Cross Country Prepares For Pre-Nationals
October 14, 2004 | Cross Country
Oct. 14, 2004
LUBBOCK, Texas - The Texas Tech cross country squads are preparing to race at the NCAA Pre-Nationals meet in Terre Haute, Ind., on the campus of Indiana State University. This meet will be a preview of the NCAA National meet held in November.
On the men's side there will be 87 teams competing. Among the opponents will be Big 12 rivals Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Texas A&M. The men's squad is now ranked 14th in the Mountain Region and will be battling regional foes Air Force, BYU, Colorado, Colorado State, Montana, Montana State, New Mexico, Northern Arizona, Utah, Utah State and Weber State.
The men will be looking to freshman Haron Lagat and junior Benson Cheserek to lead the way. Cheserek was the top Tech finisher at the Lobo Invite while Lagat finished as the top Tech performer in the last two meets. Lagat also earned Big 12 Runner of the Week honors for his third-place finish at the Cowboy Jamboree.
"I am excited about the chance for Haron (Lagat) and Benson (Cheserek) to mix it up with some of the best individual runners in the nation," said head coach Burke Binning. "Haron continues to impress me in practice, and Benson is growing more confident everyday he is with Haron. This is an opportunity for the other four guys to measure up to the rest of the nation and to get out hard in a great field, and see where they stack up. We are racing some Big 12 teams that we think we can be close to in a couple weeks. Hopefully this is another step in the right direction for the men's program."
For the women, sophomore Irene Kimayio has been the top Tech finisher for three-consecutive meets. The women's squad will also have difficult competition to contend with as Big 12 squads Baylor, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas A&M will be racing in Terre Haute. The women are currently ranked third in the Mountain Region and 27th in the FinishLynx National Poll. Also competing will be Mountain Regional opponents BYU, Colorado, Colorado State, Montana State, Northern Arizona, Utah and Weber State.
"This is a big test for the women. There will be around 250 runners in the race, the biggest field they will have to deal with this season," said Binning. "However, I'm hoping they feel a little less stress going into this race than they did at the Roy Griak Invite. Racing relaxed and comfortable is what won the team title in Stillwater at the Cowboy Jamboree. We still have a lot to prove, but we are racing with confidence after the Jamboree. This is the last hurdle on the way to the championship part of the season. The squad feels good about their training, and is ready to get after it this weekend."
For complete results of Texas Tech cross country, visit www.texastech.com.
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