New Orleans - The Tulane cross country team ran in its first conference championship in more than two years and its six runners combined for a sixth place finish in the 12-team field at the 2006 Conference USA Cross Country Championships at a windy Lake Kristi in Grimesland, N.C. on Saturday.
Despite a 24-hour period of steady rain fall Friday that created muddy and sloppy running conditions for the runners, Tulane overcame the adverse conditions and finished with 184 points.
Juniors Rachel Bryan and Aubrey Phillips were the top finishers for the Green Wave, finishing 19th and 20th overall, respectively. Bryan crossed the finish line with a time of 18:59.28, while Phillips was two seconds behind in a time of 19:01.38
Savannah Moon clocked a time of 19:18.90 for a 27th place finish and Whitney Hampton was 52nd overall with a time of 20:19.96.
Closing out the Wave lineup was Jill Shriver with a 73rd place time of 21:31.01, while Kerriann Langley was the final TU runner to cross the finish line in a time of 22:07.50 for a 78th place finish.
The women\'s team race was a lot closer as one point separated the top two finishers. UAB tallied 54 points, while the defending champions Rice scored 55 points for second. The 2005 race saw Rice winning and UAB finishing second. UAB was without its top runner and 2005 C-USA individual champion Elizabeth Ambrus. Ambrus missed the championship with a foot injury.
SMU\'s junior Rachel Forish took home individual honors with a first place time of 17:14.54.