Tulsa Teams at NCAA Cross Country Championships Today

Tulsa NCAA Championship Notes

TULSA, Okla. – The Tulsa men's and women's cross country teams will compete for a national title today at the NCAA Cross Country Championships at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky. The women's race begins at 11 a.m. CT, and the men's race begins at noon CT.

Both Golden Hurricane teams earned at-large bids to the NCAA Championships. It is the fifth straight trip to the national championship for the men's team, and the sixth overall. This is the second NCAA Championships appearance for the women's team, and the first since 2010. Live race results will be available at http://primetimetiming.com/liveresults/2015/NCAAXC/.

"I think the athletes are thinking a top-15 finish, but we may get by because they are inexperienced and they don't know better," Tulsa Head Coach Steve Gulley said. "They have answered a lot of big calls, and we are fortunate that we have three good runners. In a field of 220 guys if you get a couple low points it's huge and makes a big difference.

"For the women's team, it's their first time there, and it usually doesn't go well because it's overwhelming. I don't think that they are just all happy to be there, and I think that there is one more race in them and they are handling it really well," Gulley continued. My job is to keep them distracted and not realize where they are."

The Hurricane men are ranked No. 20, and the women are ranked No. 27 in the USTFCCCA Division I National Coaches Poll. The teams earned at-large bids to the NCAA Championships after both finishing fourth at the NCAA Midwest Regional on Nov. 13.

The Tulsa men's team placed 25th at the 2014 NCAA Championships, and their highest finish was seventh in 2012. The women's team placed 30th at the 2010 NCAA Championships.

TU senior Marc Scott won the Midwest Regional men's race – his fourth victory of the season. Scott has won all four races this season, also winning the American Athletic Conference Championship, Wisconsin adidas Invitational and the Chile Pepper Festival.

Scott will be running in his fourth NCAA Championships. Sophomore teammates Ben Preisner and Adam Roderique are the only two other TU athletes with experience at the NCAA meet. Scott finished 14^th at the 2014 meet, earning All-America honors, while Preisner placed 186^th and Roderique finished 239^th last season.

"Marc hasn't lost a race all year, and he has surprised a lot of people," Gulley said. "I think that he will be in the money, but it just depends on how they let the race go. There is a defending champion who has won it two years in a row and most people say he is unbeatable. Marc is just going in there probably thinking he just wants to do the best job with his team, but there is a reason he is undefeated."

The men's teams competing for the national title are: No. 1 Colorado, No. 2 Syracuse, No. 3 Stanford, No. 4 Oklahoma State, No. 5 Michigan, No. 6 BYU , No. 7 UTEP, No. 8 Arkansas, No. 9 Oregon, No. 10 Iona, No. 11 Washington, No. 12 Virginia, No. 13 Georgetown, No. 14 Louisville, No. 15 Furman, No. 16 Minnesota, No. 17 North Carolina State, No. 18 Eastern Kentucky, No. 19 Michigan State, No. 20 Tulsa, No. 21 Penn, No. 22 Virginia Tech, No. 23 Oklahoma, No. 24 Southern Utah, No. 25 Washington State, No. 26 Boise State, No. 27 California, No. 28 UCLA, No. 30 Florida State, Ole Miss, and Texas.

The women's teams participating at the national championship are: No. 1 New Mexico, No. 2 Colorado, No. 3 Arkansas, No. 4 Providence, No. 5 Oregon, No. 6 Michigan, No. 7 Virginia, No. 8 Boise State, No. 9 Penn State and North Carolina State, No. 11 Oklahoma State, No. 12 Washington, No. 13 Stanford, No. 14 Georgetown, No. 15 Notre Dame, No. 16 Iowa State, No. 17 Michigan State, No. 18 Syracuse, No. 19 Vanderbilt, No. 20 Mississippi State, No. 21 Utah, No. 22 Princeton, No. 23 Minnesota, No. 24 BYU, No. 25 Villanova and Weber State, No. 27 Tulsa and Gonzaga, No. 29 San Francisco, Kansas, and Texas.

Follow Tulsa Athletics on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TulsaHurricane and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TulsaHurricane. Follow Tulsa XC/Track & Field on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TulsaTrack.

Tulsa Teams at NCAA Cross Country Championships Today

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Ben Preisner

Adam Roderique

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