Wave Cross Country Gets Another Win From Freshman Rachel Bryan

Friday, September 10

Hattiesburg, Miss.

TBA

Tulane University

Southern Miss Invitational

Freshman Aubrey Phillips has recorded a pair of top five finishers to open her Green Wave cross country career. [File photo by Ned Dishman]

Wave Cross Country Gets Another Win From Freshman Rachel Bryan

Sep 10, 2004 | Cross Country

Sept. 10, 2004

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Tulane freshman Rachel Bryan was among the best high school runners in the nation the last two years. Since her arrival at Tulane, she has lived up to that promise, with wins in her first two collegiate races following Friday's victory at the Southern Miss Invitational at Van Hook Golf Course.

Bryan led the Green Wave women to a second-place finish, while the Tulane men finished third. Southern Miss won the women's competition while Southeastern Louisiana won the men's race.

Bryan won the women's five-kilometer race with a time of 18:45.23 over the five-kilometer course, more than 25 seconds faster than the closest challenger. She was followed for the Green Wave by another freshman, Aubrey Phillips, who took fifth place in 20:00.72. Junior Lisa Green, who suffered an ankle injury in last Friday's race was 10th at 20:34.65.

"It was a challenging course with a lot of hills, but overall we did well," Tulane head coach Heather Van Norman said. "Rachel Bryan won again and Aubrey Phillips is developing each week; she is learning how to run the longer distances of collegiate cross country. She did well as far as tactical race-planning. Lisa Green completed the race after being hurt last week, so that is a good sign. We're still really young and learning, but our goal is to be at our best by the conference championship, so every race is gearing us towards that."

Freshman Hannah Carlson and sophomore Erin Colligan rounded out the scoring for the Green Wave by finishing 20th and 22nd, respectively, in the 78-runner field.

On the men's side, Tulane was led by junior Philip Aagaard and sophomore Kevin Martes. Aagaard, who was the Wave's top finisher in five of seven races last fall, paced Tulane for the second week in a row, taking fifth place on the four-mile course with a mark of 21:46.89. Martes was sixth overall in the 66-runner field with a time of 21:54.29.

"For the men, we improved on our times and scores, but we still have a ways to go," Van Norman said. "I was very pleased with Kevin Martes' race."

Sophomore Tyler Chapman was the third finisher for Tulane, covering the course in 22:11.52. Dave Posnick and Mike Moore rounded out the scorers for the Wave, taking 18th and 19th, respectively.

Southeastern won the men's race with 40 points, while South Alabama was second with 56 points, including the top two individual finishers. Tulane tallied 58 points for third, while UNO (70 points) and Jackson State (152) rounded out the top five.

On the women's side, it was Southern Miss winning with 34 points as its five scorers finished in the top 14. Tulane had 56 points for second place, followed by UNO (84 points), Southeastern Louisiana (124) and Loyola (131).

"Everyone on this team has to decide whether we are just gong to run, or if we are ready to race," Van Norman said. "We have a week off now to practice and get better before going to LSU."

Tulane returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 25, running at the LSU Invitational in Baton Rouge, La.

Southern Miss Invitational, September 10, 2004

Men (four miles):
5. Philip Aagaard: 21:46.89
6. Kevin Martes: 21:54.29
12. Tyler Chapman: 22:11.52
18. Dave Posnick: 22:59.22
19. Michael Moore: 23:06.02
22. Brett Guy: 23:21.44
38. Dave Simon: 24:49.69