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Tulsa
Hurricane Festival
Golden Hurricane Capture Fourth Straight Hurricane Cross Country Festival Title
8/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Aug. 30, 2003
Tulsa, Okla. - Senior Owain Matthews finished third overall, leading four Tulsa runners in the top-10, to help the Golden Hurricane win the Hurricane Festival on Saturday morning, in a soggy Mohawk Park. Kansas State finished second, just four points behind TU. Oklahoma won the women's event, by edging out Kansas State 37-40.
"This was just like back home in England so I was a little use to it," said Matthews. "It was good to finally be able to race because we have been training for two weeks. This was a good test for us. With conditions like we had today times are really irrelevant. We just want to score points. Everyone was able to finish where they wanted to. We really didn't have any surprises today."
Mathew Chesang of Kansas State won the individual crown on the men's side with a time of 21:03 over the four mile course. Fellow Wildcat Rogers Kipchumba finished second just :21 behind Chesang. Matthews edged teammate Ben Orozco by :04-seconds, with times of 21:32 and 21:36.
"It was so wet and muddy, but it was a good competition," said Chesang." It was a good start to the season and a good sign of what is to come from the team this year."
TU's Blake Carpenter finished sixth with a time of 22:03, while Taylor Williams finished 10th with a time of 22:14, to round out the top-10 scoring times.
"I felt everything went OK," said TU Head Coach Steve Gulley. "There are still some adjustments that we can make, but there were certainly positives as well. With the wet conditions I think a lot of people decided to take the race one loop at a time. The way we responded on the last loop I feel was a positive."
Oklahoma utilized five freshmen to outdistance Kansas State, 37-40 on the women's side. Tulsa finished third with 44 points.
"We did a great job," said OU Head Coach Rodney Rothoff. "We worked together to earn a top finish. Our top-five finishers were freshman so it was great for their introduction into collegiate racing. This was their first true test and amongst the elements they worked even harder. I am very pleased with our efforts today. Hopefully this will push our program in the right direction."
Kansas State's Trisha Culbertson completed the Wildcat sweep of the individual titles with a winning time of 11:47. OU's Nicola Maye and Catherine O'dell finished second and third, respectively, with times of 12:34 and 12:35.
"It was fun to be in the elements," said Culbertson. "We came out here today and did well in the first race of the season. It was good to start the season off right."
Senior Monica Joannes led the Hurricane charge with a sixth place finish in a time of 12:52. Like OU and KSU, Tulsa also had three runners in the top-10. Sophomore Tami Scott, who won the race last season, finished eighth with a time of 13:00. Fellow sophomore Megan Longwell finished ninth with a time of 13:02.
Both Tulsa teams will compete next weekend at the Razorback Invitational on Friday, Sept. 5th, in Fayetteville, Ark.
