Sept. 6, 2006

IRVING, Texas - Tulsa junior Brett Turowski and UAB's Elizabeth Ambrus have earned the first Conference USA Cross Country Athlete of the Week awards. Both student-athletes finished second individually in their opening meet of the 2006 season. Turowski clocked a time of 20:26, three seconds off the winning mark in the four-mile race. Ambrus, a senior, led her squad to the meet title with an individual second-place three-mile time of 14:01.32.

Sept. 6 Cross Country Athletes of the Week

MALE
Brett Turowski, Jr., Tulsa
As a team, Tulsa finished second at its annual Hurricane Cross Country Festival hosted at Mohawk Park in Tulsa. The men's squad was narrowly edged out by Oklahoma by a score of 30 to 33. The men were led by junior Brett Turowski who clocked a time of 20:26, three seconds off the winning time in the four-mile race.

FEMALE
Elizabeth Ambrus, Sr., UAB
The UAB women's cross country team opened the 2006 season by winning the Belmont Opener in Nashville, Tenn., and edging out three-time defending SEC champion Tennessee.

The Blazers, led by an individual runner-up finish by senior Elizabeth Ambrus, defeated the Volunteers by a 57-58 score in the 11-team field.

The Blazers, runners-up in Conference USA a year ago but with their entire roster back for the `06 season, were outstanding in their opening meet of the fall. Aside from Ambrus' 14:01.32 time, UAB had four other top 25 marks.