Saturday, September 1
Mohawk Soccer Complex
9 AM
Tulsa
vs
Hurricane Invitational
TU Cross Country to Open 2018 Season at Hurricane Invitational on Saturday
8/29/2018 10:10:00 AM | Cross Country
TULSA, Okla. — The University of Tulsa men's and women's cross country teams will open their 2018 season on Saturday morning when they host the Hurricane Invitational at Mohawk Sports Complex. The Golden Hurricane will face Arkansas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in the race.
The day will begin with a men's four-mile race at 9 a.m., followed by the women's two-mile race at 9:30 a.m. The TU men's squad enters the season ranked sixth in the Midwest Region, with the women's team at No. 9.
Since 2010, the squads have combined to win 12-of-16 conference cross country championships, including a run of eight consecutive titles for the men's team. That run also includes four straight men's titles (2014-17) and a pair of women's titles (2014-15) since TU joined the American Athletic Conference in 2014.
As the Hurricane look for those numbers to increase in 2018, the teams might take different paths to success this fall.
The men's squad will see some new faces being counted on in a big way after the graduation of Ben Preisner, Henry Pearce and Adam Roderique. The trio earned all-conference and all-region honors last season, while Pearce qualified to compete at the NCAA Championships.
TU does return a pair of runners who contributed to the team total in the conference meet a season ago, including junior Adam Breaux and sophomore Scott Beattie. Beattie ran in the final three meets of the 2017 campaign and earned The American Freshman of the Year honors with a fifth-place finish at the conference race, while Breaux saw action in four races and finished in 24th place at the league meet.
Knowing that the roster would turn over slightly with the loss of Preisner, Pearce and Roderique, the coaching staff redshirted several student-athletes over the previous seasons. Look for redshirt freshman Isaac Akers to make a push to the team's top-seven, along with senior Austin Del Rosso, who was limited to just one race last season due to injury.
While the men's squad is tasked with replacing three of its top five runners, the women's team returns four of its top five runners from last year's conference meet.
That group is led by junior Ashley Barnes, who was an all-conference and all-region performer a season ago. That group also includes senior Alyssa Bolliger and sophomores Caitlin Klopfer and Reagan Hausmann. Junior Avery Culpepper and sophomore Jenny O'Bryan also also return along with junior Adrena Mazzei, who was limited to just a pair of races last fall.
That depth will serve the team well this fall as the squad looks for its first conference crown since 2015. Last season, TU finished fourth at The American Championships behind UConn, SMU and Temple.
The day will begin with a men's four-mile race at 9 a.m., followed by the women's two-mile race at 9:30 a.m. The TU men's squad enters the season ranked sixth in the Midwest Region, with the women's team at No. 9.
Since 2010, the squads have combined to win 12-of-16 conference cross country championships, including a run of eight consecutive titles for the men's team. That run also includes four straight men's titles (2014-17) and a pair of women's titles (2014-15) since TU joined the American Athletic Conference in 2014.
As the Hurricane look for those numbers to increase in 2018, the teams might take different paths to success this fall.
The men's squad will see some new faces being counted on in a big way after the graduation of Ben Preisner, Henry Pearce and Adam Roderique. The trio earned all-conference and all-region honors last season, while Pearce qualified to compete at the NCAA Championships.
TU does return a pair of runners who contributed to the team total in the conference meet a season ago, including junior Adam Breaux and sophomore Scott Beattie. Beattie ran in the final three meets of the 2017 campaign and earned The American Freshman of the Year honors with a fifth-place finish at the conference race, while Breaux saw action in four races and finished in 24th place at the league meet.
Knowing that the roster would turn over slightly with the loss of Preisner, Pearce and Roderique, the coaching staff redshirted several student-athletes over the previous seasons. Look for redshirt freshman Isaac Akers to make a push to the team's top-seven, along with senior Austin Del Rosso, who was limited to just one race last season due to injury.
While the men's squad is tasked with replacing three of its top five runners, the women's team returns four of its top five runners from last year's conference meet.
That group is led by junior Ashley Barnes, who was an all-conference and all-region performer a season ago. That group also includes senior Alyssa Bolliger and sophomores Caitlin Klopfer and Reagan Hausmann. Junior Avery Culpepper and sophomore Jenny O'Bryan also also return along with junior Adrena Mazzei, who was limited to just a pair of races last fall.
That depth will serve the team well this fall as the squad looks for its first conference crown since 2015. Last season, TU finished fourth at The American Championships behind UConn, SMU and Temple.
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