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Cross Country dominates home meet

By on September 28, 2014

Kyle Youmans / Staff Writer

The Mean Green cross country team competed in the Ken Garland invitational at the Eagle Point Course in Denton on Saturday. The men achieved a first place finish while the women finished in third on the same course that will host the Conference USA championships later in the season.

This is the second straight year that the North Texas men have won this home race, as they were able to capture five of the first six positions. Junior Troy Taylor came in first place for his second straight race and teammates senior Alejandro Valencia and junior Silvester Harrison followed closely behind.

“It feels good,” Taylor said. “This was a good marker for me that let me know that I am still fit. It was also nice to be able to win the home meet out here in front of all my friends.”

On the women’s side, the Mean Green finished behind Southern Methodist University and Rice University. The team was led by senior Charlotte Wilson who finished third overall with a time of 17:52.02..

“Well I started really excited and that caused me to die off a bit towards the end of the race,” Wilson said. “Overall I finished better time than last year so I am definitely happy overall. All the girls are happy with the way we finished, so it was a good weekend.”

Along with Rice and SMU, the meet also included Texas Christian University.  Those four teams are also ranked in the South Central Region along with the Mean Green. Those teams were what made this the first real “benchmark” for the North Texas.

“We were excited to see where we stood up against these good teams,” head coach Stefanie Slekis said. “And they really showed us that we are fit enough to compete well against everyone. They gave a really good effort and were really able to turn it on at the end which looks good for the Chile Pepper meet next week.”

The Mean Green will race again in the Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival next Saturday in Fayetteville, Arkansas as they continue to prepare for the Conference USA championships.

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