WXC Preview | Owls Set to Race at NCAA Championships

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Women's Cross Country

vs AAC Championships

Nov 1

TBD

Women's Cross Country

vs NCAA South Central Regional

Nov 14

TBD

Women's Cross Country

vs NCAA Championships

Nov 22

TBD

HOUSTON - For the seventh time in program history, the Rice Owls women's cross country team is preparing to race among the nation's best this Saturday to compete at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, hosted by Florida State. The 6k (3.73 miles) race begins at 9:20 a.m. (CT) Apalachee Regional Park Cross Country Course in Tallahassee, Fla. The Owls will race in front of a national television audience as part of the ESPNU broadcast.

Live results will be available through Primetime Timing.

Rice, who is now receiving the third-most votes among teams not ranked in Top-30 in the latest USTFCCCA National Coaches' Poll, is coming off a historical performance at the NCAA South Central Regional in which they placed second overall to claim the automatic berth to the NCAA Championships. The Owls entered that meet ranked No. 4 in the region and unranked in the national poll and placed four runners in the Top-20 for 96 points to overtake the favored Texas Longhorns (101 points) to grab the NCAA Championships qualifying second place.

Sophomore All-American Grace Forbes took the top honors with her fifth victory of the season with a time of 19:59.3 in the 6k race. The Wallingford, Pa. native ran at 5:21 mile pace with spits of 10:15 (3k) and 16:49 (5k). She became just the second Owl to win an NCAA Regional title, joining former Rice great Nicole Mericle, who took home individual honors in both 2008 and 2010. In addition to Forbes, the Owls received All-Region performances (Top-25) from sophomore Caitlin Wosika (13th-21:12), senior Lourdes Vivas de Lorenzi (20th-21:25) and sophomore Taigen Hunter-Galvan (21st-21:25). Sophomore Rachel Shoemaker was the Owls' fifth finisher, placing 49th in a time of 22:11.

• The NCAA Championships are scored by standard NCAA rules, with the top five runners for each team accumulating points that correspond to their finishing place relative to other full teams in the field (there are also teams that have fewer than five runners at the NCAA Championships; their runners do not factor into the team scoring). The lower the team score, the better. Sixth and seventh runners' points do not directly factor into a team's score, but they serve as point displacers to runners who finish behind them.

• The top four teams in the standings make the NCAA podium and receive team trophies.

• The top 15 finishers are recognized by the NCAA with individual trophies.

• The top 40 finishers are recognized by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association as All-Americans, and receive medals for their efforts.

-RiceOwls.com-

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