ECU Men and Women Compete In 2006 C-USA Championships

Saturday, October 28

Greenville, N.C.

All Day

East Carolina University

Conference USA Championships

October 28, 2006 | Men's Cross Country

Oct. 28, 2006

Men's Results (PDF)
Women's Results (PDF)

GREENVILLE, N.C. - A 24-hour period of steady rain fall Friday created muddy and sloppy running conditions for the 2006 Conference USA Cross Country Championships. However, that did not keep defending champion, UTEP from winning its second-straight C-USA men's title and allowing the UAB women to capture its first cross country crown at a windy Lake Kristi in Grimesland, N.C. Saturday.

UTEP repeated as conference champions for the first time since capturing 11-consecutive Western Athletic Conference titles from 1973-83. The Miners scored a meet-record 21 points, bettering their 2005 total of 23, and entered this year's meet undefeated with four meet titles.

For the second-consecutive year, UTEP's sophomore Patrick Mutai won the men's individual title with a winning time of 24:31.96, followed by teammate and first team all-conference honorees Stephen Samoei and Nicodemus Ng'etich. Samoei, a junior and 2005 All-American, finished second in a time of 24:32.23, while Ng'etich, the 2006 C-USA Freshman of the Year, crossed the finish line in 24:54.13 for fourth. Wrapping up the scoring for the Miners were sophomores Japheth Ng'ojoy and Dominie Tanu. The duo finished sixth (25:16.59) and eighth (25:39.94) for second team all-conference merits.

Tulsa finished second as a team with 40 points. The Golden Hurricane were led by first team all-conference performances from juniors Edwin Henshaw who placed third overall with a time of 24:44.22 and Brett Turowski's fifth-best mark of 25:00.61.

Rice came in third place with 70 points, while UCF scored 96 for fourth and Houston tallied 134 to round out the top five on the men's side.

The women's race was a lot closer as one point separated the top two finishers. UAB tallied 54 points, while the defending champions Rice scored 55 points for second. The 2005 race saw Rice winning and UAB finishing second.

UAB was without its top runner and 2005 C-USA individual champion Elizabeth Ambrus. Ambrus missed the championship with a foot injury. Ambrus credentials improved last season as she not only won the conference title but was named the 2005 C-USA Athlete of the Year for cross country and earned 2005 All-South Region honors.

This year's top women's individual honor went to SMU's junior Rachel Forish. The Arlington, Texas native recorded a top time of 17:14.54. A year ago, Forish place fourth overall. In second-place was Rice's Marissa Daniels who clocked a 17:33.51, followed by Tulsa's Alex Becker in 17:45.95. C-USA's Freshman of the Year Nicole Mericle of Rice finished fourth with a time of 18:12.36, while TU's Lisa Olivier was fifth in 18:15.57 to makeup the league's all-conference first team.

Leading the Blazers to the 2006 championship was juniors Whitney Mays and Elizabeth Hilligoss as well as sophomore Katie Stepp who finished seventh (18:27.00), eighth (18:27.46) and ninth (18:28.45), respectively. The trio earned all-conference second team accolades. Hilligoss was an all-conference second team selection in 2005, while Mays was a third team honoree. Also scoring for UAB was freshman Kristina Olson (14th/18:37.64) and senior Jennifer Thompson (16th/18:42.16).

With 72 points, SMU finished third as a team just ahead of Tulsa's 77 points for fourth. UCF (169) and Tulane (184) placed in the top half of the standings at fifth (169) and sixth (184), respectively.

Both winning coaches, UTEP's Paul Ereng and UAB's Ray Stanfield, were named the 2006 C-USA Male and Female Coaches of the Year, respectively, in a vote taken by the league coaches following the race.

The first 15 men and women that crossed the finish line were named to the all-conference teams. First team honors went to runners that finished among the top five, while runners that placed 6-10 earned second team merits and 11-15 were all-conference third team picks.

Next action for C-USA teams will be at their respective NCAA Regional meets on Saturday, Nov. 11.

2006 Men's Team Results

1. UTEP (21)

2. Tulsa (40)

3. Rice (70)

4. UCF (96)

5. Houston (134)

6. Marshall (136)

7. East Carolina (211)

8. Memphis (244)

2006 Women's Team Results

1. UAB (54