On Friday, September 13, both cross country teams will open their respective seasons at the Rice Invitational. The meet will take place on the intramural fields just east of HRC, and just north of the Shepherd School.

Parking is free.

Women - 6:15 p.m., running 4,000 meters.

Men - 6:45 p.m., running 6,000 meters.

Jon Warren's men's team should be his best in years, as he lost only one from last year's very good squad.

Jim Bevan's women's team is an unknown quantity, as several of the top runners will not compete on Friday. Nonetheless, it will be a good opportunity to gauge some of the freshmen and sophomores.

The men's team won their race, with 46 points, followed by Lamar with 66 and McNeese State with 70.

Alex Topini and Hociel Landa were 3rd and 4th, respectively. Andrew Abikhaled was 8th, freshman Travis Dowd was 12th, with Matt Murray in 19th.

There were good efforts, also, from redshirt freshman Ace Castillo (22nd) and Adolfo Carvalho (24th). The men will get a real test in their next meet - The Chile Pepper Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The women, operating at nowhere near full strength, finished 3rd with 61 points, behind Houston (37) and Stephen F. Austin (45).

Khayla Patel was the overall winner, outsprinting 2 competitors to the finish line. Alyssa Balandran (7th), Ashley Messineo (11th), Mary Clare Neal (18th), and Caitlin Wosika (24th) also scored for the Owls, who were competing without 3 of their best runners.

Next up for the women is the McNeese State Cowboy Stampede on September 28, before heading to the Chile Pepper the following Saturday.

In the latest regional cross country rankings, Rice men are 4th, behind Arkansas, Texas, and Texas A&M. The South Central Region consists of D-1 schools from Arkansas, Louisiana, and most of Texas (not UTEP or Texas Tech).

Middle Tennessee is ranked 3rd in the South Region, while North Texas is 5th in the South Central Region.

Arkansas is 20th nationally.

The Rice women are 7th, due to their result at the Rice Invitational (without several of their top runners).

Middle Tennessee is 7th in the South Region, while UTEP is 10th in the Mountain Region.

Arkansas is 5th nationally.