduled to compete in the 10K are Kody Anderson, Brian Barraza, James Broussard, Blake Contreras, Chris Ibarra, Gabe Lara, Edwin Munoz, G.J. Reyna and Yonas Tesfai.
HOW THEY GOT HERE
Junior Brian Barraza has led the Cougars in all four of the races he has entered this season, including a win at the Texas A&M Invitational on Sept. 26. The A&M Invite was held earlier this season at the Dale Watts '71 Cross Country Course, which will host the Regional, where Barraza crossed the line first in 23:28.5 to claim victory. Barraza also had a win at the Rice Invitational Sept. 11, and most recently finished fourth at the American Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships Oct. 31.
Barraza returns to the South Central regional as the top-finisher left over from the men's 2014 race, with the top-3 all moving on due to graduation, however six of last season's top-10 return for the 2015 edition of the Regional.
In five of the six women's races during the 2015 season, junior Maddie Brown has crossed the line first for the Cougars. Brown opened the season with an 11:56 to win the HBU Season Opener and followed that up with her second consecutive top-10 finish at the Rice Invitational, where she ran 16:57.23 to finish eighth. Brown most recently took 24th at the American Championships, running 21:41.05 to pace the Cougars.
LAST TIME OUT
Houston turned in an impressive team showing at The American Conference Championships, with the men finishing in third with 101 points, while the women took ninth and tallied 201 points. Barraza and senior Yonas Tesfai each earned All-American Athletic Conference Honors for their top-10 finishes with Barraza taking fourth and Tesfai placing ninth in 24:10.33.
THE 2014 SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL
The 2014 season was a banner year for Barraza, which cumulated in a trip to the 2014 NCAA Cross Country Championships. The then sophomore ran the 10K in Fayetteville, Ark., last season in 29:41.5 to finish fourth at Agri Park.
After earning the berth in the NCAA Championships, Barraza became the first Cougar to qualify for the event since Wesley Ruttoh in 2011 and just the fifth cross country athlete to accomplish the feat since 1961. Barraza will look to qualify in back-to-back seasons, and build on his 224th place finish at last year's meet.
REGIONAL CENTRAL
The NCAA South Central Regional of the Cross Country Championships will be hosted by Texas A&M University. Information on the South Central regional can be found here.
Live stats will be made available courtesy of FlashResults.com with and can be found here. Flash Results will provide up to the minute splits and updated team standings throughout each race.
STAY CONNECTED
Follow Houston Cross Country on Twitter @UHCougarXC and "Like" /HoustonCougarCrossCountry on Facebook.
Players Mentioned
