No. 8 Lady Raiders Set to Defend Mountain Region Crown
November 12, 2009 | Cross Country
Nov. 12, 2009
LUBBOCK, Texas - The Texas Tech Red Raiders and the No. 8 ranked and defending NCAA Mountain Regional Champion Lady Raiders head to Albuquerque, N.M., this Saturday to run at the UNM North Golf Course at the NCAA Cross Country Mountain Regional Championship and a chance to advance to the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
Last season the Lady Raiders won its first NCAA Mountain Regional title behind four finishing in the top 10. The Tech women head into the meet on a roll. The squad has yet to lose a meet this season and successfully defended its Big 12 Championship in Columbia, MO., two weeks ago.
The Lady Raiders have won with team efforts throughout the year. Lillian Badaru, Purity Biwott, Caroline Karunde and Gladys Kipsang have placed in the top 10 in every race this season. They all earned All-Big 12 honors including teammate Winrose Karunde finishing in 13th at the Big 12 Cross Country Championships.
Michelle Guzman and Kaci Westervelt are the other two women travelling to the Mountain Regional. Guzman has two top 10 finishes on the season and has consistently improved throughout the season. Westervelt also has two top 10 finishes and has run in every race this season.
The women's field will be another tough one as No. 6 Colorado, No. 20 New Mexico and No. 22 BYU will be competing.
The Red Raiders look to rebound after a disappointing finish at the Big 12 Championships. Tech finished in 10th in one of the toughest conferences in the nation.
The squad is looking for improved times and hoping to finish better than last year's 13th place at the NCAA Mountain Regional. Gilbert Limo and Silas Kemboi were the top two at the Big 12 Championships in 25th and 44th. Limo finished in the top 50 at the Mountain Regional last season.
Thomas Cattin-Masson, Logan Culotta. Cory Higgins, Nathan Milles and Zach Quinones make up the squad as well. Cattin-Masson will be competing in his first NCAA Mountain Regional and second meet overall as a Red Raider. Culotta, Higgins and Milles have experience as they ran last season at the Mountain Regional.
The men's field is as tough as the women's as No. 4 Northern Arizona, No. 5 Colorado, No. 12 New Mexico, No. 14 BYU are all scheduled to run this weekend.
The men's race will start at 10:45 a.m. MST and the women will wrap up the Mountain Regional at 12 p.m. MST.
Players Mentioned
