Cross Country Notes Week 6 - United Athletic Football Conference Skip To Main Content

Members

Cross Country Notes Week 6

Bookmark and Share

Cross Country Notes Week 6
  • For the complete release, including polls, schedules and results, click on the Weekly Notes.pdf to the right.

    WAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
    Mircea Bogdan, a junior from Croatia, Romania, earned his third Athlete of the Week honor finishing second at the Chili Pepper Invitational with a time of 29:31.7. Bogdan topped 244 others runners, helping the Miners finish 13th. The finish was his fourth top-three finish of the season.

    Kate Gorry, a junior from Houston, Texas, posted a seventh place finish against some of the nations top collegiate runners. She was the top WAC finisher in the meet, posting a time of 20:47.6 in the 6k race. Gorry finished five seconds out of sixth place and 22 seconds behind the winner.

  • Additional mens nominees included: Forest Braden, Boise State and Marcel Hewamudalige, Rice.

  • Additional womens nominees included: Robin Wemple, Boise State; Andrea Buckner, Fresno State; Sabrina Reeve, Hawaii; Karin van Rooyen, SMU Adriana Pirtea, UTEP and Natalie Rasmussen, Tulsa.

  • POLLS
    Mondo Men's Cross Country Rankings
    FinishLynx Women's Cross Country Rankings

    SMU RANKED 11TH IN FINISHLYNX POLL
    The SMU Cross Country team moved up to No. 11 in the FinishLynx/NCAA Division I national rankings this week, rising two spots from No. 13. The Mustangs have been strong in the early season, winning the Mean Green Opener and Murray Keating Invitational and finishing second at the Stanford Invitational. SMU will have a chance to break into the top ten this weekend, as they compete at the Chili Pepper Invite in Fayetteville, Ark.

  • TEAM CHAMPIONS
    MUSTANGS WIN CHILI PEPPER INVITE
    The No. 11 SMU Mustang cross country team won the Chili Pepper Invitational. The team won the event with 67 points; the second place team, Arkansas, had 76. Four Mustangs finished in the top 20 at the meet. Karin van Rooyen finished fifth overall with a time of 20:42.4. Senior transfer Nicole Kelleher finished 12th in 21:08.9. Arlington native Rachel Forish finished 13th in 21:10.7. Sophomore Jessica Jackson rounded out the top 20 with a time of 21:32.4.

    RICE WINS ISLANDER SPLASH
    The Rice mens and womens cross country teams won the university division team titles at the Islander Opener Splash. For the men, Marcel Hewamudalige and Adam Davis took the top two finishes on the 5K course, clocking a 25:37 and 26:04, respectively. Rice also received a top-10 finish from David Axel who crossed the finish line sixth. All five of Rices runners finished in the top-15, giving Rice 33 total points to help the Owls to the win. On the womens side, Kate Gorry set the pace for the Owls win, finishing the 3K course in 17:07. The junior was one of three Owls to finish in the top five. Freshmen Marissa Daniels and Laura Kelley took third and fourth, respectively.

    HAWAII TAKES BIG WAVE INVITATIONAL
    The Hawaii womens cross country team captured the 2004 Big Wave Invitational at the Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course. The host Rainbow Wahine placed four runners in the Top 10, including three in the top five, to finish with 37 total points. Brigham Young-Hawaii finished in second with 47 points. BYUHs Chelsea Smith, the reining Division II national champion, captured the individual title, completing the 4K race in a time of 14:37. UHs Dana Buchanan made her season debut by finishing second at 15:18. Fellow sophomores Kelly Young and Chantelle Laan placed fourth and fifth with times of 15:56 and 15:57, respectively. Sophomore Danielle Binns came in eighth (16:08), while sophomore Chelsee Pummel rounded out UHs qualifying team in 18th place (16:38).

    MUSTANGS WIN MEAN GREEN OPENER
    The SMU Mustangs cruised to an easy victory in their season opener, beating the next closest team, No. 25 Baylor, handily in the Mean Green Opener (Sept. 11). Senior Karin van Rooyen showed her experience by leading the Mustangs to the win. van Rooyen finished in second place with a time of 17:56. The day belonged to the newcomers, however. In her first race as a Mustang, Nicole Kelleher finished strong in 18:05 for third overall. Local standouts Krystal Rodriguez of Grand Prairie and Rachael Forish of Arlington did not let their first collegiate race intimidate them. Rodriguez had an impressive run as she edged out Forish at the line, finishing fourth in 18:23.

    RICE TAKES ITS INVITATIONAL
    The Rice mens and womens cross country teams posted the top four times in each race to take the team titles at the 30th annual Rice Invitational (Sept. 11). Leading the way for the women on the 4K course was junior Kate Gorry. The all-WAC honoree posted a 13:00.96 to lead the Owls. Rice placed seven in the top 15 to total 19 points. For the men, veteran Marcel Hewamudalige crossed the finish in 11:07.43, leading a contingent of Rice runners who finished first through fourth.

    UTEP WINS SEASON OPENER
    UTEPs Adriana Pirtea and Mircea Bogdan each took titles at the Lori Fitzgerald Invitational at Santa Teresa Country Club in Santa Teresa, N.M. (Sept. 4). Pirteas victory helped the womens team out last El Paso Community College 30-31 to repeat as meet champions. New Mexico State was third with 69 points followed by Western New Mexico (86). Pirtea repeated as champion as well, winning the 4,521-meter race in 17:46.95. The mens team walked away with the title, scoring 26 points for their second-consecutive title. El Paso Community College was second with 33 points and New Mexico State was third with 69 points. Bogdan and Stephen Samoei went 1-2 in the mens 6,619-meter race. Bogdan ran nearly one minute faster than last years champion in 21:26.13. Samoei was right behind him in 21:27.88.