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October 27, 2006 > Sports > Women’s Cross hits snag at Pre-Nationals meet

Women’s Cross hits snag at Pre-Nationals meet

By Justin Hudson | Thresher staff

Running against some of the elite programs in the nation, the women’s cross country team finished 23rd out of 37 teams in one of two races at the Pre-Nationals meet, held Oct. 14 in Terre Haute, Ind. The Pre-Nationals meet offered 37 of the country’s best teams a preview of the national championship course, where the Owls hope to return to Nov. 20.

The Owls faced stiff competition in their race. Individual winner Julia Lucas paced the overall team winner North Carolina State University, running the six-kilometer course in 20 minutes, 2 seconds. The University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin tied for second with 176 points, behind the Wolfpack’s 117.

Some of the Owls’ veteran runners ran slightly slower than they did in last year’s meet, when the Owls stunned many observers in finishing ninth in their race. Junior Marissa Daniels, who finished 40th overall with a time of 21:00, was three seconds off her pace from last year. Junior Callie Wells ran 21:52, and sophomore Lea Garcia ran 23:02, both a few seconds off their marks from last year’s meet.

The Owls’ strength in the race was their middle runners. Freshman Nicole Mericle was Rice’s third finisher behind Wells with a time of 22:05. Junior Susie Barrows finished three seconds later. Junior Lennie Waite rounded out the scoring for the Owls with a time of 22:29. Junior Laura Kelley improved upon her time from last year’s Pre-Nationals, finishing in 22:37, 39 seconds better than last year’s 23:16.

The race was supposed to be a springboard into the Conference USA championship meet, which is tomorrow in Greenville, North Carolina, and the later regional and national meets. Last year, Rice rode the momentum of a strong performance at Pre-Nationals to a Conference USA title. This year, however, the Owls struggled to close the gap between Daniels and the rest of the team, while Daniels herself struggled and lost position at the end of the race. Head coach Jim Bevan said he hopes his team can overcome the outing and perform to its potential at the conference meet.

“We were hoping to be able to beat the right teams so that at the district race in a month we would have a good chance at for an at-large qualifying berth like last year,” Bevan said. “So we gave it a go, and we really didn’t run as well as I hoped for. “I was a little disappointed, but the key is how we respond at conference.”

An encouraging development was the improved performances of the Owls’ four, five and six runners. Barrows, Waite and Kelley have continued to get faster throughout the season. The middle positions in cross country are often critical in determining close team competitions, which the Owls will definitely face at the C-USA title meet. The runners are using their latest Pre-Nationals experience as a learning tool to win conference. Barrows said the trip to Indiana State will help the team progress toward nationals.

“I think Pre-Nationals was a good experience for our team in that it gave all of us an idea of what we will need to do at conference,” Barrows said. “We have a strong team, but we all need to be able to put it together on the same day in order to get the results we are capable of.”

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