C-USA Announces Inaugural Cross Country Preseason Poll
8/24/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
C-USA Preseason Polls
IRVING, Texas - The Rice University women's cross country team has been picked by the league coaches to repeat in 2016 according to the inaugural C-USA Preseason Poll while the men have been tabbed to finish fourth, the league office announced on Tuesday.
The women will be led by senior Cali Roper, who helped guide the Owls march to their third-ever C-USA team title. Roper was the 2015 C-USA individual champion in 2015 (her second straight title), and in the process became only the third runner in league history to win the C-USA Female Cross Country Athlete of the Year in consecutive years.
In addition, Roper joined Marissa Daniels to become the only other Owl to earn three consecutive C-USA First-Team All-Conference honors.
Roper concluded the cross country season by placing 56th overall at the NCAA Championships, becoming the first Owl since Pam Klassen (1985-86) to qualify for consecutive national championship races.
The Owls also return senior Katie Jensen, who earned C-USA First-Team All-Conference honors last year by placing second at the C-USA Championships. Other key returnees include junior Elsa Racasan (Second-Team All-Conference), senior Hannah Kay (Third-Team All-Conference) and sophomore Abigail Cartwright ((Third-Team All-Conference).
Rice, who received 9 of 12 first-place coaches' votes, is led by veteran head coach Jim Bevan, who last season swept the C-USA Cross Country and Outdoor T&F Coach of the Year awards.
On the flipside the Rice men's cross country team was picked to finish fourth, which is where head coach Jon Warren's team finished at last year's C-USA Championship.
The Owls will return 10 runners from last year's squad, including Second-Team All-Conference juniors Brad Dohner and Marco Ruiz.
The Owls will be looking to fill the void of recent graduate Will Firth, who earned First-Team All-Conference honors in 2015 and the Owls' top finisher in four of the team's five races.
UTEP (9 first-place votes) is predicted to finish first on the men's side, followed by Middle Tennessee (1 first-place vote) and North Texas.
Both the Rice women and men will open the 2016 season on Sept. 9 when they host the Justin Cooper Rice Invitational.
-RiceOwls.com-
Players Mentioned
