University of Houston
Notre Dame Invitational
Men Have Strong Showing at Notre Dame Cross Country Invitational
10/5/2009 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Competing against 17 nationally ranked teams, the University of Houston cross country team ran among the country's best at the Notre Dame Cross Country Invitational this past weekend.
"I was serious when I said this meet was one of the toughest in the nation," head coach Ryan Turner said. "It was a great experience for our team to compete against so many great teams and athletes. We ran the best that we could run that day and we'll get back to work preparing for the rest of our season."
The men's team finished 13th in the Gold Division, garnering 325 points. Sophomore Nate Pineda led the Cougars placing 41st with a time of 25:51. Sophomore Jesse Rodriguez followed finishing at the 26:23 mark - good for 64th place. Close behind, sophomore Cole Bessner finished in 70th place with a time of 26:25.
"I thought our men ran well, Nate ran well and moved up the entire race," Turner said. "The rest of the men ran in a nice group, only 30 seconds separated our No. 2 runner through our No. 7 runner. All of our top six guys ran faster than our top runner ran at the conference meet last year on a similar course, so we've come a long way in a year. If we can get four or five guys in the 25's and two or three more guys in the low 26's by conference then, realistically, we'll have a shot at a top three finish in the conference."
Competing in the Blue Division, the women's squad raced in a tough field with 10 ranked teams. Sophomore Stephanie Aldea led the Cougars finishing in 51st with a time of 17:35.
"Stephanie ran well," Turner said. "This was her first time this season to run fast and it was a little bit of a shock to her system, but she handled it well. She's about where she was last year at this time, the only difference is that her legs are a lot fresher. We'll start tuning things up for her and the rest of the team leading into the conference meet here in four weeks."
Sophomore Brandi Witte finished second for UH crossing the finish line at the 18:55 mark. Freshman Kathryn Ducommun rounded off the women's top three with a time of 19:08.
The Cougars return to Indiana in two weeks to compete in the Sam Bell Invitational in Bloomington on Oct. 17.
Players Mentioned
