The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas Invitational
Cross Country Preview: NCAA South Central Regional
11.13.2013 | Track & Field / Cross Country
Texas Cross Country travels to Waco this Friday looking to qualify for the NCAA Championships.
Meet Info
What: NCAA South Central Regional
When: Friday, Nov. 15, 2013
Race Time: Men's 10K – 10 a.m. Central; Women's 6K – 11:15 a.m.
Venue: Cottonwood Creek Golf Course
Meet Website: Click here.
Course Map: Click here.
Live Results: Click here.
Texas Cross Country continues the championships portion of the 2013 season when it travels to Waco for the NCAA South Central Regional on Friday, Nov. 15. The men's 10,000-meter and women's 6,000m races will be contested at 10 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. Central, respectively.
Baylor will play host to the meet at Cottonwood Creek Golf Course for the seventh time since 2005. The venue was also home to the Big 12 Championships on Nov. 2.
Qualification For NCAA D-I Championships …
Friday's meet serves as the qualification event for the 2013 NCAA Cross Country Championships, which will be held Saturday, Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Ind. The top two teams on both the men's and women's side on Friday will automatically qualify for the NCAA Championship meet. Following the nine regional meets across the country, 13 additional teams will earn at-large bids following a review of regular-season competition and finish at the regional championships. After teams have been determined, 38 additional individuals per gender are selected to compete at the national meet, including the top four finishers at each regional who are not a member of automatically-selected teams.
Who's Running …
The Texas men were ranked 25th in the most recent USTFCCCA poll from Nov. 5. Possible competitors for Friday's meet will be Ryan Dohner, Chris Galvin, Craig Lutz, Nate Moore, Mark Pinales, Eduardo Rodriguez, Austin Roth and Collin Smith. Seven of the eight will be selected to race.
Possibly competing for the Longhorn women will be Katie Burford, Kaleigh Ervin, Marielle Hall, Brittany Marches, Alaina Perez, Katie Ruhala, Megan Siebert and Meghan Shea.
Longhorns at the NCAA South Central Regional …
Hall took home the regional title on the women's side in 2012, the first Longhorn to win an individual championship at the meet in program history, and was named South Central Region Athlete of the Year for her efforts. The Texas men are looking for their third victory in as many years at the regional meet and their fifth straight automatic qualification, while the women seek their second win since 2010 and their fourth consecutive automatic qualification.
Last Time Out …
Hall captured UT's first Big 12 Cross Country title in program history in a 6K personal-best 19:38.3, more than 10 seconds ahead of all other competitors, at the 2013 conference meet in Waco on Nov. 2. The Longhorn women placed fourth as a team while Siebert also picked up All-Big 12 honors. The Texas men came in third in the team standings led by All-Big 12 honorees Dohner in fourth place and Lutz in sixth.
UT opened the season at the Baylor Bear Invitational in Waco on Aug. 30, where the men placed second and the women third. Both the men and women went on to sweep the Ricardo Romo Invitational in San Antonio on Sept. 20 before taking home titles at the Texas Invitational in Round Rock on Sept. 27. At the fifth-annual Wisconsin adidas Invitation on Oct. 19 in Madison, Hall, a 2012 All-American, tallied the Longhorns' top performance of the day with a third-place finish out of 288 runners. She posted a then personal-best tiem of 19:46 in the women's 6,000m race. Fellow All-American Lutz led the way for the Longhorns on the men's side, crossing the 8,000m finish line 14th overall in a field of 287 with a time of 23:36.