Oct. 21, 2008

C-USA Cross Country Notebook

IRVING, Texas- Jumping, sliding, in and out are only a few words to describe the new look portrayed by both the USTFCCCA regional and national polls. Conference USA cross country programs took advantage of five teams dropping out of the USTFCCCA Top 30 as Tulsa men jumped three spots to No. 16. Rice women moved from No. 24 to No. 20 after capturing an eighth place finish at the prestigious Pre National Meet in Terre Haute, Ind., and despite a third place finish at the Chile Pepper Invitational, SMU women slid to No. 26.

C-USA teams saw some movement in regional polls as well. Tulsa men climbed to No. 3 in the Midwest Region, UTEP jumped from No. 7 to No. 4 in the Mountain Region and Rice men moved up a slot in the South Central region to No. 10. On the women’s side, Rice women moved to No. 3 in the South Central region, which pushed SMU to No. 4. Tulsa stepped back one spot to No. 6. All other C-USA women’s teams remained in the same slots as last week.

John Beattie of Tulsa and Silje Fjortoft of SMU both make repeat appearances as Athletes of the Week for the period ending Oct. 18. Beattie took an eighth place finish at the Pre National Meet in Terre Haute, Ind. Fjortoft led the Mustangs to a third place finish at the Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Ark., finishing fourth overall in 20:13.78.

MALE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
JOHN BEATTIE, TULSA
Jr., Southampton, England
Beattie clocked an 8K time of 23:41 at the prestigious Pre National Meet last weekend. His time placed him eighth among a field of 267 runners. As a team, the Golden Hurricane placed seventh, ahead of four top-30 nationally-ranked teams. This is Beattie’s second weekly honor of the season.

FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
SILJE FJORTOFT, SMU
So., Orsta, Norway
Fjortoft, C-USA’s 2007 Freshman of the Year, managed to capture another top-5 finish at the 6K Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Ark., despite a mid-week virus. The sophomore runner finished fourth overall in 20:13.78 to lead the Mustangs to a third-place finish. This is Fjortoft’s second weekly honor of the season and third of her career.

2008 CROSS COUNTRY ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Sept. 4
Male: Nate Pineda, Housotn
Female: Stephanie Aldea, Houston

Sept. 9
Male: Japheth Ng'ojoy, UTEP
Female: Stephanie Gammon, UAB

Sept. 16th
Male: Zack Montijo, East Carolina
Female: Stephanie Gammon, UAB

Sept. 23rd
Male: Japheth Ng'ojoy, UTEP
Female: Silje, Fjortoft

Sept. 30th
Male: Edwin Kipkorir, Memphis
Female: Stephanie Aldea, Houston

Oct. 7th
Male: John Beattie, Tulsa
Female: Alex Becker, Tulsa

Oct. 14th
Male: Nate Pineda, Houston
Female: Stephanie Aldea, Houston

Oct. 21st
Male: John Beattie, Tulsa
Female: Silje, Fjortoft