Stephen F. Austin
Indiana Intercollegiate
'Jacks Run Strong at Indiana Intercollegiate
9/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Sept. 15, 2006
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack cross country team got its first glimpse of the national championship course on Friday. Apparently, they liked what they saw. The Lumberjacks, led by senior Marc Farris' individual championship, put seven of their eight runners in the Top 10 of the men's open race at the Indiana Intercollegiate, hosted by Indiana State.
Farris completed the eight-kilometer course in 25:44.7. The rest of the SFA pack was not far behind. Sophomore Keith Mahipala crossed the line fifth with a time of 26:10.3, and the Lumberjacks took each of the next six individual positions, with the last seven runners finishing within 1:10 of Mahipala's time. Seniors Chance Edwards, Rodney Joseph and Cody Clark finished sixth, seventh, and eighth, sophomores Teddy Fanta and Cole Hollingsworth were ninth and 10th, and senior Julian Acuna finished 11th.
The Lumberjacks will return to Terre Haut, the site of the NCAA Championships, for the Pre-NCAAs in October. They hope to perform well enough at that meet to earn a team bid to the national championships. Friday's race was merely a learning expedition and a first step toward that ultimate goal. With that in mind, SFA cross country coach Lou Snelling was more than pleased with his team's performance.
"In terms of why we came up here -- to see the course, learn it and get comfortable with it -- this was a successful trip for us," Snelling said. "At the pre-nats in a month, we'll really be able to judge where we're at when we're on the course with 40 other teams. By coming up here and getting comfortable with the course, we're going to be more aware of where we are on the course throughout the entire race, and that's going to help us when there are hundreds of people on the course at the same time."
On an individual note, Snelling said Farris' effort, especially late in the race, was encouraging.
"We ran a very controlled early race," the coach said. "The first three miles were a tempo effort for us. But Marc ran his last two miles in under 10 minutes total. That's pretty impressive for him, considering where we are in our training, right now."
Snelling was also pleased with the way his team stuck together on the course.
"We had a great pack," he said. "All eight of the guys who were there, they were basically together through three miles. Then after that, it was just a matter of who felt the best today. They worked together very well, and that was one of our big goals, besides learning the course."
-- SFA --
