Cross Country Runs for C-USA Championship Saturday

Oct 29, 2009 | Cross Country

Oct. 29, 2009

VIDEO: Peterson Previews C-USA Championship

NEW ORLEANS - The Tulane men's and women's cross country teams head to The Woodlands, Texas outside Houston for the Conference USA Championship Saturday. After using the previous four weeks to return an injury-hampered squad to full force, the Green Wave look to enter the C-USA Championship clicking on all cylinders.

"We are returning from the Chili Pepper healthy, as we were for that competition," director of cross country Eric Peterson said. "We're really excited about the development of Julia Whitrock, Rebecca Coady and Annette Glaz coming back from injuries. That solidifies and strengthens our lineup. Now that we're back to full strength, we're really hoping for some improved results and a good team performance at the Conference USA championship."

The trio of returning runners last meet added much needed depth for the Green Wave, as they immediately finished as Tulane's top three runners at the Chile Pepper Invitational

Whitrock, a redshirt sophomore paced the Green Wave with a time of 22:31 to lead Tulane after missing the first four events with a lower leg injury. Coady returned from a two-meet absence with a sore achillies to finish second among the Green Wave entrants at the Chile Pepper, as the junior posting a time of 23:07. Glaz made her season debut with a time of 23:53 to come in as Tulane's third runner.

Joining those three on the roster for the C-USA Championship will be junior Caitlin Hornbeck, sophomores Jessica Dallager, Johanna Gretchel, Peggy Keplinger and freshman Maggie Gentry.

"With regard to the men's team, we're also healthy," Peterson said. "This is a young group of men, and as a result we don't have a lot of experience going into a conference championship meet. We've been led well by Brian Lozes. He remains healthy, working hard and training well. We expect him to maintain that leadership role on this young team, and really help motivate some of the younger guys on the team to come up with a big effort and strong performance."

The sophomore Lozes has led Tulane in every meet this season and is coming off a pair of 12th place finishes at the Gulf Coast Stampede and Mississippi College Invitational. He posted a season-best 26:18 at the Gulf Coast Stampede.

Max Miller was Tulane's second runner over the line at Mississippi College, turning in a 28:43 mark. The sophomore will be joined by fellow sophomores Mike Mainguy, who was Tulane's third runner at the Mississippi College Invitational in 34th and Jordon Holtzman, who finished 41st.

Rounding out Tulane's host of runners will be freshmen Jordan Vance, who placed second among Tulane's squad at MC, Phil Scruggs, who was the fifth Wave runner, and Sam King, who placed 51st.

The C-USA Championship gets underway at the Bear Branch Sportsfields in The Woodlands, Texas. The championships will feature the men's 8K race at 9 a.m., to be followed by the women's 5K race at 10 a.m.