Conference USA Cross Country Notebook

Elizabeth Ambrus

Marquette runners Jodi Jakubek and Brent Des Roches along with UAB runner Elizabeth Ambrus were named the C-USA Cross Country Athletes of the Week. The Marquette teams swept the Bradley Invite winning both the men's and women's team titles while Ambrus took first place at the Memphis Twilight Invitational to help lead the Blazers to a second-place team finish.

C-USA ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Female Co-Athletes of the Week
Jodi Jakubek – Marquette (Jr., Ketchikan, Alaska)

Jakubek opened her 2004 season with an individual victory at the Bradley Invite as her first-place time of 17:49 in the 5K race helped lead Marquette to the team title.

Elizabeth Ambrus – UAB (So., Arlington Heights, Ill.)

Ambrus won the Memphis Twilight Invitational, covering the three-mile course in 16:59.11. The sophomore helped guide UAB to a second-place team finish, just three points behind Mississippi State.

Male Athlete of the Week
Brent Des Roches – Marquette (Jr., Dayton, Ohio)

Des Roches guided Marquette to the team title at the Bradley Invite, finishing the race in first place with a time of 24:41.38. It was Des Roches’ first individual victory as a collegian.

**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 took third place at the Wake Forest Invitational. TSEHAYE DAGNACHEW was the top 49er finisher taking 10th in a time of 18:06. Teammate JANE DANIELS followed four seconds behind to take 11th ... CINCINNATI was once again led by senior RUTH LIMO as the Bearcats captured third place at the Mel Brodt Invitational. Limo finished third overall covering the 5K course in 17:46. KAREN BERLING was the next Bearcat finisher taking 12th in 18:28 … DE PAUL finished fifth at the Indiana State Invitational. It was the Blue Demons’ first meet of the season. LEAH RYGH led DePaul with a 13th-place finish in a time of 18:28.60 (5k). She was followed by teammate ERIN MOFFETT, who took 14th. DePaul competes again on Friday at the National Catholic Championship at Notre Dame … EAST CAROLINA’S JOHANNA ALLEN placed eighth at the Wake Forest Invitational with a time of 18:00 and was the Pirates' top finisher … HOUSTON’S SHAWNA FLORIDA registered an eighth place finish to lead the Cougars to a third-place finish at the 30th Annual Rice Invitational. Florida completed the 4K course in 14:38.43 and was just ahead of freshman teammate OUMAMA HALLAL, who had a time of 14:44.19 to finish in ninth place. LAURA HARLETT finished in 11th place with a time of 14:52.15 ... LOUISVILLE earned a sixth-place finish at the Commodore Classic hosted by Vanderbilt University on Saturday morning. U of L was led for the second straight week by junior Ashley Ruberg's 29th-place finish in the field of 84 runners after covering the 5K course in a time of 20:36.69 seconds. Up next, the Cardinals will have a week off before returning to action on Saturday, Sept. 25 at the Greater Louisville Classic hosted by the Greater Louisville Sports Commission at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park … MARQUETTE took the team title at the Bradley Invite led by the one-two finish of JODI JAKUBEK and CASSIE PELLER, who finished with times of 17:49 and 17:52, respectively. SUSANNA EMOND took fourth in a time of 18:10 …MEMPHIS took seventh place at the Memphis Twilight Invitational hosted by cross-town rival Christian Brothers. DANIELLE RIENDEAU posted her best collegiate finish taking 11th place in 17:34.27 … SAINT LOUIS placed ninth at the Indiana State Invitational. EMILY ZIMMERMAN was the top Billiken finisher taking 66th in a time of 21:08 … SOUTHERN MISS captured its second-consecutive team title to open the season as four Golden Eagle runners finished in the top 10 for the second-straight week. Led by CASSANDRA GOODSON and BECCA ROP, who finished second and third, respectively, the host team won the 25th annual Southern Miss Cross Country Invitational … TCU finished in third place at the UNT Mean Green Opener. CALANDRA STEWART paced the Frogs with an eighth place finish. She completed the 5K course in 18:36 … TULANE finished second in the 10-team field at the Southern Miss Invitational. Freshman RACHEL BRYAN won her second-consecutive individual title posting a time of 18:45.23, while fellow freshman ASHLEY PHILLIPS took fifth in 20:00.72. Junior LISA GREEN, who was forced to drop out of the previous week’s race due to an ankle injury, finished 10th on Friday at Southern Miss … UAB sophomore ELIZABETH AMBRUS captured the individual title as she led the Blazer cross country team to a second place finish here Saturday at the Memphis Twi-Light Cross Country Classic. Ambrus ran a time of 16:59.11 to beat runner-up Katarina Lovrantova of Arkansas-Little Rock (17:09.01) in the individual standings. UAB (61 points) finished just behind Mississippi State (58) in the team standings … USF returns to action next Saturday at the Florida Invitational in Gainesville, Fla.

MEN
CHARLOTTE’S ED SCHLICHTER finished seventh overall at the five-team Wake Forest Invitational in Winston-Salem, N.C. Schlichter completed the 5K course in 15:26 to lead Charlotte's men's team to a third place finish overall. He was the team's top finisher for the second straight week. Charlotte placed six runners in the race's top 25 … CINCINNATI took first place in the Mel Brodt Invitational. Senior ERIC BAIR was the team’s top finisher in third place. Bair posted a time of 25:38. BRAD NEUMANN was the next Bearcat finisher in fifth place (25:42) while a quarter of UC runners finished in spots seven through 10 …DE PAUL finished fifth at the Indiana State Invitational. It was the Blue Demons’ first meet of the season. DONNIE WARNER led DePaul with a 12th-place finish in a time of 26:03.05 (8k). He was followed by ANTHONY BECKNEK in 14th. DePaul competes again on Friday at the National Catholic Championship at Notre Dame ... EAST CAROLINA’S Matt Hanlon placed 11th at the Wake Forest Invitational with a time of 15:42 and was ECU's top finisher ... HOUSTON had four competitors at the Rice Invitational. MAURILLIO SANCHEZ was Houston's top runner as he completed the 4K course in 11:45.10 to finish in seventh place. STEVE MORENO clocked a time of 12:09 to finish in 14th place, while PAUL GOODWIN finished in 18th place with a time of 12:36.71 and 2003 All-Conference USA runner COLE DAILEY had a time 12:37.97 to finish in 19th place overall … LOUISVILLE improved to a perfect 2-for-2 on the early season with a dominating win at the Commodore Classic on Saturday in Nashville, Tenn. U of L placed five runners in the top 10 spots and won the nine-team event with 20 points while Belmont University finished a distant second with 57 points. Redshirt freshman WESLEY KORIR won his second-consecutive race as he covered the 8K course in 24:49. The U of L men are now 2-0 under the direction of head coach Ron Mann, who is in his first season at the helm of the Cards' cross country program … MARQUETTE’S BRENT DES ROCHES led the defending C-USA Champions to the team title at the Bradley Invite in Peoria, Ill. Des Roches captured his first victory in a collegiate race covering the 8K course in 24:41.38 … TULANE took third place in the nine-team field on Friday at the Southern Miss Invitational. Junior PHILIP AAGAARD has now been the Green Wave’s top finisher in seven of his nine races in the last two years. He finished fifth of 66 runners with a time of 21:46.89 on the four-mile course. Aagaard was Tulane’s top finisher, followed by sophomore KEVIN MARTES, who was sixth in a time of 21:54.29 … SAINT LOUIS finished eighth at the Indiana State Invitational. PAUL LEMON was the top Billiken finisher, as he placed 44th overall … TCU finished fourth among the school’s competing at the UNT Mean Green Opener. MATT MANLY, competing in a collegiate meet for the first time, was TCU's top finisher. He turned in a time of 27:25 to place 13th overall in the 8K event. TCU will compete next at the Texas A&M Invitational, Friday, September 17 … USF returns to action next Saturday at the Florida Invitational in Gainesville, Fla.