Cross Country Heads to SLC Championships
10/30/2002 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Oct. 30, 2002
NACOGDOCHES - The Stephen F. Austin men's and women's cross country teams head to Natchitoches, La., Monday to compete in the 2002 Southland Conference Cross Country Championships. The races will be held at the NSU Golf Course. The women's race is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. and the men's race will follow at 10:30 a.m.
A Look Back: The Lumberjacks won their first Southland Conference cross country title at the 2001 meet led by then-sophomore Nathan Flores who finished second overall with a time of 25:14.5. Flores was one of five Lumberjacks that earned All-SLC honors that day. The Ladyjacks scored 102 points to finish fifth overall, an improvement over the previous season. The Ladyjacks were led by then-sophomore Ana Rodriguez, who earned all-conference honors with her time of 18:17.3. She was fifth overall.
ROWs: Junior Nathan Flores has been one of the strongest runners in the conference so far this season. He has been the Lumberjacks top runner in the previous two meets and was named the SLC runner of the week on Oct. 22, for his performance at the Auburn Invite.
Quoting SFA Distance Coach Alex Gibby: "Anytime you are a defending champion there is a little pressure to repeat, however this is a different men's team than we had last year. Only three guys from last year's squad will tow the line on Monday. Right now we are focusing on better execution. Last year we focused on winning the SLC title. This year our emphasis is repeating at the conference meet and using that as a stepping-stone for the NCAA Regional Championships. However this is a championship opportunity and championship races bring with them a higher level of intensity. I think our preparation has gone exceedingly well to date and we hope to demonstrate that on Monday."
"All initial indications are that the women's race is going to be a very tight race. The talent in the Southland Conference is far more spread this year than in previous seasons. There is no one dominant team, which is a contrast to previous seasons. There are a few teams that can put some runners up front. We feel our women have an excellent shot at a conference title but there are a couple other teams that have equally legitimate aspirations. Texas-Arlington is a two-time conference champion with a good tradition. McNeese State is a little bit of a question mark to us because we have not run against them, but they have three really good runners up front and an improving fourth runner. Much like the men, the women's training to date has gone exceedingly well. They have demonstrated that they are much improved over previous seasons but we are still a young team composed entirely of sophomores and juniors."
-SFA-
