Stephen F. Austin
Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree
SFA Strong At Cowboy Jamboree
10/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Oct. 3, 2009
STILLWATER, Okla. - The Stephen F. Austin cross country teams each posted top 10 finishes Saturday in the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree. The Lumberjacks placed three runners inside the top 55 and posted a team score of 275 to tie with Central Missouri for the seventh spot. In the women's race, SFA put its first two runners in the top 30 and took ninth place with a score of 241.
"This was a good opener for us," said SFA head coach Lou Snelling. "I'm particularly happy with our one-through-four runners on both sides."
In the men's race, junior Dennis Yeats led SFA by finishing 39th. He posted a time of 25:06 on the 8,000-meter course. Senior Keith Mahipala finished 10 seconds behind him in 49th place, and sophomore Mitch Ownbey took 52nd with a time of 25:18.
"With the guys, we had our top three finish within about 12 seconds of each other," Snelling said. "For an opening meet, I'm really happy with that."
Sophomore Harmon McClanahan was the fourth Lumberjack across the line, clocking in at 25:48 to finish 84th, while classmate Xavier Rodriguez rounded out SFA's scoring runners by finishing 117th with a time of 26:23.
"Harmon had a solid race," Snelling said. "For a true sophomore, 25:48 is a good opener and a good step that he took in his collegiate career."
Sophomores Adam Saloom, Logan Smart and Sam Hulse, along with redshirt freshman Dixon Knouse, finished off the Lumberjack pack. Saloom was 135th with a time of 26:38; Smart took 148th, finishing in 26:48; Knouse clocked in at 27:21 in 178th; and Hulse finished 187th with a time of 27:31.
In the women's race, true sophomore Stephanie Ganter took 17th place with a time of 17:51, and junior Amy Shackelford finished 10 spots back of her with a time of 18:09 on the 5,000-meter track.
"Stephanie ran very well," Snelling said. "Seventeenth overall in a stacked field like that is impressive. She was aggressive early, and that was really the only difference between her and Shack. Shack was a little conservative early."
Junior Megan Jenkins and true freshman Haley Parsons were the next two Ladyjacks across the line. Jenkins took 49th with a time of 18:32, and Parsons was 64th, finishing 10 seconds behind her.
"Megan and Haley ran together most of the way," Snelling said. "Megan took a big step up for us and had a great race. Haley, as a true freshman in her first collegiate race, stepped right up into our fourth spot, and that is really impressive."
Sophomore Randi Wymer was the fifth Ladyjack to finish, taking 95th with a time of 19:08. Junior Meredith Blocker finished 108th, posting a time of 19:15. Junior Marie Flores was 114th with a time of 19:23, and sophomore Brette Fleming-Wood ran a time of 19:49 to finish 134th.
The Lumberjacks finished just behind Kansas and just in front of Texas Tech, both Big 12 teams. Rice also finished behind SFA, as did Southland Conference foes UT Arlington and Texas State. In the women's race, the Ladyjacks outpaced host team Oklahoma State, as well as UTA and Texas State.
"I knew we were fit, and it showed today," Snelling said. "It's going to be exciting to see what we're capable of, as we get a little more race-sharp. I'm looking forward to FSU and, down the road, conference and regionals. I'm excited to see what we can do, especially when we put together a little bit better team race."
The Lumberjacks and Ladyjacks will compete again next week at the Florida State Invitational.
"It's going to be a totally different situation from OSU," Snelling said. "That course is totally flat, and it will be more one-on-one racing. This Oklahoma State course is the toughest course we'll see all year. It was really slow, even slower than it has been in years past, and I think the times we put up here bode well for the rest of the season."
-- SFA --
