Nov. 17, 2008

IRVING, Texas- Led by junior Nicole Mericle's first-place finish at the South Central Regional meet, Rice women automatically qualify for the 2008 Division I Cross Country Championships set for Nov. 24 in Terre Haute, Ind.

The Owls tied host Baylor for second-place honors while No. 19 SMU finished fourth behind Rachel Forish's 12th-place finish. The Mustangs gained an at-large bid to the championships and will join the Owls and Houston's Stephanie Aldea, who qualified individually after clocking a 21:31.9, in the championship run.

C-USA individual champion, John Beattie and teammate, Mark Davidson, used top-10 finishes to help the Golden Hurricane receive an at-large bid to the men's championship. UTEP qualified three individuals, Japheth Ng'ojoy, Patrick Mutai, and Nicodemus Ng'etich. The trio captured top-10 finishes for the Miners and will represent UTEP at nationals.

C-USA first teamer Aaron Robson helped Rice improve from last year's eighth-place showing in 2007 to a fifth-place finish this year. Robson was C-USA's top runner in the South Central region using a 31:18.5 10K time to finish 14th in the field of 118 runners. Nate Pineda was the top finisher for Houston crossing the finish line at 33:11.6. The Cougars placed 16th overall.

Marshall sent both their men and women's teams to the Mid-Atlantic Region where the men placed 16th and the women finished 25th.

Rounding out the men's side of competition was East Carolina at the Southeast Regional. Despite improving from last year's 27th-place finish, the Pirates were unable to surpass No. 13 Virginia. Zack Montijo was the Pirates' top finisher and helped East Carolina to a 25th-place finish overall.

Tulsa sent one competitor on the women's side to the Midwest Regional. C-USA third teamer Dawn Nagazina clocked a time of 23:18.65.

Houston placed 10th and Tulane 12th at the South Central regional. Aubrey Phillips was the Green Wave's top finisher, placing 46th overall and clocking a time of 22:36.5. Stephanie Gammon led the way for UAB who finished sixth in the South Regional. Gammon led all C-USA runners with an 18th-place time of 21:35.21. UCF competed hard but couldn't better an 18th-place team finish. Shantile Blackburn was the Knights' top runner finishing the 6K race in 23:00.65.

UTEP and East Carolina round out the women's side of competition. The Miners fell short of a top-10 finish by placing 12th at the Mountain Regional while the Pirates were led by Brittany Copeland's 6K time of 21:31. The sophomore placed 17th while also leading East Carolina to a 17th-place finish at the Southeast Regional.