Troy University Athletics
Cross Country Championships Saturday
10/30/2008 5:00:00 AM | Track & Field
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The Troy Trojans men's and women's cross country teams begin the final stages of their preparations for the biggest races of the season - the Sun Belt Conference Championships - here Saturday morning.
The 30th annual SBC Cross Country Championship is set to take place Saturday, as the men's and women's runners take the course on the campus of Western Kentucky University.
The Trojans were picked to finished sixth in the men's race (39 total votes), behind Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky, UALR, North Texas and South Alabama. Two weeks ago, the Trojans blew by South Alabama en route to capturing the Coach O Invitational championship at Troy.
“If we can get everyone pack running again we will have a shot,” assistant coach Tommy Barksdale said. “We just have to get everyone going to give us a shot at a good finish this season.”
Jeremy Moujoodi and Denzel Ramirez will be counted on to lead that pack of runners for the Trojans, as they give chase to Tirop. Moujoodi has recorded four top ten finishes this season and finished 51st in a hotly-contested Tiger Invitational in Auburn. In his two 8k races, Moujoodi has recorded times of 24:21.90 and 26:21.1 to pace the Trojans. Meanwhile, Ramirez has recorded four top ten finishes, much like Moujoodi, and has run in two 8k races with times of 24:28.15 and 26:54.50.
The dark horse for the Trojans this weekend could be Drew Horner, who recorded a sixth place finish at the Coach O Invitational and helped the Trojans capture the title.
Meanwhile, on the women's side, Jenean Corcoran has recorded five top ten finishes, including a championship in the season-opening meet. She will pace the Trojans title hopes, as they women were picked to finish ninth in the meet (20 total points). Corcoran has recorded times of 19:50, 18:23.56 and 19:45.60 in her 5k races this season. Erika Fyrvall and Kelly Harrington will look to provide low points for the Trojans this weekend as each has recorded top 20 finishes.
This weekend's action will feature a pair of four-time SBC Runners of the Week in South Alabama's Micah Tirop and UALR's Whitney Kerth.
Tirop will look to defend his 2007 title having finished with a time of 24:40.07, outpacing the second place finisher by more than one minute. The senior has been equally impressive in 2008, having won four individual titles.
Kerth has seen her fair share of success over the course of her career, as she has received Player of the Week honors on ten different occasions. The Perryville, Ark. Native is the only Trojan, male or female, to collect the accolade as many times.
WKU's Janet Jesang will also be defending her title after finishing with a time of 17:28.29 in last year's championship. She also placed seventh in the NCAA Southeast Regional with a time of 20:31.60 in 2007.
Now in her junior campaign, Jesang has collected Runner of the Week honors, while also collecting a pair of victories at the Old Timers Classic and Greater Louisville Classic, and a third-place showing at Pre-Nationals.
Two-time Runner of the Week Zamzam Sangau enters the weekend having captured her second win of the season two weeks ago with a time of 11:07 in the two-mile course at the UTC Front Runner Invitational in Chattanooga, Tenn. Helping the Blue Raiders place third as a team, the Kampala, Uganda native captured her sixth Top 15 finish of the year.
Sangau earned her best time in the 5K this season with a time of 17:44.07, placing 13th in the Greater Louisville Classic in Louisville, Ky. Two weeks earlier, she placed in her second top-three finish of the year at the WKU Old Timer's Classic in Bowling Green, Ky. Sangau won the Agnes Scott Invitational in Atlanta, placed seventh at the Belmont Opener in Nashville, Tenn., and finished fifth in the Memphis Twilight Classic in Memphis, Tenn.
WKU will once again host the cross country championships at Kereiakes Park. The gun will fire for the women's 5K at 10:00 a.m. (CT) and the men's 5-mile race will follow at 11:00 a.m. (CT).
2008 Sun Belt Conference Cross Country Championship
Predicted Order of Finish
Men
1. Middle Tennessee (72)
2. WKU (70)
3. UALR (66)
4. North Texas (45)
5. South Alabama (45)
6. Troy (39)
7. FIU (35)
8. ULM (28)
9. Florida Atlantic (24)
10. Arkansas State (22)
11. Louisiana-Lafayette (16)
Women
1. WKU (75)
2. Middle Tennessee (70)
3. UALR (56)
4. Arkansas State (54)
5. Florida Atlantic (46)
6. North Texas (45)
7. South Alabama (33)
8. FIU (32)
9. Troy (20)
10. Louisiana-Lafayette (16)
11. ULM (15)
