Cross Country Competes in NCAA South Central Regional Saturday
11/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Nov. 13, 2009
HOUSTON - After finishing in the top five at the Conference USA Championships, the University of Houston men and women's cross country teams head to Waco, Texas Saturday for the NCAA South Central Regional hosted by Baylor. The races begin at 10 a.m. CT at the Cottonwood Creek Golf Course.
Houston is coming off a strong showing at the league championships where three Cougars earned All-Conference honors after finishing in the top 21. Stephanie Aldea led the women's team, completing the 5K race in 18:58 minutes - good for 17th place. Nate Pineda was the first to finish the 8K race for the men with a time of 26.02, securing a 19th-place finish. David Smith completed the race eight seconds later to finish in 21st place.
Last season, the women's squad finished in 10th place out of 33 teams with a total of 281 points. Aldea led the Cougars, finishing in 19th place with a time of 21:31.9. Houston returns five of seven finishers to compete in this year's 6K race.
Beating out 18 teams, the men finished in 13th place with Pineda leading the way. The San Antonio native notched a 59th-place finish, clocking 33:11.6. Four finishers from last season return to race on Saturday.
After debuting as the No. 10 ranked team in the South Central Region as voted on by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, the women's squad has consistently competed as a highly ranked team throughout the season. The Cougars enter the NCAA Regional with a No. 9 ranking, trialing two C-USA opponents, conference champion SMU and cross-town rival Rice.
"Our goal from the beginning of the season was to run our best when it mattered most," head coach Ryan Turner said. "The results from our time trial on Monday validate that we're ready to run fast, now we just have to do it on race day. Stephanie (Aldea) is fitter then she's ever been, and the rest of our girls are better than they've been all year. I don't know how we'll finish this weekend, but I think we're at least as good as we're ranked going into the meet. We can't control how the other teams compete, but if we run smart and stay focused then we should see good things come Saturday."
The men join the women as a prominent team in the South Central Region. Beginning the season as the No. 14 squad, the Cougars climbed as high as the ninth ranked team. Houston competes in the regional ranked No. 10, also trailing Rice.
"The men are a little banged up, nothing serious, but nonetheless we have some injuries that they'll need to battle through," Turner said. "There are over 40 universities who sponsor cross country in our region. If our men can finish in the top 10 or close to the top 10 then that will put us in the top 25 percent of the teams in our region. With such a young group of only freshmen and sophomores, I'd consider that to be a pretty successful regional meet for our men."
Players Mentioned
