Cross Country Heads To Washington For Sundodger Invite
Sep 18, 2015 | Cross Country
NEW ORLEANS - The Tulane University cross country teams will head to the Pacific Northwest over the weekend to participate in the Sundodger Cross Country Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 19, when the Green Wave women's squad will run a 6K beginning at 1 p.m. while the men will compete in an 8K race starting at 1:35 p.m. in Seattle, Washington.
Tulane is one of nine teams participating in the Sundodger Invite as Portland State, Seattle University, Washington State and host Washington will compete in the men's race while the quintet will be joined by Fresno State, Hawai'i, Nevada and Oregon State in the women's event.
"The University of Washington has one of the strongest cross country programs in the country and this is an excellent meet that they host every year," Tulane head coach Eric Peterson said. "It's a really good opportunity for our kids to be exposed to a higher level of competition and to compete in a different part of the country. The weather should be favorable for better performances given the fact that we're going to get out of this heat and humidity for a chance to run against some really great teams."
The Green Wave men, which rose one spot to the No. 14 ranking in the South Central Region in the most recent U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll, is one of three programs to receive regional recognition from the USTFCCCA last week as Washington State sits 12th in the West Region while Washington is fifth in the West and 21st nationally. On the women's side, Washington is 14th nationally and third in the West Region while Nevada and Oregon State rank 13th in the Mountain and 14th in the West regions, respectively.
The Green Wave got the 2015 season off on a positive start two weeks ago in Mobile, Alabama, as both the men's and women's program won team titles at the Jaguar Opener. Sophomore Moses Aloiloi posted an individual victory with a mark of 18:39.8 in the men's 6K and fellow second-year standout Emma Newton tallied a runner-up finish at 14:37.7 to lead the women in a 4K race.
Senior Jack White was second to Aloiloi for the Green Wave with a 19:08.4 to finish fourth overall, while redshirt-senior Mark Manion was fifth and senior Nicholas Meloro was sixth with respective times of 19:26.6 and 19:33.1. Freshman Pierce Hill (19:44.2) and junior Chris Lowery (19:49.5) rounded out Tulane's Top 10 performers.
Newton, meanwhile, led a 2-3 finish for the women's team as senior Mikayla Sonneborn was next with a 14:58.4 Freshman Sarah Marvin finished sixth overall with a 15:20.6, followed by redshirt-freshman Becca Blitt (seventh at 15:43.8), sophomore Emily Bedell (eighth at 15:53.8) and junior Katharine Smiley (10th at 16:23.0) round out the Green Wave's Top 10 individuals.
"We're really feeling good about the way our two lead runners in Moses [Aloiloi] and Emma [Newton] performed in our first meet," Peterson said. "We're adding two really strong athletes in Lauren Bartels on the women's side and Emmanuel Rotich on the men's. He'll be competing in his first meet for Tulane and he's been very strong in practice. Lauren has recovered well from an injury that she was suffering from, and it'll be great to have those two back. We need them healthy and at their best and it'll be great to have them back in the mix."
Following the Sundodger Invitational, the Green Wave return to action on Friday, Oct. 2, when they take part in the Paul Short Run in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. From there Tulane will run in the NCAA Pre-Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky, on Oct. 17 before competing in The American Athletic Conference Championship on Oct. 31 in Grimesland, North Carolina.
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