Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
Conference USA
Cross Country Looks For Titles at C-USA Championships
10/27/2017 11:00:00 AM | Track & Field/Cross Country
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – With several wins under their belts, the Middle Tennessee cross country teams now turn to the C-USA Conference Championships. The men's and women's squads will fight for the title in Clinton, Miss. on Saturday, October 28. The meet gets underway at Choctaw Trails at 9 a.m.
The No. 25 Blue Raider men will go up against their conference foes Charlotte, FIU, Florida Atlantic, Louisiana Tech, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Rice, UTEP, UTSA and WKU. The MT women will also go against the before mentioned squads while also competing against Southern Miss and UAB.
The men's team will be looking for revenge against rival UTEP after finishing second to the Miners in the 2015 and 2016 championships. The Miners earned two C-USA Athletes of the Week this season and Cornelius Kapel and Jonah Koech will be runners to watch. The Charlotte men will also be a team to keep in check. The 49ers won two meets back in September and have a strong runner in Tom Nobles. Nobles won three C-USA Athlete of the Week honors this season.
The Blue Raiders come into the meet after earning their third win of the season at the Alabama Invitational on Oct. 10. Jacob Choge finished first overall in a personal-best 23:22.3, his first individual win of the season. Choge has been dominant for MT this season though, earning two second place finishes to start the season at the Brooks Twilight Classic and the Vanderbilt Invitational. He also held his own to finish sixth at the nationally competitive Greater Louisville Classic. Choge has earned two C-USA Athlete of the Week honors on the year and will look to repeat as C-USA individual champion this year.
Kigen Chemadi started the season strong, receiving the first USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week award in program history. Chemadi won the Brooks Twilight Classic, clipping teammate Choge down the stretch.
The Raiders will also rely on Sampson Laari, Geoffry Cheruiyot and Amos Cheruiyot as they race for the conference title.
On the women's side of the meet, the Blue Raiders will race for a title after coming in second to Rice the past two seasons. Khayla Patel earned a C-USA Athlete of the Week honor for Rice back in September and will be a contender after finishing 15th in the 2016 conference meet.
UTEP, Southern Miss and Charlotte will also be strong competitors for the Blue Raider women. Each have received a C-USA Athlete of the Week honor with the 49ers Caroline Sang having earned two. She finished second in the 2016 conference championships.
UTEP's 2016 reigning C-USA individual conference champion, Winny Koech, enters the meet after notching an impressive 10th-place finish at the NCAA Division I Pre-National Invitational just two weeks ago.
For the Blue Raider women, Julia Jelaget, Agnes Abu and Rachel Kigen will lead the charge. Kigen earned one top three finish this season, at the Brooks Twilight Classic. The trio will join Sharon Kibiwott and Gladys Kipchumba to compete for the title.
Live results of the meet will be available here.
Players Mentioned
