SFA Heads To Regionals With Something To Prove
11/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Nov. 13, 2009
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - When Stephen F. Austin toes the line at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships Saturday it will do so with something to prove. The Lumberjacks and Ladyjacks are both looking to erase the memory of a Southland Conference Championship meet that didn't go as planned.
The SFA women's team posted what was initially thought to be a first-place team score before a disqualification of the Ladyjacks' top runner relegated them to second in the final standings. In the men's race, SFA finished fourth, marking just the second time in the last nine meets for the 'Jacks to finish outside the top two.
"In the women's race, I don't know how we'll come off this weekend, after what happened at conference," SFA head coach Lou Snelling said. "Every race this season, we've steadily gotten better. Our obvious goal is to continue that here at regionals."
"The men know they're a better team than what they showed at conference," the coach continued. "We had a less than average performance. We'll see those exact same teams plus the rest of the region, so we'll have an opportunity to beat some of those teams that were just ahead of us at conference."
The Lumberjacks finished with a team score of 87 points at conference, just a point behind third-place team UTSA. Sophomore Mitch Ownbey led SFA with an all-conference performance, finishing fourth. Junior Dennis Yeats and senior Keith Mahipala were 12th and 13th, respectively.
"All of our top three guys have a chance to be all-region," Snelling said. "It's going to take their best race of the season, but they can do it. And if you have three in the top 25, that definitely helps your team score."
Snelling said he expects only two teams from the men's field to qualify for the national championships. With no at-large qualifiers coming out of the region, the competition for the individual bids should be a little stiffer.
On the other side of the gender line, Snelling thinks the regional picture looks a little different.
"On the women's side, the region as a whole is not quite as competitive," he said. "We're probably looking at only two, maybe three teams getting out. But 14 of the top 25 runners from last year won't be in the race this year. It will be interesting to see how that affects the race."
Sophomore Stephanie Ganter and junior Amy Shackelford look like SFA's best shot at all-region honors. Ganter was second at the SLC Championships before she was disqualified. Shackelford finished sixth in the race. The Ladyjacks' next two across the line were junior Megan Jenkins in ninth and freshman Haley Parsons in 13th.
"With the girls, it's Shack and Steph up front," Snelling said. "They should be in the top 25. Our three and four can be close to that, I think. If they do that, we can do pretty well as a team."
The meet will be held at Cottonwood Creek Golf Course in Waco, Texas. The men's 10,000-meter run is scheduled for a 10 a.m. start with the women's 6,000 meters to follow at 11.
SFA is coming off a 2008 regional meet that saw the Lumberjacks finish eighth with the Ladyjacks taking ninth. Mahipala and Ganter led their respective teams with each finishing 36th.
"We're ranked seventh in the region on both sides right now," Snelling said. "If we go out and have an average day, that's where we'll end up. But if we can step up and have a great day, I can see us doing some pretty impressive things."
-- SFA --
