Stephen F. Austin
Auburn Tiger Invitational
Ladyjacks Eighth At Auburn
10/4/2008 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Oct. 4, 2008
AUBURN, Ala. - For the second time in as many meets, the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack cross country team ran against a stacked field. And, for the second straight meet, the Ladyjacks stepped up to the challenge.
Led, again, by a pair of true freshmen, the SFA women's team posted an eighth-place finish Saturday at the Auburn Tiger Invitational. The Lumberjacks managed a 10th-place team showing, despite competing without No. 3 runner Mitch Ownbey.
Of the 23 squads that recorded a team score in the women's race, three were ranked in the nation's top 30. All seven teams that finished ahead of SFA were either nationally ranked or ranked in the top 15 of their respective regions.
The Ladyjacks posted a team score of 234 points, just 39 points off the mark of seventh-place Clemson, a top 15 team in the Southeast Region.
SFA was led by freshmen Brittainy Robertson and Stephanie Ganter. Robertson was 21st with a time of 17:11.65 on the 5,000-meter course. Ganter crossed the line 29th with a time of 17:17.93. The duo also led the way two weeks ago at the Texas A&M Invitational, with Ganter finishing slightly ahead of Robertson.
"For true freshmen, that's an awesome finish, especially with this field," SFA coach Lou Snelling said. "That's two meets in a row where we've gone up against some major competition and performed well. When you talk about being in Iowa's top five, which both of those girls would have been, as well as Oregon State's top five, that's pretty solid. It's very exciting to see a pair of true freshmen do this."
Sophomore Amy Shackelford was the third Ladyjack to finish, posting a 46th-place time of 17:44.92. True freshman Brette Fleming-Wood was 84th with a time of 18:19.24, and sophomore Marie Flores rounded out the scoring runners with her 87th-place time of 18:22.38.
"It was another solid meet for us," Snelling said. "We had about a minute spread from one to five, which is not bad. We'll have to bring that down later in the season, but, overall, it was a good result. In terms of who was ahead of us, team-wise, we were the first mid-major team in the standings."
Sophomore Megan Jenkins finished 92nd with a time of 18:26.72, and sophomore Meredith Blocker ran a 19:03.28, good enough for 127th place.
In the men's race, SFA managed a top 10 finish without the services of Ownbey, who sat the meet out recovering from a stubborn illness. The Lumberjacks compiled a team score of 303 points, just nine points behind ninth-place Emory and 18 points off the 285 put up by seventh-place team McNeese State.
"We knew it was going to be a little challenging without Mitch," Snelling said.
Sophomore Dennis Yeats and junior Keith Mahipala tried to take up the slack, finishing 30th and 41st, respectively. Yeats posted a time of 23:54.21 on the 8,000-meter course, while Mahipala clocked in at 24:07.78.
"That's two pretty solid races, especially for Dennis, being a true sophomore," Snelling said. "He got out well at the gun and put himself in the race early."
Redshirt freshman Logan Smart stepped into Ownbey's slot to finish 64th with a time of 24:34.38. True freshman Harmon McClanahan was 110th, finishing his first collegiate race in 25:33.09, and sophomore Elliot Starcevich crossed the line 134th with a time of 26:00.95.
"It was a solid team effort," Snelling said. "Our depth kind of hurt us a little in the back, but if you put Mitch in the mix, it's a different race for us. In a race like this, that's probably a 50- to 60-point difference with him running."
Redshirt freshman Same Hulse finished 142nd with a time of 26:13.63, and James Lopez took 168th with a time of 26:56.03. True freshman Xavier Rodriguez competed in uniform but lost a shoe along the course, preventing the scanning equipment at the finish line from recording a result for him.
SFA's next action will be the Southland Conference pre-conference meet on Oct. 13. The meet will be held at Piney Woods Country Club in Nacogdoches.
-- SFA --
