Rice University
C-USA Championships
Women's Cross Country Wins Third C-USA Title
10/31/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
2015 CUSA Championship Results 
BOWLING GREEN, KY - The Rice Owls women's cross country team won their third Conference USA team title in school history behind a strong team effort that included five individual all-conference performances Saturday morning at the Spero Kereiakes Park.
The Owls (48 points) won their first C-USA team title since 2007 by fending off second place Middle Tennessee (79 points) and third place WKU (96 points).
"Going in I knew we were entering the race at our best and the way we ran proved that," Rice women's cross country head coach Jim Bevan said. "This was the closest our fourth and fifth runners have been to Cali all year. I couldn't be happier for our team. We ran our best at the end of the season and that's all you can hope for as a coach. There's been two or three times since 2007 when I thought we could get back here but we were just beaten by better teams. Today we were able to put it all together. Championships don't come easy so we're going to cherish this."
Rice junior Cali Roper won her second consecutive C-USA individual title with a winning time of 17:22.6 in the 5K race, becoming the first C-USA athlete to win back-to-back titles since UTEP's Risper Kimaiyo in 2009-10. Roper, from Willis, Texas, is also just the fourth C-USA athlete to win multiple titles since 1995 and became the first Owl since Marissa Daniels to earn three consecutive C-USA First-Team All-Conference honors.
Roper's junior teammate Katie Jensen moved from eighth place in the middle of the race to second overall (17:35.5) to earn C-USA First-Team honors for a second straight season. Sophomore Elsa Racasan improved 17 spots from last year's championships to place 10th overall on Saturday an earn Second-Team honors. Junior Hannah Kay (16th-18:22.5) and freshman Abigail Cartwright (19th-18:26.4) also placed in the top 20 to claim Third-Team All-Conference recognition.
The five all-conference performances were the most by an Owls team since they had five at the 2010 C-USA Championships.
Sophomore Fabiola Andujar-Perez (31st-18:50.6), sophomore Ellen Diemert (18:54.2), junior Kristin Sweeney (19:16.7) and freshman Anna Figueroa (19:35.1) rounded out the Owls' morning finishes.
"Cali took the lead from the gun and never looked back, she was sensational today," Bevan said. "Katie Jensen moved from 8-6-3-2 and ran her best cross country race. Elsa was involved all the way and improved from 27th to 10th. Hannah Kay has come a long way and closed the gap for our third runner, she was the key for us. Abigail, two months ago wasn't running, started to show how good a runner she is. Ellen Diemert ran the best race she's run and Fabiola has transitioned beautifully from being a 400 runner. Kristin Sweeney is like a magnet for Fabiola, Ellen and Abigail, setting the pace for them. She's a key person and leader for our team."
In addition to winning the team title and Roper's individual title, Bevan was selected the C-USA Coach of the Year. The honor was Bevan's third C-USA Coach of the Year award and the sixth overall Coach of the Year award during his tenure at Rice.
The Owls will now have a few weeks off before racing again on Nov. 13 at the NCAA South Central Regional in College Station.
Players Mentioned
