The Cougar cross country team kicks off its 2007 season 6:30 p.m. today at the Baylor Twilight Invitational in Waco.
The UH men’s team will be running a 6K relay, while the UH women’s team will be running a 4K relay.
Other schools involved in the event include Baylor, Lamar, the UT men’s team, Texas A’M, TCU, UT Tyler, Dallas Baptist and others.
First-year head coach Ryan Turner will use the event to gauge where his teams stand.
"We are looking at this event as somewhat of a developmental meet," Turner said. "We want to get the season started off right, so that we can see where to go from there, and how we can improve."
For Turner’s cross country teams, finishing at the top is not the only goal.
"The goal is not necessarily to just run fast, but to improve by finishing strong, and knowing when you need to be aggressive," Turner said. "It is my job to make them faster; it is their job to learn."
Turner has high expectations for his teams in their respective races.
"The runners are still learning," Turner said. "I am still getting to know my teams, just like they are getting to know me."
Senior women’s team runner Oumama Hallal, along with the rest of the men and women’s cross country teams, have put a lot of hard work into their upcoming races.
"We have all been working very hard to prepare for the upcoming season," Hallal said. "My partner for this relay is Kelcee Keenan, and she is in really good shape, so I’m very excited."
Hallal knows that the other teams participating in the event will provide tough competition, especially the host school, Baylor.
"There are going to be some pretty good teams there," Hallal said. "Baylor is one of the top teams."
Steven Magness, senior men’s team runner, has contributed his fair share of hard work to prepare for the 2007 season.
"Steve has worked his tail off this whole summer," Turner said.
Magness will try to translate his hard work into success at the race, but he knows this is only the first of many races this season.
"The team and I want to use this race as a stepping stone for later races," Magness said. "We consider the upcoming race as more of a building block."
Thunderstorms are projected for the Waco meet, with a high chance of rain, but Magness does not feel the rain will play a very big role in the team’s success.
"I don’t think the rain will impact our running very much," Magness said. "We train in the rain sometimes. It’s just something everybody has to go through."
Hallal is not one to complain about the rain, either.
"I like it when the weather is a little cooler," Hallal said. "When it sprinkles, it actually feels pretty good while you’re running."
Turner made it evident that he wants his runners to run to their full potential, and he knows they will.
"When we put a UH jersey on, we are competing for the athletics program as a whole," Turner said. "As we give it our best and live up to the Cougar standard."
