Oct. 28, 2007

EL PASO, Texas - The University of Houston cross country men placed fifth in the Conference USA Championship while the women came in at 11th yesterday on the Santa Teresa Country Club course hosted by UTEP. The men were led by senior Stephen Magness with a ninth place 25:49.8 finish while Jessica Cook headed the women's tam with a 19:52.7 37th place finish.

"We raced just about where I expected us to," head coach Ryan Turner said. "The men raced very well against nationally ranked teams and had a great race."

Led by Magness the men placed behind No. 3 UTEP, No. 17 Tulsa, Rice and Marshall. Ahmed Harb came in with a 26:47.3 time to place him just out of the top-15 at 16th place. For the women, the team was forced to run without a key factor in the top-end runners. Oumama Hallal was not able to compete with the team, bumping the top-end responsibilities to Cook, Adrianne Guinn and Erica Hannemann.

"Steve ran a very smart race. He performed very well and made some really good choices in his racing. Jessica also had a very smart race. I was proud of the way she led the team and how performed."

The group will travel to Fayetteville, Ark. in two weeks for the NCAA South Central Regional hosted by the University of Arkansas.

Complete Houston Results:

Men's 8K
No. 9 Stephen Magness 25:49.8
No. 16 Ahmed Harb 26:47.3
No. 32 Daniel Martinez 27:50.8
No. 36 Andrew Stover 28:21.2
No. 42 Antony Keller 28:56.1
No. 49 Nathan Trimble 30:03.3
No. 52 Adrian Slusher 30:35.5
No. 55 Mahmoud Harb 31:36.2

Women's 5K
No. 37 Jessica Cook 19:52.7
No. 54 Adriane Guinn 20:52.7
No. 56 Erica Hannemann 20:56.4
No. 72 Kelcee Keenan 21:44.0
No. 83 Jasmine Trier 22:29.5
No. 87 Lindsey Marshall 24:04.4