Tulsa Cross Country Teams Ready for Conference USA Championship
10/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Oct. 29, 2009
Tulsa, Okla. - The University of Tulsa cross country teams will compete at the Conference USA Championship hosted by The University of Houston on Saturday, Oct. 31, at the Bear Branch Park in The Woodlands, Texas. The No. 29-ranked men's squad will look to defend its 2008 title and senior John Beattie aims to repeat as individual champion.
The championships begin with the men's 8K race at 9 a.m., followed by the women's 5K race at 10 a.m. Team and individual awards will be handed out after the completion of both races.
"Training has been going great," Head Coach Steve Gulley said. "On the men's team, we are still looking to get stronger in the five hole, but they continue to get better every week."
The men's team returns six all-conference performers from last year's championship team, including John Beattie, Kyle Dekker, Lewis Timmins, Mark Davidson, Daniel LePage and Carl Stones.
The Hurricane men's team enters the meet as the highest nationally-ranked squad (No. 29) by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, and is coming off of an eighth-place finish in the Blue Division race at Pre-Nationals on Oct. 17.
The women's team returns four letterwinners from last year's team that finished in third place, including Melanie Cleland, Laura Englehutt, Lana Kelley and Tayler Rigsby. Cleland has been Tulsa's top-finisher in all four races she has competed in this season.
The Hurricane will also look to freshmen Jaclyn Rollins, Ashley Scott and Erin Huddleston for support.
"This is going to be a great experience for our young women's team," Gulley said. "They continue to get better each week and it's going to be a challenge for them to finish in the top half of the field."
