RICHARDSON, TX (10.25.18) - The UT Dallas men's and women's cross country teams will compete for the first conference titles of the new year as the Comets travel to Abilene this Saturday morning to compete in the American Southwest Conference Championships, hosted by McMurry.
ASC MEET CENTRAL
The Comet women will be looking for a third-straight ASC crown while the men are among the favorites to claim a first-ever championship for the program after back-to-back runner-up performances. The women's six-kilometer race is set for 8:30 a.m. while the men's eight-kilometer race will follow at 9:15 a.m. Both championships will be ran at the ACU Cross Country Course on the campus of Abilene Christian University.
The two-time defending champion UT Dallas women are coming off their best finish if the fall, placing second at the Bill Libby Invitational in Abilene on Oct. 13, an event that served as a unofficial preview for the ASC Championships. Junior
Hollee Ratliff won that race amid wet and muddy conditions and is poised for a third straight all-conference performance. As a freshman, Ratliff finished second at the ASC meet and then placed sixth last fall, earning first team All-ASC honors each season.
The Comet women return four runners from last year's that claimed program's second straight trophy. Junior
Gina Fossati placed 16th at last year's meet while sophomores
Katherine Merola and
Anna Schaeffer placed 21st and 32nd, respectively. Junior
Sara Hartke missed last season due to injury after placing 18th at the 2016 championships.
On the men's side, the Comets are looking for their first-ever league title. The UTD men returned nine runners from last year's squad which finished in second place for the second consecutive fall. Senior
Alireza Nourani is the Comets' top returning finisher from the 2017 championships, placing 15th as a junior. Nourani earned first team All-ASC honors as a freshman and second team recognition as a sophomore. Sophomore
Andres Uriegas placed 17th in his first ASC championship meet last fall.
Freshman
Cannon Leavitt has paced the Comets through the fall, serving as the squad's top finisher in all four meets. Leavitt placed third at the Bill Libby Invitational to lead the Comets to a second place finish in the field. The Comets topped the six other ASC teams which competed in that race. Leavitt has three top 10 finishes for the Comets this season, also placing third at the Red River Shootout hosted by Midwestern State and eighth at the Patriot Invitational hosted by Dallas Baptist, both eight-kilometer races. He has the third-fastest eight-kilometer time in the ASC this fall, finishing the MSU race in a time of 26:10.
