The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Big 12 Championship
Cross Country set to host Big 12 Championship on Saturday
10.26.2017 | Track & Field / Cross Country
Longhorns take on conference rivals in Round Rock
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AUSTIN, Texas – It is championship season for Texas Cross Country and the Longhorns are ready to host the Big 12 Championship on Saturday morning. Texas plays host to this year's conference championship beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday from Old Settlers Park in Round Rock.
With free admission and a strong running community in the Austin area, Coach Brad Herbster is excited to be hosting the meet and hopes to see a lot of Burnt Orange at the course on Saturday to cheer on the Longhorns.
"We're really looking forward to the meet being at home," Herbster said. "This year we have our own group who's very confident and they're also very hungry to do well at Big 12s, especially with it at home. We expect a big crowd out there."
Action is set to start at 9 a.m. Central from Old Settlers Park with the men's 8,000 meters. The women will run their championship distance of 6,000 meters at 10 with trophy presentations at 11.
Fans unable to attend the conference championship in person can watch the action live on FloTrack.org with a subscription to its FloPro services. Live results will be provided by DeltaTiming.com.
Texas enters the conference championship with the men's squad ranked No. 24 in the latest USTFCCCA Coaches Poll. Oklahoma State's men are ranked No. 10 and Iowa State is No. 23. The Iowa State women are the lone ranked team in the Big 12 heading into the race at No. 23 after Oklahoma State and West Virginia dropped out of the Top 30.
The Longhorns have a deep roster this year on the men's side that junior Alex Rogers says gives Texas a shot at winning its first-ever Big 12 title in cross country. Rogers knows it will be a difficult hill to climb to defeat nine-time champion Oklahoma State and a ranked Iowa State and wants to see his Longhorns make a push on Saturday.
"We have a great group of guys and we can't do it without the others," Rogers said. "I feel like we have a great chance and a great opportunity to go on and actually win this for the first time ever. The conference is stacked. The odds are kind of against us with Oklahoma State and Iowa State, but I really feel like we can make something happen this year."
For the women's team, sophomore Destiny Collins said it will be all about translating what they do in practice to the race. The women have struggled to execute their race plan the last two meets out and want to show what they are capable of at the conference championship.
"I think we're going to have to really work together in order to do well," Collins said. "The past few meets we've been saying that we're going to work together and we haven't quite executed that, so I think if we execute working together we can have a really good result in the end."
Admission to the Big 12 Championship is free for fans. There will be two options for vehicle parking at Old Settlers Park on Saturday. Parking near the start/finish line is available next to the tennis courts on Harrell Parkway just inside the entrance to Old Settlers Park from Old Settlers Boulevard. To get to this parking, fans can take Exit 254 off of I-35 and head east on Old Settlers Boulevard. Overflow parking will be available just north of the Lakeview Pavilion within the park on Harrell Parkway.
Another entrance into the park from the south side near the overflow parking can be reached by taking Exit 253 off of I-35 and head east on Palm Valley Road (Highway 79). Turn left on Harrell Parkway at the entrance to Dell Diamond. Follow Harrell Parkway past the water park and soccer fields and Lakeview Pavilion will be on the right adjacent to the lake.
Players Mentioned
