SFA Ready For Regional Championships
11/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Nov. 12, 2010
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Having crossed one big item off its to-do list two weeks ago with a Southland Conference championship, the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack cross country team turns its attention this weekend toward the next thing on its list. SFA will compete in the NCAA South Central Regional Championships in Waco, Texas, on Saturday with the opportunity to do a few things no Ladyjack team has ever done.
SFA comes into the meet with a No. 5 regional ranking, just ahead of Baylor and just behind No. 4 Texas A&M. Rice is ranked third, Arkansas is second and Texas is the top-ranked team in the region. At No. 25, Texas is the only team in the region to earn a spot in the national USTFCCCA top 30.
"That means the region is not as strong as it usually is, which leaves the door open for more things to happen," SFA head coach Lou Snelling said earlier this week.
By more things that can happen, Snelling meant a berth in the NCAA Championships, but that's a goal that is never easy to attain, no matter the strength of the region. The top two teams in the region receive automatic bids to nationals, as do the top four individual runners not affiliated with an advancing team. Team at-large bids are issued contingent upon several factors, including strength of ranking, season results, and performance at the regional championships. Former Ladyjack Ashley Monteau earned individual bids in both 2004 and 2005, but SFA has never had a team advance to the NCAA Championships.
If the Ladyjacks hope to do it this year, they'll have to post a better finish at regionals than any team in program history. The best finish by an SFA women's team to date is the fifth-place showing the Ladyjacks put together in 2005.
"It's the team that really steps up and catches fire on that particular day that's going to really be in the mix [for an at-large bid]," he said. "Same thing individually; the girl that has the bigger day is going to be there."
SFA got some big individual performances at the Southland Championships in Beaumont. Sophomore transfer Lauren Smith finished second in the meet, leading an effort that saw the Ladyjacks earn four all-conference honors and set a school record with their score of 34 points. Junior Stephanie Ganter was fifth, and fifth-year seniors Megan Jenkins and Amy Shackelford finished sixth and seventh, respectively. Sophomore Randi Wymer rounded out the SFA scoring runners with a 14th-place finish.
"You look at our girls like Lauren and Stephanie," Snelling said, "and if they have the kind of day that they could have, they're going to be in that conversation [for an NCAA bid] I think. With Lauren doing what she did at conference, then Stephanie is just getting better and better every time she goes out and races, they've earned the right to have their names mentioned in that conversation about national qualifiers."
The women's 6,000-meter race will begin at 10 a.m. from Cottonwood Creek Golf Course in Waco. The men will follow with a 10,000-meter run scheduled for an 11 a.m. start. And when the Lumberjacks take the line for that race, they'll do so with something to prove.
"We're ranked 10th in the region right now," Snelling said. "I think we're better than that, and it's just a matter of the guys going out and proving it."
The Lumberjacks are coming off a fourth-place finish at the Southland Championships. SFA began the year ranked sixth in the USTFCCCA South Central Region poll. It fell to eighth in late September, and the Lumberjacks' performance at the conference championships moved them to 10th in the latest poll.
SFA limped into conference with some injury issues, not the least of which was the prolonged illness of top runner Mitch Ownbey. Snelling even considered holding the junior out of the conference meet, but Ownbey raced and finished 26th. Senior Dennis Yeats was the first Lumberjack to finish, just missing all-conference honors with his 14th-place showing. Junior Xavier Rodriguez was close behind in 16th.
"Mitch will be more in the mix at regionals for sure, which makes us a better team," Snelling said.
The coach added that the increased distance of the regional race sets up well for his men's team.
"I think 10k for our guys is a good thing," he said, "especially when you talk about some of the older guys like Mitch, Dennis, X and Harmon [McClanahan]. The big thing that we've talked about is just portioning out our effort. The farther you go, efficiency becomes more of a factor. So we have to make good decisions with the early pace. Early decisions affect the race much more in a 10k than they do in an 8k."
Snelling also noted that the increased size of the field in the regional meet is something both teams will have to deal with, but emphasized that he likes the rolling track at Cottonwood Creek because of his teams' experience with training on hilly terrain.
"The course is good for us," he said. "It's rolling the whole way. There is one hill in particular that we'll run over a couple of times that's pretty steep. So with where we run here and what we do with our training, it's a good course for us for sure."
Results from the regional meet will be posted at www.baylorbears.com immediately following the event.
-- SFA --
