XC places 8th at Notre Dame, outruns 5 top-ranked schools
Natalie Clericuzio
Issue date: 10/10/08 Section: Sports
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This weekend Rice will run a smaller squad at the Houston Baptist University Invitational. In order to give some of the less experienced runners more practice, head coach Jim Bevan decided that he will send a portion of his team to the Saturday race. Other teams at the meet should include HBU, Texas Southern University, Pan-American University, Prairie View A&M University and a few more to-be-determined schools.
Even though Rice finished eighth at the Notre Dame Invitational, the placement does not reflect how well the team actually competed or the strength of the other schools competing in the meet. Bevan believed the schools competing this year were much more competitive than last season. Last year there were nine ranked teams coming in competing at Notre Dame, but this year there were 12, Bevan said. He also believed it was the best meet in the country last week.
Two early mishaps set the Owls back. Senior Claire Shorall fell near the start of the race after losing her shoe. According to Bevan, she hurried too much when she tried to catch up, skewing her pacing for the race.
Additionally, freshman Michaela Reynolds, competing in her first meet as an Owl after dealing with knee problems early in the season, was also thrown off course early in the race. After being pushed in the back near the start of the race, she ran the rest of the meet with a tight muscle.
Despite these two problems, Rice still beat several ranked schools, including the University of Illinois, the University of New Mexico, Texas Tech University, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Boston College. By beating ranked schools, Rice may earn points toward qualifying for nationals in November.
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