TCU
UNT Opener
TCU Cross Country Shines At UNT Metroplex Opener
9/1/2011 12:00:00 AM | General
Sept. 1, 2011
COMPLETE RESULTS
DENTON, Texas - Junior Daniel Ludwig paced the field and led the TCU men's cross country program to the 6k team title at the UNT Metroplex Opener Thursday. The women's squad earned second-place honors in the 4k race behind only SMU.
"It was exciting to see such a young group run together on the men's side," TCU head cross country coach Liz Wort said. "Daniel looked really good in his first race and I feel like we executed the race plan really well. The top girls ran well. Agnes Kemboi and Tricia Terry worked really well together and got some competition going and were able to close the gap."
Overall, TCU captured the men's team title with 19 points, finishing ahead of North Texas (41 points) and Dallas Baptist (71 points). The win for the Horned Frogs was the first men's team title since winning the TCU Season Opener in 2009. On the women's side, the Frogs earned runner-up accolades with 39 points, while SMU won the overall team title with 36 points.
Ludwig, an Ocoee, Fla., native, picks up his first win as a Horned Frog after earning NCAA Dividion III All-Region honors for UT-Dallas last November. The junior transferred to TCU just in time to win the men's 6k race at the UNT Cross Country Course with a time of 19:45. The win for Ludwig was also the first career victory for Wort as a head coach after joining the Frogs' program last month.
Freshman Preston Newsome followed Ludwig's first-place showing with a time of 20:10 to finish third overall. The Lawrence, Kan., native was competing in his first career cross country race. Freshman Andy Kramer followed in fourth overall at 20:30, just ahead of newcomers Taylor Moult and Mason Richards, finishing with identical times of 20:31 for fifth and sixth place, respectively. Freshman Kevin Case rounded out the top-10 for TCU, running 20:54 for 10th overall.
On the women's side, junior Agnes Kemboi led the way, earning runner-up accolades with a time of 14:07, followed by junior Tricia Terry in fourth place overall at 14:37. Senior Kelly Dawson wasn't far behind, earned sixth-place honors with a time of 14:55, while junior Katie Dalton crossed the finish line at 15:47 for 12th overall. Freshman Abby Ter Haar rallied for 15th place, followed by newcomer Hanna Jane Stradinger for 24th overall.
"It is still so early in the season," Wort said. "We were really using this race as more of a workout and a chance for our team to start thinking about racing. We got the chance to go through our pre-race routine and put some racing shoes on. It feels good to get the first race under our belt and have a good starting point to move on from here."
TCU will have a more than a week off before competing in the UTA Mav's Challenge, hosted by UT-Arlington, on Saturday, Sept. 10.
Players Mentioned
