WACO, Texas – Southeastern Louisiana senior Henry Ropearned a 16th place finish at the NCAA South Central Cross Country Regionals at Cottonwood Creek Golf Course. He completed the 10K course in 30:52.0.
The performance was an improvement in place and time over last year’s showing at the regional level, where Rop took 20th place and needed 31:54.8 at the same venue.
“Henry ran the best race of his career and he’s in the best shape of his life,” assistant coach Ryan Bourque said. “We’re excited about the spring and him having a great track season.”
Despite an excellent meet, Rop will not advance to the NCAA Championships. He needed to finish fourth or better among student-athletes not on the top teams, but was seventh in that group.
Freshman Joseph LeGrange completed the day in 102nd place at 34:26.5.
Southeastern’s lone female representative, senior Naomi Jeruto, was 91st place. She took 23:05.1 to cover the 6K distance.
The men’s individual winner was TCU senior Festus Kigen (30:11.1), while Arkansas was the top team. On the women’s side, Rice senior Nicole Mericle crossed the line first (20:16.3), but the Lady Owls finished second to Texas.
With the conclusion of the cross country campaign, the Lions and Lady Lions now look ahead to indoor track and field. The season begins on Jan. 15, 2011, with the LSU Purple Tiger Invitational in Baton Rouge.