DENTON – Senior cross country runner Troy Taylor was named Conference USA cross country Male Athlete of the Week for his first-place performance at the Ken Garland Invitational this past weekend. 

Taylor took home his third career first place finish and second-straight victory at the Ken Garland Invitational with a personal best time of 19:27.16 in the four-mile race. Taylor helped his team also defend their title earning first place against Big 12 foes Oklahoma, Baylor and TCU.

“Troy has been motivated since his sophomore year to truly compete at the National championships in cross country which to him means going there with his team and competing to be an All-American,” head coach Stefanie Slekis said. “He was not satisfied last year in just making it to NCAAs as an individual.”

At last year’s Ken Garland Invitational, Taylor took home his first career first place finish with a time of 19:39.21. He defended his title and ran 12 seconds faster taking down two runners from Oklahoma. As a team, North Texas finished first, third, fifth, sixth and seventh for a team score of 22 points.

“Having our men’s team rise up around him and start to challenge him in workouts and races has really brought Troy up to that next level,” Slekis said. “He loves having his teammates right there with him because they push him to be the best version of himself which he knows should ultimately lead to earning All-American honors.”

The Mean Green cross country team will be back in action on Sept. 26 at the Texas A&M Invitational starting at 8:15 a.m. in College Station.

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