`Jacks Win Fifth Consecutive SLC Title
10/31/2005 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Oct. 31, 2005
NATCHITOCHES, La. - The Stephen F. Austin cross country teams came away with a team crown and two individual titles Monday at the Southland Conference Championships held on the Demon Hills Golf Course. The Lumberjacks cruised to their fifth consecutive team victory with a 31-point cushion behind the first-place finish of junior Cody Clark. The women's team finished second to Lamar for the second year in a row, and junior Ashley Monteau ran away with her second consecutive individual championship.
"That's a huge accomplishment," SFA cross country coach Lou Snelling said of the men's team winning a fifth straight title. "It's a big day for the program. I couldn't be any happier with the way we ran, especially considering that we didn't run Marc (Farris) or Julian (Acuna), who could have been our top two runners. It was a great race."
Clark completed the rolling 8,000-meter course in 25:34, leading a team effort that saw all five SFA runners finish in the Top 10 for the first time in school history.
"We knew going in Cody would have a good shot to win it," Snelling said. "He just ran a great race. There was a point there, late in the race, where he made his move and then finished it off strong."
Freshman Teddy Fanta was the second Lumberjack across the line, finishing fourth with a time of 25:53. Freshman Cole Hollingsworth (26:09) and junior Chance Edwards (26:17) were next across, finishing sixth and eighth, respectively, and junior Rodney Joseph finished ninth with a time of 26:18.
"As a whole, the team ran very smart," Snelling said. "We didn't overextend ourselves early. I was extremely proud of all the guys, with Cody winning, and Teddy, a redshirt freshman stepping up and getting in the top five. Cole also stepped up, and Chance and Rodney, they kind of toughed it out this year. They both had some injury issues to get through, and they weren't 100 percent today, but they came out and got the job done. You've got to respect that."
The Lumberjacks scored 28 points as a team, running away from second-place team Sam Houston, which compiled 59 points. McNeese State ran third with a score of 83. SFA's streak of five consecutive men's titles is the longest in the Southland Conference since Abilene Christian won seven straight championships in the 1960s. Clark is the third Lumberjack in the last four years to win an individual title.
Monteau, the defending women's individual champion, dominated her race. The Anahuac, Texas native finished more than a full minute ahead of the second-place runner, completing the 6,000-meter course in 20:54. The win marked Monteau's second conference championship and her third individual title of 2005. The Ladyjacks have now posted an individual conference champion four years in succession.
"You couldn't ask for anything more from Ashley," Snelling said. "From about 800 meters on, she took a huge lead and broke the race wide open. She's now a two-time conference champion, and that doesn't happen too often. She beat some very good competition."
The Ladyjacks scored 49 points as a team, 23 off the pace set by Lamar, but 27 points ahead of third-place Texas-Arlington. Sophomore Katrina Nicholas finished fifth with a time of 22:27. Sophomore Amber Bagwell was the next SFA runner across the stripe, finishing 12th with a time of 23:03. Junior Kimbri Lettkeman was close behind, seven seconds back in 14th place, and freshman Heather Adams (23:24) rounded out the Ladyjack scoring runners with her 17th-place showing.
"Obviously we wanted to beat Lamar, but we just came up a little short," Snelling said. "Katrina had a great day. She was all-conference, and it was her first time to do that in cross country. Amber ran the toughest race I've ever seen anybody run. She was sick, she had an asthma attack, and she still finished 12th in the conference."
SFA's next competition will come at the NCAA South Central Regional meet, scheduled for Nov. 12 in Waco, Texas.
-- SFA --
