Stephen F. Austin
Lumberjack Opener
SFA Dominates Lumberjack Opener
9/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Sept. 3, 2010
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Stephen F. Austin athletes took the top four slots in both races Friday of the season-opening Lumberjack Opener at Pecan Acres Park. A combination of uniformed and unattached runners for SFA filled up the one-through-four positions in the women's race, as well as the men's race.
The meet is a non-scoring, relay-style event set up with athletes paired into teams of two. In the women's race, each runner completed two laps of a 2,000-meter circuit, while the men ran three laps each.
"We got a good workout in today," SFA cross country coach Lou Snelling said. "I was happy with the effort. We kept appropriate pacing and achieved our goals."
In the women's race, junior Stephanie Ganter and sophomore transfer Lauren Smith teamed as unattached competitors to take the individual title with a combined time of 29:52.2 on the 8,000-meter course. Seniors Meredith Blocker and Marie Flores raced in uniform and finished second with a time of 30:25.2. Classmates Amy Shackelford and Megan Jenkins finished just four-tenths of a second behind them in third. Freshmen Amanda Walters and Becca Blubaugh ran unattached and took fourth with a time of 30:33.0.
Lumberjacks likewise dominated the men's race. Freshman Ryan Tilotta teamed with junior Harmon McClanahan in an unattached pair to win the race with a time of 39:18.1. Junior Mitch Ownbey and redshirt freshman Jonus Rodriguez competed in uniform and took second, crossing the line in 39:23.9. The unattached duo of Dennis Yeats and Moses Luevano were third, finishing in 39:28.3. Junior Logan Smart and redshirt freshman Nathan Collier took fourth with a time of 39:33.4.
Athletes from Northwestern State and Centenary College also participated in the meet.
SFA will open the season in earnest on Sept. 25 when it travels to Memphis for the Memphis Twilight.
-- SFA --
