Men’s cross country wins at A&M relays
The men’s cross country team opened its season with a strong start, placing three teams in the top seven last Friday at the Texas A&M Men’s Cross Country Opener in College Station, Texas. The 12-kilometer relay consisted of four three-kilometer segments run by a pair of alternating two-man teams. The tandem of senior Marcel Hewamudalige and sophomore Colby Keithan won the event, and senior David Axel and sophomore Charles Hampton placed third.
Hampton said the A&M meet gave the runners an opportunity to gauge their condition early in the season.
“It was a good way to get your feet wet,” Hampton said. “[The meet made it] easier to see where you were [so you can] work to where you’re going.”
Head coach Jon Warren (Jones ‘88) said he was pleased at his team’s condition.
“I liked what our guys did,” Warren said. “I liked the way they looked, and [I was] very happy to see that they’re in that kind of shape.”
Hewamudalige turned in the best performance of the day, posting splits of 9 minutes, 16 seconds and 8 minutes, 59 seconds, while partner Keithan was consistent, turning in times of 9:30 and 9:34. Hampton and Axel finished with a cumulative time of 37:40, only six seconds behind the second-place team of Alex Moore and Todd Van Velson from A&M.
The Owls’ next meet is the Rice Invitational Sept. 17. Although not a critical meet like the conference meet or the NCAA Regional Championships, the runners will be pitted against tough competition from teams such as Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin State and UT-Pan American.
Warren said this year’s Rice Invitational will be different than past home meets.
“This season’s meet is going to be a bigger meet than we’re used to having, and it should be a better meet than we’re used to having,” Warren said. “There are some strong people coming in for the meet.”
Hampton said he is looking forward to running on campus.
“I’m excited for [the Rice Invitational],” Hampton said. “Hopefully we’ll get cheered on and get some support going for the team. This year is going to be tough, but we know that going in. We’ve got some good veterans leading us and some young guys stepping up.”
The Owls would like to use the Rice Invitational as a tune-up for the more critical races later in the season, such as the Pre-National Championships Oct. 15 and the Conference USA Championships Oct. 30. Warren said all of the team’s training is done with the postseason in mind.
“[The Rice meet] is something you want to do well in, but it doesn’t have any implications beyond that meet,” Warren said. “We’re not really [hoping] that much for anything until the conference, regional and national [championships].”
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