Kelley, Daniels win at MacGregor meet
The men’s and women’s cross country teams opened their official 2004 season with the Houston/Rice MacGregor Park Relays Wednesday afternoon. The slightly cooler-than-normal weather brought a crowd of spectators to the race held at the Houston park near the University of Houston campus.
Area rivals UH and Sam Houston State University competed against the Owls at the meet. The event featured an unconventional format, with two-person teams alternating legs. In the men’s race, participants each ran a pair of two-mile legs, while the women alternated running segments of 1.5 miles.
“This race can be called a glorified scrimmage,” head men’s coach Jon Warren (Jones ‘88) said. “It lets us know where we are and where we have to be.”
The freshman duo of Laura Kelley and Marissa Daniels — who ran unattached — won the women’s race with a time of 34 minutes, 36 seconds.
“Everyone is definitely fit,” junior Kate Gorry said. “Our winning freshman girls are proving to be solid runners that will most definitely be in our top five and help us in accomplishing our goal of winning the [Western Athletic] Conference.”
Senior women’s assistant in charge of cross country Jim Bevan said he was pleased with his team’s performance.
“The team has been working non-stop, and this was just another opportunity to work hard,” Bevan said.”I am truly delighted with the relay results — on a case by case basis, the girls are getting better and better.”
In the men’s division, freshmen Brett Olson and Aaron Robson, running unattached, led the Owls with a second-place finish in 40:11.
Sophomores Pablo Solares and 2003 WAC Freshman of the Year Steve Magness finished just 14 seconds behind Olson and Robson.
“Despite this being a low-key meet, [the team] is looking really good,” Magness said. “This is the best kind of practice that we can get before it’s time to go beat the other schools.”
Both teams will host the 30th Annual Rice Cross Country Invitational Saturday, Sept. 11 on campus. The women’s race will begin at 8:20 a.m., while the men’s race is scheduled for 8:40 a.m.
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