Stephen F. Austin
SLC Pre-Conference Meet
SFA Dominant At Pre-Conference Meet
10/13/2008 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Oct. 13, 2008
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin cross country teams took four of the top five spots in both the men's and women's races Monday to sweep the Southland Conference Pre-Conference Championship meet at Piney Woods Country Club. SFA sophomore Dennis Yeats won the men's 8,000-meter race, while Whiteny Kerth, of Arkansas-Little Rock, out-paced a closely grouped foursome of Ladyjacks to win the women's 6,000-meter run.
Yeats brought home his first collegiate victory with a strong time of 25:59 on the hilly course, finishing 12 seconds ahead of junior teammate Keith Mahipala, who clocked in at 26:11. Redshirt freshmen Mitch Ownbey and Logan Smart chased them home in 26:33 and 26:36 to complete an all-Lumberjack sweep of the top four positions. True freshman Xavier Rodriguez came across 12th, rounding out the SFA scoring runners with a time of 27:43.
The Lumberjacks finished with 21 points as a team, 19 ahead of the 38 scored by second-place Arkansas-Little Rock.
James Lopez and Sam Hulse finished 16th and 17th, respectively, for SFA, with times of 28:37 and 28:40. Harmon McClanahan took 20th with a time of 29:00, and Elliot Starcevich finished 25th with a time of 29:54. Adam Saloom and Dixon Knouse ran unattached for SFA and finished ninth and 13th, respectively. Saloom clocked in at 27:26, while Knouse posted a time of 27:57.
In the women's race, true freshman Stephanie Ganter paced the Ladyjacks for the second time in three races, finishing second with a time of 22:36, just 34 seconds off Kerth's winning pace. Sophomore Amy Shackelford was third with a time of 22:56. True freshman Brette Fleming-Wood took fourth with a time of 23:18, and sophomore Meredith Blocker turned in a fifth-place time of 23:49. Sophomore Marie Flores was the fifth Ladyjack across the line, finishing seventh with a time of 24:00.
SFA's team score of 21 points beat second-place Arkansas-Little Rock by 35 points.
Including Randi Wymer, who ran unattached, the Ladyjacks packed seven runners inside the top 10 with an eighth, Heather Adams, finishing 11th overall. Sophomore Megan Jenkins chased Flores across the line in eighth with a time of 24:18. Wymer finished ninth, six seconds behind Jenkins, and Adams' 11th-place time was 25:08.
SFA will not run again until hosting the Southland Conference Championships on Nov. 3. The championship meet will also be held at Piney Woods Country Club, marking the second time in three years for SFA to host the cross country championships.
-- SFA --
