Terre Haute, Ind. - South Alabama men's cross country team, ranked No.4 in the South Region, competed at the Pre-NCAA Championships Saturday. The Jaguars finished 20th in a field which included nine top-30 nationally-ranked teams in the white race.
The Jags were led by two-time Sun Belt Conference cross country champion Micah Tirop, and sophomore Zac Edwards, who placed 13th and 20th respectively in the 8,000 meter course (24:03.6) (24:08.9).
"I was very happy with how Micah and Zac ran. Micah was in 2nd most of the race and lead the chase pack. When we start doing speed work he will be able to finish with any of those guy," said distance coach Tim Goldsack. "Zac executed the race plan we set for perfectly going from the 40's mid race moving up to 20th."
Completing the top five for the Jaguars were freshman Matt Miller (25:45.0), junior Saber Salah (25:50.0), and sophomore Rich Schmitz (25:57.0).
"Our 3rd-7th runners did not have a good day at all. For the four of them it was their first experience at such a high quality meet and it showed," said Goldsack. "They never put themselves in the race and it was a learning experience."
Nine nationally-ranked teams competed in today's white division race, with No. 1 Stanford claiming first place with 47 points. No. 4 Colorado (130) and No. 6 BYU (163) finished second and third, respectively. No. 8 Portland (211) and No. 12 Iona (218) rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth. South Alabama placed 20th (514) out of 37 teams in the race.
"Overall we learned a lot from the race. We are going to work hard over the next two weeks to be ready for conference," said Goldsack. "We will run better there."
The Jaguars will take a week off before beginning the championship portion of the season. The team will compete at the Sun Belt Conference Championships on Oct. 31 in Monroe, La.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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