The Cougars hope to build off of a strong start to their season with two events this weekend.
The Cougars’ men’s and women’s teams will each send their top eight runners to compete at the Missouri Southern Stampede in Joplin, Mo., while the rest of the roster will run at the Rice Invitational.
The Missouri Southern Stampede will be an opportunity for both the men’s and women’s squads to build on their recent jump in the USTFCCCA regional rankings. Both teams finished second in their opening event, the UH-hosted Johnny Morriss Invitational at Buffalo Bayou Park earlier this month.
The strong finish moved the men to No. 12 in the region, while the women jumped from No. 12 to No. 10 in the South Central region.
The men’s quest to continue their ascension will be made easier this weekend by the return of senior Wesley Ruttoh who was sidelined with a toe injury. This is Ruttoh’s first season competing for UH in cross country after transferring from Eastern Kentucky. In his final season with the Colonels, Ruttoh won the Ohio Valley Conference Champions and was named the conference’s runner of the year. Ruttoh made his debut for the Cougars last spring.
He will be joined at the Missouri Southern Stampede by Nate Pineda, Andres Santaoloalla, Anthony Jordan, David Smith, Drevan Anderson-Kaapa, Yonas Tesfai and John Cantu.
Competing for the women will be Megan Munoz, Starla Garcia, Kat Ducommun, Eryn Barroso, Julie Reinwald, Taylor Beer, Jaime Johnson and Alexis Vick.
The Missouri meet will get underway Saturday with the women starting at 8:30 a.m. and the men following at 8:50 a.m.
The Rice Inviational will take place at a course marked off of Rice Blvd. between Sunset/Main and Greenbriar. The women will begin at 6:30 p.m. and the men at 6:50 p.m.
