Southern Utah Cross Country will race in South Bend, Indiana this week at the Notre Dame Joe Piane Invitational. The Thunderbirds will start racing at 8:30 am MST on Friday with the Women's 5K and the Men's 8K starting at 9:15 am MST.
Last Time Out
SUU is coming off a strong finish at the Florida State Cross Country Open where Alison Pray finished second overall in the Women's 6K with a time of 20:20.3. Pray's run helped propel SUU to a fourth place finish in the event with 105 points. SUU's fourth place result in the womens' division was 66 points ahead of No. 3 Stanford.
Pray's performance earned her the Big Sky Women's XC Athlete of the Week for the first time in her career.
The men's team finished in sixth in the 8K race with 174 points, trailing Stanford, Furman, Florida State, Charleston Southern, and Eastern Michigan. Nate Osterstock finished first for the Thunderbirds, 17th overall with a time of 24:23.0. Isaiah Labra finished shortly after at 26th with a 24:40.1 time.
Thunderbirds in the Rankings
Southern Utah is trending upwards in the USTFCCCA Mountain Region Women's Ranking, sitting at No. 9, behind Big Sky competition Weber State (No. 8) and Northern Arizona (No. 2).
The men's team is facing a different fortune with dropping in the rankings one spot to No. 11 in the Mountain Region. Montana State (No 8.), Weber State (No. 5), and Northern Arizona (No. 1), sit ahead of the Thunderbirds among Big Sky schools.
Joe Piane Invitational
The SUU teams will start racing on Friday at 8:30 am MST at the Burke Golf Course on the campus of Notre Dame. The women will kick off with the 5K while men will run in the 8K.
SUU men's team will face off with two top 10 teams in the USTFCCCA coaches poll in Butler (No. 10) and host school, Notre Dame (No. 2).
The women will run with five top 10 teams including No. 1 NC State, No. 3 New Mexico, No. 6 Alabama, No. 7 Minnesota, and No. 8 Washington.
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