University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
Rice Invitational
Houston Heads Cross Town for Rice Invite
9/6/2018 2:58:00 PM | Cross Country
Cougars set for meet inside city limits
HOUSTON – The Houston Cougar Men's and Women's Cross Country teams continue the 2018 season with a crosstown trip to Rice to compete in the Rice Invitational, on Friday.
ABOUT THE RICE INVITATIONAL
The Rice Invitational kicks off with a mile college race at 5:30 p.m., Friday, while the Yahoo Race (open to all runners) will be held at 5:50 p.m. Houston will hit the track for the women's 4,000-meter race at 6:15 p.m., with the men capping the evening in a 4-mile race at 6:45 p.m.
The Cougars will compete alongside the host school Rice as well as Houston Baptist, Prairie View A&M, Sam Houston State, St. Edwards, Stephen F. Austin, Texas, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and UT-Rio Grande Valley.
Complete information on the Rice Invitational can be found by clicking HERE.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Each of Houston's top-5 finishers from the season-opening Aggie Opener return to action Friday, including Jahnavi Schneider, who ran 15:14.9 in the 4,100-meter race to place 13th overall and rank as Houston's top competitor.
Seniors Jennifer Dunlap and Britani Gonzales as well as junior Meredith Sorensen are scheduled to make their season debuts Friday, while freshman Maddy Castleberry will compete for the first time as a Cougar. Dunlap paced the Cougars in a pair of meets in 2016, and Sorensen was the first Cougar to cross in The American Championships.
Redshirt freshman Nicholas Fernandes returns to action one week after taking silver at the Aggie Opener. Fernandes ran 18:24.0 to pace the Cougars through the 6,000-meter race and lead a group that included top-10 performances by Devin Vallejo-Bannister (7th; 18:59.6) and Gabe Armijo (8th; 19:04.3) to open their careers.
Each of Houston's top-5 men's finishers from the Aggie Opener will compete at the Rice Invitational on Friday, while Nicholas Hamilton and Devin Fahey will make their debuts. Fahey competed in four meets a year ago, taking 16th at the 2017 Rice Invitational in 20:24.29. Hamilton will compete for the first time since the 2016 season after redshirting last year.
FOLLOW THE COUGARS
Fans can keep up with the latest in University of Houston Cougar athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook.com/HoustonAthletics), Twitter (@UHCougars), Instagram (houstoncougars) and YouTube.com (Youtube.com/UHAthletics). In addition, the Cross Country team has established its own official Facebook (facebook.com/UHCougarTF) and Twitter pages (@UHCougarTF).
Players Mentioned
