TCU Cross Country Squads Travel to A&M Saturday
9/18/2003 12:00:00 AM | General
Sept. 18, 2003
The TCU men's and women's cross country teams will travel to College Station, Texas on Saturday to take part in the Texas A&M Invitational. The men's 8K race gets underway at 8:30 a.m. and will be followed at 9:00 a.m. by the women's 6K event.
"The teams at this meet are the teams we need to beat at the regional meet later this fall," said TCU cross country coach Derek Koonts. "This will be an early litmus test for us to see where we stack up against some of the other top teams in our region, including Texas, Texas A&M, SMU and Rice. I thought we looked a little rusty and inexperienced last week at the season opener in Denton," continued the Frogs' distance coach. "Typically you make the most improvement between the first and second meets of the season, so I hope that trend holds true this weekend."
The TCU women's squad, currently ranked sixth in the South Central Regional poll, will send the same seven runners to the starting line as they did last week in Denton when they tied for second place among five teams. The squad consists of Katie Cosgrove, McKale Davis, Heather Isbell, Mary Kinyanjui, Pattie Parker, Calandra Stewart and Katrina Zielinski. Kinyanjui and Zielinski were the Frogs' top finishers a week ago, placing seventh and eighth respectively in the UNT Season Opener. The Frogs will be running again without 2002 Conference USA Freshman of the Year Alayne Thompson, who is recovering from a foot injury.
"Alayne hopes to be back for the Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater on October 4," said Koonts. "She will most likely run unattached in that meet, then we'll make a decision about her status after that meet."
The TCU men's squad, currently ranked in a tie for 14th place in the latest South Central Regional poll, will send 10 runners to the starting line on Saturday in College Station. The only squad member not scheduled to compete is 2002 C-USA second team all-conference performer Jackson Langat.
"This is an important meet for us because we'll be running against several schools in our region," noted Koonts. "To move up in the regional rankings and to earn the respect we feel we deserve, we have to beat the people who are ranked ahead of us."
