FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - In one of the largest meets in the nation, the Tulane cross country team continued their improvement during the 2010 season at the Chile Pepper Invitational. The 56-team meet was hosted by the University of Arkansas at the Razorback Cross Country Course at Agri Park, with the women's team placing 15th out of 56 teams.
"It is such a large meet and is tough to navigate at some points, but our girls really got off to good starts," said head coach Eric Peterson. "I was happy to see our younger athletes be a little more aggressive early in the race, which helped us set the tone early on. This showing makes our team excited and enthusiastic heading into the Conference USA meet." Rebecca Coady crossed the finish line in 18:11.32 on the 5K course and was the top finisher for the women's team in 39th. The senior was followed by Julia Whitrock with a 69th place showing, but redshirt-junior was just twenty second behind Coady with a time of 18:31.08. The second wave of the Olive and Blue would post times within five-seconds of each other. Katherine Crabtreeled that group in 19:17.16 (154th place), followed by time of 19:19.54 from Johanna Gretschel (158th) and 19:21.23 by Emmi Aguillard (163rd). Freshman Callie Turlington was just 13 seconds behind Aguillard with a 163rd place finish in 19:34.97. As a team, the Green Wave tied for 15th with 520 total points, equaling Texas-Pan American, in the 56-team field. The place was a five-spot improvement from last season at the same meet, with just 34 teams competing last season. The point total was also 34 points less than a year ago, against a field of nearly 200 more runners. "The guys who ran today gave a solid effort," said Peterson. "Max and Jordan both came out of the gates faster than they usually do and overall I saw a lot for our team to build on heading into the Conference USA Championship." Tulane was short a pair of men's runners, but Brian Lozes led the short list of Green Wave competitors with a time of 33:10.51in the men's squad first 10K since the program returned in 2008. Jordan Vance was 266th in a time of 33:42.00 and Max Miller was 279th with a 33:53.91 showing. The Green Wave will have two weeks for training before entering the postseason portion of their schedule at the Conference USA Championships. Tulane will take to the course at the Indian Springs Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. on Monday, November 1. Men's Individual Results (10K)
205. Brian Lozes 33:01.51
266. Jordan Vance 33:42.00
279. Max Miller 33:53.91
410. Phil Scruggs 36:20.04
-- Mike Mainguy DNF
Women's Individual Results (5K)
39. Rebecca Coady 18:11.32
69. Julia Whitrock 18:31.08
154. Katherine Crabtree 19:17.16
158. Johanna Gretschel 19:19.54
163. Emmi Aguillard 19:21.23
192. Callie Turlington 19:34.97
384. Peggy Keplinger 21:32.33