Southern Miss Finishes Eighth at the Conference USA Cross Country Championships
The Southern Miss women’s cross country team posted its highest finish at the Conference USA Cross Country Championships Saturday, finishing eighth in the meet held at Overton's Lake-Kristi.

Southern Miss' Janet Rono was the top finisher for the Lady Eagles, making the all-conference team with her fifth-place finish with a time of 20:22.5 in the 6K race. TCU's Gladys Keitany took first place honors with a time of 19:44.5, followed by Tara Quinn of South Florida (20:06.7), Brianna Dahm of Marquette was third (20:11.4) and Kristy Fuller of South Florida was fourth (20:22.5).

"This is the best finish we've ever had at a conference cross country meet," Cross Country Head Coach Dena Dunn-Reif said. "I thought we ran hard, especially Janet. I knew she had the capability of finishing in the top 10, and for her to finish in the top five just shows how talented she is. Hard work certainly paid off her her. Overall, I am pleased with our team."

Marquette took the team honors with 46 points, after placing five runners in the top 15. South Florida finished second (60) followed by TCU (85), Houston (137), East Carolina (152), DePaul (167), Louisville (214), Southern Miss (221), Cincinnati (233), Tulane (246), Charlotte (280), Memphis (334), Saint Louis (336) and UAB (410).

Rounding out the top five finishes for Southern Miss finishes included, Jessica Crump (49) with a time of 22:20.7, Keri White (51) with a time of 22:23.4, Rose Kurui (56) 22:28.5, Oby Amadi (70) 23:02.5. Other Lady Eagles finishes included Tomeka Shaffer with a time of 24:13.2, Karen Tankersley at 24:14.6, and Jenny Combs at 27:20.2.

Southern Miss will compete in its final meet of the season at the NCAA District 9 Championships in Birmingham, Ala., on Nov. 10.