University of North Texas Athletics
Cross Country Teams Begin Season At Bear Twilight Invitational
9/1/2016 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
DENTON -- The North Texas men's and women's cross country teams will start the 2016 campaign under the lights at the Bear Twilight Invitational Thursday, Sept. 1 starting at 7 p.m.
The women's 4k race will start at 7 p.m. with the men's 6k race immediately following hosted by Baylor University. Also competing with the Mean Green will be Incarnate Word, SMU, TCU, Texas State and Baylor.
"The exciting thing about this year's roster is we have just as much talent if not more than we had in 2014," cross country coach Stefanie Slekis said. "Florian Lussy, Rick Nally and Alex Cleveland are big newcomers for us and have the ability to contribute to a conference championship along with returning All-Conference runners Mike Lowe, James Coleman, Grady Frazier. We also return Zach Kirkland, who was a part of the 2014 championship team after redshirting last season."
Last season, the men's team captured the Baylor Twilight title after Coleman finished first with a time of 18:21.6. Frazier came in fifth with a time of 18:37.3 and Lowe was 13th (19:16.0).
The women's team came in third place in Waco with senior Shauna Pali finishing in 10th with a time of 14:24.5. The roster is deep with 16 runners, including 10 returners from last year.
"The exciting part about the 2016 season is that we probably have the best roster in recent history for our women's program," Slekis said. "We return All-Conference performers Susie Kemper and Pali. We add fellow New Zealand native Susannah Lynch, who finished fifth in the 800m during the indoor season as well as Kellee McCann transferring from Syracuse University. Christina Moralez returns as our No. 2 runner and senior Kylee Kittrell is back for her fifth year."
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) released the Preseason Regional Rankings as the Mean Green was picked ninth in the men's poll and 10th in the women's poll.
Men's SOUTH CENTRAL Region Poll | ||||
Rank | School | Overall (RAOR) | Conference | 2015 FINAL |
1 | -- | 1 | ||
2 | -- | 2 | ||
3 | -- | 3 | ||
4 | -- | 5 | ||
5 | -- | 4 | ||
6 | -- | 8 | ||
7 | -- | 6 | ||
8 | -- | 9 | ||
9 | -- | 7 | ||
10 | -- | 10 | ||
11 | -- | 11 | ||
12 | -- | 14 | ||
13 | -- | 15 | ||
14 | -- | 12 | ||
15 | -- | 17 | ||
Women's SOUTH CENTRAL Region | ||||
Rank | School | Overall (RAOR) | Conference | 2015 FINAL |
1 | -- | 1 | ||
2 | -- | 2 | ||
3 | -- | 5 | ||
4 | -- | 3 | ||
5 | -- | 4 | ||
6 | -- | 7 | ||
7 | -- | 6 | ||
8 | -- | 8 | ||
9 | -- | 9 | ||
10 | -- | 13 | ||
11 | -- | 12 | ||
12 | -- | 10 | ||
13 | -- | 11 | ||
14 | -- | 14 | ||
15 | -- | 15 | ||
Players Mentioned
