Women’s cross-country wins third C-USA title

By Kenny Bybee

Rice Owls women’s cross-country won its third Conference USA team title in school history behind a strong team effort that included five individual all-conference performances Oct. 31 at the Spero Kereiakes Park in Bowling Green, Ky.

Rice cross-country team image courtesy of Conference C-USA

The Owls (48 points) won their first C-USA team title since 2007 by fending off second-place Middle Tennessee (79 points) and third-place Western Kentucky (96 points).

“Going in I knew we were entering the race at our best, and the way we ran proved that,” Rice women’s cross-country head coach Jim Bevan said. “This was the closest our fourth and fifth runners have been to Cali (Roper, a Rice junior) all year. I couldn’t be happier for our team. We ran our best at the end of the season, and that’s all you can hope for as a coach.

“There have been two or three times since 2007 when I thought we could get back here, but we were just beaten by better teams,” Bevan said. “Today (Oct. 31) we were able to put it all together. Championships don’t come easy, so we’re going to cherish this.”

Roper won her second consecutive C-USA individual title with a winning time of 17:22.6 in the 5K race and became the first C-USA athlete to win back-to-back titles since the University of Texas El Paso’s Risper Kimaiyo in 2009-10. Roper, from Willis, Texas, is also just the fourth C-USA athlete to win multiple titles since 1995 and became the first Owl since Marissa Daniels to earn three consecutive C-USA First-Team All-Conference honors.

Coach Bevan (left) with Quintin Jordan, C-USA assistant director of Sports Services. Photo courtesy Conference C-USA

Roper’s junior teammate Katie Jensen moved from eighth place in the middle of the race to second overall (17:35.5) to earn C-USA First-Team honors for a second straight season. Sophomore Elsa Racasan improved 17 spots from last year’s championships to place 10th overall and earned Second-Team honors. Junior Hannah Kay (16th,18:22.5) and freshman Abigail Cartwright (19th,18:26.4) also placed in the top 20 to claim Third-Team All-Conference recognition.

The five all-conference performances were the most by an Owls team since 2010, when they had five C-USA championships.

Sophomore Fabiola Andujar-Perez (31st,18:50.6), sophomore Ellen Diemert (18:54.2), junior Kristin Sweeney (19:16.7) and freshman Anna Figueroa (19:35.1) rounded out the Owls’ finishes.

“Cali took the lead from the gun and never looked back; she was sensational today,” Bevan said. “Katie Jensen moved from 8-6-3-2 and ran her best cross country race. Elsa was involved all the way and improved from 27th to 10th. Hannah Kay has come a long way and closed the gap for our third runner; she was the key for us. Abigail, who two months ago wasn’t running, started to show how good a runner she is. Ellen Diemert ran the best race she’s run, and Fabiola has transitioned beautifully from being a 400 runner. Kristin Sweeney is like a magnet for Fabiola, Ellen and Abigail. She’s a key person and leader for our team.”

The Owls are off until Nov. 13, when they will travel to the NCAA South Central Regional in College Station.