Cross Country Notebook

A pair of freshman captured the first individual awards of the season for C-USA cross country as Tulane's Rachel Bryan and Louisville's Wesley Korir each ran dominating races in their first-ever collegiate outings. The Southern Miss and Charlotte women's teams and the Louisville men's squad were the only respective team winners from the opening weekend of the cross country season.

C-USA ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Women – Rachel Bryan – Tulane (Fr., Elk Grovem Calif.)

Rachel Bryan, a highly-touted Green Wave freshman, opened her career with a victory in the Tulane Invitational. She ran the three-mile course in 18:02, easily out-running the field of 67.

Men – Wesley Korir – Louisville (Fr., Eldoret, Kenya)

Wesley Korir opened his collegiate cross country career with an impressive first-place finish helping lead Louisville to the team title at the Woodford Trials. The Murray State transfer covered the five kilometer course in 15:32 to finish 42 seconds ahead of the pack.

Conference USA Cross Country Rankings are compiled and updated each week by Flash Results and Data. For the most recent times and rankings, go to www.flashresults.com/flashtexas

NOTING CONFERENCE USA CROSS COUNTRY

WOMEN
CHARLOTTE defeated Davidson, 10-11, by placing two relay teams in the top three at the Charlotte Relays at McAlpine Park … LIZ SMITH and JANE DANIELS paired together to take second place with a time of 21:32.10, while the team of TSEHAYE DAGNACHEW and AMELIA SLAGEL finished third with a time of 21:36.20 ... CINCINNATI placed second at the Dayton Flyer 5K thanks to a first-place individual finish by senior RUTH LIMO … Limo covered the three-mile course in 18:43 … Junior KAREN BERLING took fourth with a time of 19:14 ... HOUSTON runner OUMAMA HALLAL teamed with unattached runner Shawna Florida to finish sixth at the University of Houston/Rice University Cross Country Relays at MacGregor Park in Houston …Hall and Florida covered the six-mile course in 38:15 while the Cougar team of KATIE RYAN and CYNTHIA SILVA finished 12th in 42:02 ... LOUISVILLE opened the season with a third-place finish at the Woodford Trials ... Sophomore ASHLEY RUBERG led the Cardinal charge with a 15th-place finish … Ruberg clocked a time of 13:01 on the two-mile course … Senior CORRYN MCCRAE finished right behind Ruberg with a time of 13:08 … SOUTHERN MISS captured the team title at the Tulane Invitational as the senior duo of BECCA ROP and CASSANDRA GOODSON finished two-three, respectively, in the three-mile race. Rop clocked a time of 18:25 while Goodson crossed the finish line in 18:34. Newcomer DIJANA KOJIC took fifth with a time of 18:43 … TULANE freshman Rachel Bryan led the Green Wave to a third-place finish at the Tulane Invitational as she opened her collegiate career with an individual title, covering the three-mile course in 18:02. Baton Rouge native ASHLEY PHILLIPS also performed well in her collegiate debut posting a fourth-place finish in 18:42 … UAB logged a fourth-place finish at the Belmont Invitational behind the strong performance of ELIZABETH AMBRUS. The Blazer sophomore took third place overall, finishing the 4K race in 14:35.16. Sophomore JENNIFER THOMPSON finished just outside the top 10, taking 11th in a time of 15:03.61 … USF had its season-opening invitational cancelled by Hurrican Frances. The Bulls will open their season on Sept 18 … DE PAUL, EAST CAROLINA, MARQUETTE, MEMPHIS, SAINT LOUIS and TCU will open their cross country seasons this weekend.

MEN
CHARLOTTE grabbed second place in the Charlotte Relays at McAlpine Park … The men’s top three teams finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively led by the duo of ED SCHLICHTER and JAMIL MUHAIMEN, who finished the 5K course in 21:32.10. The team of RYAN JANK and RUSSELL SLADE took fourth in 31:26.30 … CINCINNATI took second place at the Dayton Flyer 5K led by the fifth-place individual finish of KEVIN SCHWARZ. Senior ERIC BAIR took eighth in the 5K race finishing in 15:48. Schwarz ran a top Bearcat time of 15:45, just behind a quarter of Miami (Ohio) runners … HOUSTON opened up the season at the University of Houston/Rice University Cross Country Relays at MacGregor Park in Houston. The top Cougar finisher was CHRIS MCKINSTRY who teamed with unattached runner Ty Stanfield to finish ninth in 41:12. Returning All C-USA performers SESAR FIGUEROA and COLE DAILEY competed unattached to finish seventh in 41:02 … LOUISVILLE had six top-10 finishers as the Cardinals claimed the team title at the Woodford Trials in Versailles, Ky. Led by freshman WESLEY KORIR, who blistered the rest of the field by 49 seconds, Louisville easily won the team competition defeating Eastern Kentucky by 19 points. Korir clocked a 15:35 in the 5K race while BRIAN HURST was the next Cardinal finisher in third. WES SEACAT (sixth), THAD SCHROEDER (seventh), KYLE BOWLING (eighth) and TIM KAISER (tenth) also finished in the top 10 for the Cardinals … TULANE took fourth place in the seven-team field. PHILLIP AAGAARD was the Green Wave’s top finisher in ninth narrowly edging sophomore TYLER CHAPMAN. AAGAARD clocked a 21:57 on the four-mile course while CHAPMAN posted a 21:59 to place 10th. Tulane returns to action Friday at the Southern Miss Invitational … USF had its season-opening invitational cancelled by Hurrican Frances. The Bulls will open their season on Sept 18 … DE PAUL, EAST CAROLINA, MARQUETTE, MEMPHIS, SAINT LOUIS and TCU open their cross country seasons this weekend.