SUN BELT CROSS COUNTRY WEEKLY RELEASE
OCTOBER 17, 2012 • WEEK 7
Contact: Travis Llewellyn ([email protected])
601 Poydras Street, Suite 2355, New Orleans, Louisiana 70130 • www.sunbeltsports.org.org • 504.299.9066, ext. 216
RUNNERS OF THE WEEK
UPCOMING MEETS
DATE
October 19, 2012
DANIEL MUTAI, SENIOR, ULM
Mutai notched a 20th place finish at the Chile Pepper Invitational, a meet that
featured over 300 runners. Mutai was the top Sun Belt finisher at the meet,
covering the 10,000 meter course in 31:11.4. The two time NCAA national meet
qualifier has led ULM in every meet this season, as he had won his last three
races. Mutai was part of a massive chase pack that eventually started to spread
out in the last mile.
October 27, 2012
MEET
Demon Invitational
(ULM)
Sun Belt Championships
LOCATION
Natchitoches, La.
Bowling Green, Ky.
November 10, 2012 NCAA Regionals
Various locations
November 17, 2012 NCAA Championship
Louisville, Ky.
KATHARINE SHOWALTER, GEORGIA STATE, SENIOR
Showalter finished sixth overall (fifth in team scoring) in a field of 341 runners at the Chile Pepper Invite. The senior recorded a personal-best 6K time
of 21:07.8 to lead Georgia State to a 12th place finish out of 43 teams. The
competition included several teams ranked both regionally and nationally and a
total of six Sun Belt teams.
2012 SUN BELT CONFERENCE
CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP
October 27, 2012
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Hosted By: Western Kentucky University
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Most teams traveled to Fayetteville, Ark. for the Chili Pepper Invitational.
Arkansas State’s men raced the 10K event with freshman Lane Beckman
leading the way with a time of 33:20.9. Beckman’s time was the fastest
recorded by a true A-State freshman on the Agri Park course. The ASU
women were also led by a freshman in Abbey Dixon, who ran a 22:25.5
in the 6K (3.7 miles) event to take home 50th-place individual honors.
For UALR the men placed 15th of 34 teams and the Trojan women placed
29th of 43 teams at the Chili Pepper Invite. Felix Maritim led the UALR
men’s team (55th, 32:15.4) in the 10K run and Marissa DeLaPaz (102nd,
23:06.9) paced the women in the 6K.
North Texas men’s cross country topped all conference competitors at the
Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival on the campus of the University of
Arkansas Saturday morning.
Freshman Troy Taylor crossed the line first for North Texas, finishing 45th
with a time of 32:03.9, as the men took 14th overall with a total team
score of 353. Jo Adams led the way on the women’s side, completing the
6K race in 22:03.5 crossing the line at 30th.
Georgia State’s women finished ahead of all four other Sun Belt schools
competing in the meet. The Georgia State men placed two runners in
the top 100 in Valentin Poncelet (35th) and Carlos Galindo (94th) to
finish 19th out of 34 teams.
Like multiple Sun Belt schools absent in Arkansas was Florida Atlantic.
Three top-20 finishes gave the FAU men’s cross country team a fourthplace finish at the UCF Black and Gold Invitational.
Sophomore Michael Vidal earned the men’s first top 10 individual finish
of the season, running the 8K race in 26:40.65 to place eighth. The
women ran a 6K for the first time this year. Freshman Chloe Sell was
the Owls’ top finisher at 28th, running that longer distance in a time
of 23:49.01.
The University of South Alabama men’s and women’s cross country team
both took top honors at the Choctaw Open in Clinton, Miss., Saturday to
close out the 2012 regular season. Junior Salome Lecoq (17:40.77) won
the individual title in the women’s 5k race, while freshman Patrick Rohr
(26:03.69) led the men in the 8k event. Lecoq notched her first career
individual victory, and the men’s and women’s squads took their first
www.sunbeltsports.org
USTFCCA REGIONAL RANKINGS
team wins this season.
The Western Kentucky University women’s cross country team ended
its regular season on a high note, capturing both team and individual
crowns Saturday afternoon at the Fast Cats Classic at Yellow Creek Park.
Senior Vasity Chemweno brought home individual honors with a
5,000-meter time of 18:09 while freshman teammate Lindsey Hinken
continued her impressive inaugural campaign, finishing runner-up just
three seconds behind Chemweno.
Hilltopper senior Joseph Chebet continued his dominance on the cross
country course Saturday, winning the black heat of Pre-Nationals with
a personal-record time of 23:56.7 in the 8,000-meter race held at Tom
Sawyer Park.
The Middle Tennessee men’s and women’s cross country teams each
posted third-place finishes Saturday at the FrontRunner Invitational.
Autumn Gipson was the top women’s finisher for the Blue Raiders,
finishing third in the two-mile race in a time of 11:33.35. Julia Kitevski
(12:05.08) and Tressanique Hampton (12:06.26) were close behind
Gipson, finishing 12th and 13th, respectively. The final two female
scorers were Rachel Islam (12:10.80) in 15th and Stephanie Smith
(12:17.21) in 16th.
MEN
Rank
13
13
14
14
WOMEN
Rank Team
12
Georgia State
10
Arkansas State
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Region
South
South Central
South
South Central
Last Week
11
NR
NR
15
Region
South
South Central
Last Week
9
13
RUNNERS OF THE WEEK ARCHIVE
MEN’S RUNNER OF THE WEEK
SEPT 5 >Joseph Chebet, WKU
SEPT 12 >Daniel Mutai, ULM
SEPT 19 >Joseph Chebet, WKU
SEPT 26 >Valentin Poncelet, GSU
OCT 3 > Joseph Chebet, Sr. WKU
OCT 10 >Austin Boetje, GSU
OCT 17 >Daniel Mutai, ULM
The Troy men’s team took first place at their own 2012 Coach “O” Invitational while Troy individuals won both the men’s and women’s races on
Saturday morning at the Trojan Oaks Golf Course.
Junior Enock Kirui took first place for Troy University winning the Coach
“O” Invitational with a time of 27:25.08, leading the Trojan men’s team
to a first place finish. Junior Kemper Morton kept pace with Kirui
throughout the race and came out with a second place finish with a
time of 27:38.00
Team
Middle Tennessee
North texas
South Alabama
UALR
WOMEN’S RUNNER OF THE WEEK
SEPT 5 >Katharine Showalter, GSU
SEPT 12 >Katharine Showalter, GSU
SEPT 19 >Jo Adams, North Texas
SEPT 28 >Katharine Showalter, GSU
OCT 3 > Kristina Aubert, ASU
OCT 10>Katharine Showalter, GSU
OCT 17 >Katharine Showalter, GSU
PRESEASON PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
(As voted on by the Sun Belt Conference’s 11 head coaches)
(First place votes in parathesis)
MEN
WOMEN
1. Western Kentucky (10 1st place votes, 14 points)
2. UALR (1 1st place vote, 35 points)
3. Middle Tennessee (1 1st place vote, 40 points)
4. South Alabama (60 points)
5. Georgia State (79 points)
6. North Texas (81 points)
7. ULM (85 points)
8. FIU (89 points)
9. Florida Atlantic (106 points)
10. Louisiana-Lafayette (107 points)
11. Arkansas State (109 points)
12. Troy (124 points)
1. Western Kentucky (6 1st place votes, 23 points)
2. Arkansas State (1 1st place vote, 46 points)
3. South Alabama (1 1st place vote, 47 points)
4. UALR (2 1st place votes, 57 total points)
5. North Texas (2 1st place vote, 59 points)
6. Middle Tennessee (67 points)
7. Georgia State (74 points)
8. Florida Atlantic (78 points)
9. FIU (105 points)
10. Louisiana-Lafayette (123 points)
11. Louisiana-Monroe (126 points)
12. Troy (131 points)
@The_Sun_Belt
UALR • Arkansas State • Florida Atlantic • FIU • Georgia State • Louisiana-Lafayette • Louisiana-Monroe • Middle Tennessee • North Texas • South Alabama • Troy • WKU