Oct. 30, 2007

IRVING, Texas - After winning the individual titles at the 2007 Conference USA Cross Country Championships, UTEP's Stephen Samoei and Tulsa's Alex Becker have been named this week's Male and Female Athletes of the Week.

Samoei clocked a winning 8K time of 24:40.7, while Becker's 5K mark was 17:34.6. The Miners won their third-consecutive C-USA men's crown as they swept the top five places for a perfect score of 15.

Becker led Tulsa to one of its best conference championship showing of second place with 42 points.

C-USA CROSS COUNTRY NOTEBOOK

CROSS COUNTRY ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
MALE
Stephen Samoei, UTEP, Eldoret, Kenya (Nakuru)
Samoei picks up his third C-USA Cross Country Athlete of the Week honor after leading UTEP to its third-straight C-USA Cross Country Championship title Saturday in Santa Teresa, N.M., with a perfect score of 15 points.

Samoei clocked a winning 8K time of 24:40.7 to take top individual honors and dethrone two-time C-USA individual champ and teammate Patrick Mutai.

FEMALE
Alex Becker, Tulsa, Jr., Guelph, Ontario, Canada (Lourdes)
Becker crossed the women's 5K finish line in a time of 17:34.6 to take top individual honors at the 2007 C-USA Cross Country Championship Saturday in Santa Teresa, N.M.

Becker also led the Golden Hurricane women to a team-best second-place finish with 54 points.

This is Becker's third Athlete of the Week honor this season.

2007 ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
September 5
Male - Eric Harris, Tulsa
Female - Elizabeth Ambrus, UAB

September 11
Male - Stephen Samoei, UTEP
Female - Aubrey Phillips, Tulane

September 18
Male - Patrick Mutai, UTEP
Female - Alex Becker, Tulsa

September 25
Male - Stephen Magness, Houston
Female - Marissa Daniels, Rice

October 9
Male - Miles Harris, UCF
Female - Kelly Young, UTEP

October 16
Male - Stephen Samoei, UTEP
Female - Alex Becker, Tulsa & Silje Fjortoft, SMU

October 23
Male - no available athlete
Female - Zuna Portillo, Southern Miss

October 30
Male - Stephen Samoei, UTEP
Female - Alex Becker, Tulsa

UPCOMING MEETS
Nov. 10
NCAA Regionals, Varies Sites

TEAM CAPSULES

EAST CAROLINA
East Carolina men's and women's cross country teams placed seventh and eighth, respectively, at the 2007 Conference USA Championships last weekend. The men were led by Andrew Nastasiak's 27:43.7 performance that placed him 29th overall in the 8K race. Brittany Copeland clocked a 5K time of 18:59.6, while teammate Nicole Briggs finished with a time of 19:04.2 for 17th and 18th place showing.

Up Next: Nov. 10, NCAA Regionals (Louisville, Ky.)

HOUSTON
Houston men placed fifth and the women came in at 11th at the Conference USA Championships. The men were led by senior Stephen Magness with a ninth place 25:49.8 finish, while Jessica Cook headed the women's team with a 19:52.7 for a 37th-place finish. Led by Magness the men placed behind No. 3 UTEP, No. 17 Tulsa, Rice and Marshall. Ahmed Harb came in with a 26:47.3 time to place him just out of the top-15 at 16th. For the women, the team was forced to run without a key factor in the top-end runners. Oumama Hallal was not able to compete, bumping the top-end responsibilities to Cook, Adrianne Guinn and Erica Hannemann.

Up Next: Nov. 10, NCAA South Central Regionals (Fayetteville, Ark.)

MARSHALL
Senior Travis Epling continued to be Marshall's best as he finished in 13th place at the C-USA Championships Saturday.Epling finished with a time of 26:34.1 and has been the top finisher for the Thundering Herd in four out of five meets this season. The men's team placed fourth out of eight teams. This finish ties the program's best finish this season, which came at the Furman Invitational two weeks ago. Freshman Darby Mullen continued her season as one of the team's best runner coming in 52nd place with a time of 20:45.4. The women's team finished 10th out of 12 teams.

Up Next: Nov. 10, NCAA East Regionals (Bethlehem, Penn.)

MEMPHIS
Memphis men's and women's cross country teams competed at the Conference USA Championships last weekend. The men's team placed eighth, while the women finished ninth. The men's side was led by Jorgen Ekdahl, who placed 35th with a time of 28:13.5. Behind him in 40th place was Jacob Chapman, running a time of 28:42.1 38. On the women's side, Tina Sherratt crossed the line first for the Tigers in a time of 19:51.1, good enough for 35th. Anneli Uys came in second for the team in a time of 20:03.2. Emily Malinowski was the third Tiger to cross the line in 20:36.4. Lyndsey Ratasiewicz and Jessie Wilks finished in times of 22:03.0 and 24:16.5, respectively.

Up Next: Nov. 10, NCAA South Regionals (Gainesville, Fla.)

RICE
With a dominant team performance, the No. 16 Rice women finished 3-4-5-6-8 to win the Owls' second Conference USA cross country crown in three years and break the league scoring record with 26 points. Senior Marissa Daniels led the pack, finishing third overall and completing the 5K course in 17:50.3. Allison Pye beat classmate Becky Wade as Pye finished fourth overall in 18:07.0. Wade took fifth-place in 18:20.1. All three Owls earned first team all-conference honors. Rice men placed four runners among the top 25 as the Owls took third place for the second-straight year. Junior Brett Olson edged sophomore teammate Brad Morris to finish first for the Owls and 17th overall.

Up Next: Nov. 10, NCAA South Central Regionals (Fayetteville, Ark.)

SMU
Freshman Silje Fjortoft took runner-up honors at the 2007 C-USA Cross Country Championships on Saturday. Fjortoft finished the 5K course in 17:46. For her efforts, Fjortoft was named the C-USA Female Freshman of the Year. As a team, SMU was third with 53 points behind champion Rice (22) and runner-up Tulsa (34). Individually, SMU's Jessa Simmons just missed a Top-10 finish, coming in 11th in 18:52. Sierra Anderson finished in the Top 20, crossing 16th in 18:57. Krystal Rodriguez was 38th in 19:57, while Ilyssa Pettigrew was 41st in 20:05. Kelsey Howard rounded out the SMU team, taking 57th in 21:01.

Up Next: Nov. 10, NCAA South Central Regionals (Fayetteville, Ark.)

SOUTHERN MISS
Freshman Zuna Portillo was the top finisher for Southern Miss as the Golden Eagles finished 12th at this year's C-USA Championship. Portillo recorded a time of 20:14.1 to place 43rd, while Kelley Rooney finished 55th with a time of 21:04.0. Rounding out the Golden Eagle scoring was Ronna Sandoval (61st) with a time of 21:20.9, Jemarie Alcordo (69th) with a time of 22:01.2, Parris Hodges (74th) with a time of 22:19.9, Gerrelaine Alcordo (77th) with a time of 23:07.8 and Stephanie Jones-DuBose (80) with a time of 27:17.2.

TULANE
Tulane freshman Laurie Dalrymple made the All-Conference USA team by placing 15th overall as she paced her team to a sixth-place finish at the C-USA Women's Cross Country Championship Saturday at the Santa Teresa Country Club in Santa Teresa, N.M. The Green Wave scored a total of 152 points and averaged a time of 19:43.28 among scorers for the meet, but the highlight for the team was the freshman Dalrymple's all-conference performance. Dalrymple led her team with a time of 18:57.1, while senior Keriann Langley placed 23rd with a time of 19:17.3 and senior Aubrey Phillips placed 30th with a time of 19:40.7.

Up Next: Nov. 10, NCAA South Central Regional (Waco, Texas)

TULSA
Tulsa's cross country teams placed second at the 2007 C-USA Championships. The men's team, ranked 17th nationally, finished behind the third-ranked UTEP with a team total of 42 points, while the women's team finished second behind the 16th-ranked Rice Owls with a team total of 54 points. The women's team was led by the 2007 C-USA Champion Alex Becker, who finished in a time of 17:34 in the 5K race. By finishing in the Top-5, Becker was also named first team All-C-USA. Junior John Beattie, who ran the 8K in 25:20 to finish in sixth-place, led the men. He was followed closely by fellow junior Edwin Henshaw (25:38) in seventh and sophomore Lewis Timmins (25:43) in eighth place.

Up Next: Nov. 10, NCAA Midwest Regionals (Peoria, Ill.)

UAB
UAB ran to a fourth-place finish at the Conference USA Championship and senior Elizabeth Ambrus earned all-league honors. Ambrus paced the Blazers with a seventh-place finish, after missing four weeks due to an illness, and earned second team All-C-USA accolades for the third time in her career. Ambrus finished the 5K meet with a time of 18:23.5. Senior Whitney Mays who finished 20th in a time of 19:08.4. Freshman Stephanie Gammon and sophomore Kristina Olsen finished in 24th and 25th place with times of 19:22.0 and 19:25.2, respectively. Senior Elizabeth Hilligoss placed 45th with a time of 20:13.1 and missed her chance at becoming the second C-USA athlete to win conference honors four consecutive years.

Up Next: Nov. 10, NCAA South Regionals (Gainesville, Fla.)

UCF
UCF men's cross country team took sixth and the women seventh as the Knights competed in the 2007 Conference USA Championships Saturday. Led by sophomore transfer Richie Bonilla, three of the UCF men finished within seconds of one another in the top 25. Bonilla went 27:21.80 for 22nd, followed by senior Paul Fitzpatrick in 24th at 27:33.0 and junior Daniel Conn in 25th at 27:33.4. In the women's 5K race, junior Jamie Rzepecki paced the Knights, clocking a time of 19:33.0 for 27th. Senior Elizabeth Miller followed closely behind in 28th place at 19:34.80. Running No. 3 for UCF was senior co-captain Karen Kozub as she earned 33rd place in a time of 19:48.10.

Up Next: Nov. 10, NCAA South Regionals (Gainesville, Fla.)

UTEP
For the third consecutive year, the UTEP men's team broke their own previous year's record at the C-USA championship meet. The Miners scored a perfect 15 points, besting last year's record of 21 points, as they finished first through fifth place. Stephen Samoei took the men's individual title, finishing with a time of 24:40.01. He was followed by Patrick Mutai (25:02.3), Nicodemus Ng'etich (25:05.7), Japheth Ng'ojoy (25:07.3) and Dominic Tanui (25:14.3). UTEP women placed fifth with 124 points. Kelly Young was the top Miner finisher, placing 14th with a time of 18:56.9, for third-team All-C-USA honors.

Up Next: Nov. 10, NCAA Moutain Regionals (Ogden, Utah)