TU Men, Women Sweep AAC Cross Country
By DOUG EATON
GTR Sports Writer
WINNING RUNNERS: The TU men’s cross country team are the 2014 champions of the American Athletic Conference.
DOUG EATON for GTR Newspapers
The University of Tulsa claimed its first conference championships as a new member of the American Athletic Conference when both the men’s and women’s Golden Hurricane cross country teams won their respective championships.
TU junior Marc Scott was the men’s overall individual winner as he covered the 8K course in 24:43 at the Mohawk Park Sports Complex to lead the Golden Hurricane men to the team title.
TU scored 21 points, far ahead of second-place Cincinnati with 84 and Houston with 94. Other teams included Connecticut, 125; Memphis, 145; Temple, 155; Tulane, 157; East Carolina, 182 and , 221.
All five scorers for Tulsa finished among the top ten in the men’s race.
Tim Rackers took second place in 24:49, followed by Danny Thater (3rd place, 24:50); Dennis Hodapp (6th place, 25:06) and Elijah Silva (9th place, 25:33).
The women’s race was a little closer as the TU ladies scored 40 points to edge out Connecticut with 67 points. was third with 81 points.
The remainder of the women’s field included 124; 156; Houston 175; Memphis 178; Tulane 205; East Carolina 208; Connecticut 241; and Temple 254.
TU senior Brandi Krieg was the first Lady Hurricane to cross the finish line as she placed fifth overall in a time 21:02 over the 6k course.
Clara Langley was just one second behind in sixth place in 21:03; followed by Stacie Taylor (8th place, 21:14); Natasha Cockram (10th place, 21:27); and Olivia Lopez (11th place, 21:36).
The top 15 finishers in each race were named to the All-American Athletic Conference team.
Six TU men’s runners named on the all-conference team included the five runners who scored for Tulsa (Scott, Rackers, Thater, Hodapp, Silva) along with Adam Roderique, who placed 14th overall.
All seven TU women’s runners were named to the All-American Athletic Conference team; the five scorers (Krieg, Langley, Taylor, Cockram, and Lopez). Anna Bearss (12th place in 21:38) and Nicole Lee (14th place in 21:40) were the other two Lady Hurricane runners honored.
Tulsa Head Coach Steve Gulley was named both the men’s and women’s Coach of the Year for the American Athletic Conference.
“It was definitely a surprise having seven of the top15 on the girls side,” Gulley says.
“That’s a full team. We had six in the top 15 on the guys side. Not only did the girls run great, but they all did it (make all-conference). It wasn’t just one individual, it was the whole team.”
Updated 11-24-2014
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