Cross Country Set For Lumberjack Opener
8/28/2008 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Aug. 28, 2008
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin cross country team will open the 2008 season Friday morning with the Lumberjack opener. The meet will feature teams from SFA and Southland Conference foe Northwestern State and will be held at Pecan Acres Park, just north of the SFA campus.
The Lumberjack Opener is a non-scoring, relay-style race. The women's race will begin at 9 a.m. with the men scheduled to run at 9:45.
"We're using this meet primarily as a workout," SFA coach Lou Snelling said. "Our focus is squarely on November and the championship meets in that month. With that in mind, there's no sense in racing 6,000 or 8,000 meters at this point in the season."
Snelling wants his teams focused on the late-season races because he thinks he's got the talent to make an impact in November. The Ladyjacks bring back five returning runners and, this off-season, added what Snelling says might be the most talented recruiting class in program history. A year after running all season with just one senior, the Lumberjacks are still young in 2008. Fourth-year junior Keith Mahipala is the most experienced runner in the group, but the squad is much deeper now than it was a year ago. Two sophomores, three redshirt freshmen and a pair of talented true freshmen join Mahipala on the line.
SFA began fall training a little under two weeks ago. Snelling is pleased with his teams' progress, thus far, and is anxious to see what he can learn from Friday's competition.
"This race will give us more information in terms of how fit we are," the coach said. "These last two weeks have given us a good look, but this race will be one more piece to show us where everyone is. We had a great summer, so it's not a question of whether we're fit or not, it's how fit are we."
Snelling is particularly interested to see how his true freshmen react to their first college competition.
"Some newcomers will be in uniform, some won't," he said. "But it will be a nice relaxed introduction to the collegiate race environment for all of them."
-- SFA --
