University of Houston Athletics
Cross Country Hits the Trail for College Station
9/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
HOUSTON – The Houston Cougar men’s and women’s cross country teams will leave the city for the first time in the 2015 season when they travel to College Station for the Texas A&M Invitational, beginning at 8:15 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26.
Houston is scheduled to compete against the host school Texas A&M, Abilene Christian, Central Arkansas, Houston Baptist, Lamar, LSU, McNeese State, Missouri, North Texas, Stephen F. Austin, Texas, TCU, Texas-Arlington, Texas-Rio Grande Valley, and Louisiana-Lafayette.
The Cougars have competed twice inside the Houston city limits in 2015, with meets hosted by Houston Baptist and Rice, but will hit the road for the first of two meets in College Station this season. Action is slated to begin at 8:15 a.m., with the men’s 8K, while the women will kick off shortly after and run a 6K beginning at 9 a.m.
The Cougars have are coming off a 15-day break between competitions after having last competed at the Rice Invitational on Sept. 11. The Cougar men finished the Rice Invite in second place with 71 points, while the women collected 109 points and finished third.
Junior Brian Barraza opened his season at the Rice Invitational by claiming an individual championship in the men’s 5.5K. Barraza crossed the line in 18:33.72 to finish more than seven seconds faster than the second-place finisher. Senior James Broussard also opened his 2015 season at Rice and took home a fifth place finish in 18:56.52.
Junior Maddie Brown was Houston’s top finisher on the women’s side in the Rice Invitational and claimed the top spot for the second consecutive competition. The Huffman, Texas, followed an individual championship at the HBU Season Opener with an eighth place finish at the Rice Invite in 16:57.23. Freshman Meredith Sorenson crossed the line next for the Cougars after running a 17:29.26 to finish 19th.
UP NEXT FOR HOUSTON
The Cougars return to Houston on Oct. 19 to compete in the HBU Invitational. Running is slated to begin at 5 p.m., with the women’s collegiate 5K while the men’s collegiate 6K will start at 5:30 p.m.
IN THE CLASSROOM
Following the 2014 season, the Cougar Men’s Cross Country team was honored by the NCAA for perfect Academic Progress Report Scores with the NCAA Public Recognition Award. The award marked the second straight year the men have been honored for ranking among the top-10 percent of all cross country programs in APR.
STAY CONNECTED
Follow Houston Track & Field on Twitter @UHCougarXC and "Like" /HoustonCougarCrossCountry on Facebook.
