No. 7 Owls To Run At Pre-Nationals
10/11/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Oct. 11, 2007
HOUSTON -- The No. 7 Rice women's cross country team faces its toughest challenge of the year this Saturday taking on 11 teams currently ranked in the top 30 at the 6,000-meter Pre-Nationals meet in Terre Haute, Ind.
The Owls went from unranked to top-10 after winning the Notre Dame Invitational on Sept. 28 and beating eight ranked teams. This weekend, Rice will run in the blue race and compete against the likes of No. 1 Stanford, No. 4 Minnesota and No. 9 Michigan State. Conference USA foe Tulsa will also be competing with the Owls in the blue race which begins at 11:20 am (CDT).
Overall, 22 ranked teams will be competing in two races in Terre Haute this weekend. The NCAA Cross Country Sub-Committee decided the makeup of the seeded heats. The blue and white sections have the top-ranked programs evenly divided between them, ensuring top competition in each.
This weekend marks the Owls' final tune-up before they vie for their second C-USA crown in three years. Rice won the meet in 2005 and finished second a year ago, a single point behind UAB. Teams line up for the league title on Oct. 27 at El Paso.