Stephen F. Austin
NCAA Regional Championships
SFA Posts Two All-Region Performances
11/13/2010 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Nov. 13, 2010
WACO, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin cross country teams competed at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships on Saturday. The Ladyjacks finished sixth in the women's race, and the Lumberjacks took eighth in the men's competition. Each squad posted one all-region honoree.
With a team score of 150, the Ladyjacks finished 10 points behind fifth-place Texas A&M. SFA put four of its five scoring runners inside the top 35, led by an all-region performance from junior Stephanie Ganter.
"I'm very proud of Stephanie," SFA head coach Lou Snelling said. "Thirteenth is one of the highest finishes we've had since the last time Ashley [Monteau] qualified for NCAAs. She ran a great race, very smart, and just put herself where she needed to and made good decisions all the way through."
Ganter finished 13th with a time of 21:05 on the 6,000-meter course. She was the first Southland Conference athlete to finish. Senior Megan Jenkins was the next Ladyjack across the line, finishing 31st with a time of 21:27. Sophomore Lauren Smith was one spot behind her, posting a time of 21:28. Two spots back in 34th, senior Amy Shackelford finished in 21:32, and sophomore Randi Wymer took 47th with a time of 21:44.
"It was a very aggressive race and you can see, time-wise, compared to last year, it was just a ton faster," Snelling said. "Our fifth, Randi, ran over a minute faster than she did last year and only got one place higher."
Senior Marie Flores was 75th, crossing the line in 22:26, and classmate Meredith Blocker took 96th with a time of 23:14.
"This was one of those meets where if you want to do big things, your margin for error is small," Snelling said. "It was a solid day, though. It's the highest finish we've had since 2005."
The Lumberjacks were the third Southland team in the standings, finishing just ahead of UTSA with 215 points.
Junior Xavier Rodriguez took all-region honors with his 18th-place time of 30:59 on the 10,000-meter course.
"That's the best collegiate cross country race X has put together so far," Snelling said. "He made good decisions and put himself in good position from the beginning. It was the opposite of the women's race. It was not aggressive at all and there was a huge pack of guys early. He got in there and stuck with it."
Senior Dennis Yeats was the next Lumberjack to finish, taking 40th with a time of 31:39. Junior Mitch Ownbey was 49th, finishing in 31:45, classmate Adam Saloom took 53rd with a time of 31:52, and junior Harmon McClanahan rounded out the scoring runners with his 65th-place time of 32:15.
True freshman Moses Luevano was 76th, finishing in 32:44, and freshman Jonus Rodriguez clocked in at 33:45 to finish 95th.
"We talked about stepping up from our 10th place ranking in the region and they did that," Snelling said. "I still think we're better than that, but we're going to have to wait until next year to prove it."
-- SFA --
