SFA Aims for National Qualifiers at Regionals
11/13/2014 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Fresh off their runner-up performances at the 2014 Southland Conference Championships, the Stephen F. Austin men's and women's cross country teams will now head to Fayetteville, Ark. for the NCAA South Central Regional Meet on Friday afternoon. The event will be held at Agri Park on the campus of the University of Arkansas.
The women's 6K championship race will start things off at 12:00 p.m. with the men's 10K championship race to follow at 1:00 p.m. The women's field will consist of more than 200 of the region's top runners from 26 different schools and the men's field will be showcase more than 200 athletes representing 25 Division I teams in the region.
The top two teams in each race will punch their tickets to the 2014 NCAA Championships with the top four men and women not on the two advancing teams moving on as individuals. The first 25 runners to cross the finish line in both races will be named to the All-Region team.
"Our second place finish at the SLC Championships gave a lot of confidence to everyone on the team heading into Friday's meet," said head coach Cody Clark. "We know we're fit, we're fast and now we just have to go to the regional championships to see if we can do something really big."
The women's team claimed the runner-up trophy at the SLC meet on Nov. 3 using three All-Conference performances. Redshirt freshman Courtney High led a trio of Ladyjacks that finished 6-7-8 overall. Sophomore Samantha Ottman and true freshman Brittany Innis finished seventh and eighth, respectively, as all three garnered second team recognition.
"For the women it's just about placing better at regionals than they did last year," said Clark. "Last year we just didn't have a very good race, but this year I can see us being anywhere from fifth to eighth. The closer we are to fifth will be a big accomplishment for us, beating some big teams.
"Our three all-conference girls put a really good race together last week. For the team, we're just going to try to put as many as we can in the top 25, which would be all-region. If we can put three or four in that range then I think the team is going to do awesome."
On the men's side, sophomores Charles Mathenge and Colby Mehmen will be gunning for a spot in the NCAA Championships after standout performances in the SLC meet. Mathenge finished second overall on Nov. 3 with an SFA record-breaking time of 23:42 in the 8K race. He was honored with a spot on the All-SLC First Team and named Male Newcomer of the Year for his efforts. Mehmen grabbed eighth place in the meet for a spot on the conference second team while helping his team finish second.
"The men could be second or they could be eighth on Friday," Clark said. "We could possibly have some national qualifiers out of the group. We just bring a lot of confidence coming off the Southland meet and what we were able to do there. Last year we finished fourth in the region and our goal is to do better than that this season.
"I think Charles and Colby have the best shot to make it individually if we don't make it out as a team. Colby is more of a 10K guy, Charles is more of a 10K guy, so when we move up from 8K to 10K (6.2 miles versus roughly five miles) it's definitely something we welcome. That extra 2,000 meters for us is something we want because the longer we go the better we are. It's a really good opportunity for them."
Each SFA squad will be sending seven student-athletes to Fayetteville. For the men it will be Mathenge, Mehmen, junior Cody Brown, sophomores Anthony Gallardo, Quinlin McGregor, Josh Torres and redshirt freshman Jeffrey Weisheit. The women will be represented by High, Ottman, Innis, junior Shelby Pesek, sophomores Katrina Fite and Bridgette Kozar and redshirt freshman Taylor Bohr.
SFA's men enter the race ranked No. 8 in the latest USTFCCCA South Central Regional Rankings while the women are ranked No. 12.
The last time SFA had a national qualifier was in 2012 when the Lumberjacks saw Xavier Rodriguez advance individually for the men's team and Lauren Smith for the women.
Before the teams hit the road to Arkansas on Thursday morning, both Mehmen and High previewed what to expect on Friday:
Q&A - Men's Runner Colby Mehmen
On his performance at the SLC Championships:
"It was a pretty good race. Charles and I went out a little bit more conservative than our other races. He did really well, setting the school record, and I was just behind him. I was pretty excited with that performance and hopefully I can carry that over to the regional meet and make it to nationals."
On the goals for regionals:
"Nationals is definitely the big thing. I also want to run a pretty solid time - around 30:30 - hopefully that can get me out. That's been my time goal all year and I think my past performances show that I can do that. If I do that, the main goal will be accomplished."
On the increased distance (8K to 10K) for Friday's meet:
"I'm a lot more excited for the 10K. The 8K is a little short for me and on down. I'm more of a long distance guy compared to some of the other guys so this is definitely an advantage for me coming into this race and I'm looking forward to it."
On where the team stands prior to Friday's race:
"The main goal for the team is to make it to nationals. I think the 10K is a main strength for the entire team. We got second in conference but we could easily beat Lamar at the 10K so everything's really a toss-up. We don't really know what's going to happen and it's going to be really fun to see what happens this Friday."
On his relationship with fellow All-SLC runner Charles Mathenge:
"We've grown to be really close. Every day we put in miles together and we really share the hardships and everything. It's really easy to connect with somebody like that. I think Charles and I share the same competitive mentality as well as the other guys on the team. Off the course we're friends and enjoy spending time together too."
Q&A - Women's Runner Courtney High
On the women's performance at the SLC Championships:
"We were really just trying to go out there and get Lamar honestly. We knew it would be tough but we came out in second and had some good performances on the team. We were just excited to have three in the top 10 and then get second. We worked really hard for that. Personally, I just went out and did the best that I could."
On the focus leading up to the regional meet:
"The team was just trying to maintain leading up to Friday's race. We've already put in all the work so it was just about letting our bodies recover from conference and make sure we're ready to go for regionals. As a team, the coaches are saying we can finish in the top five if we're running our best but we're just going to go out and do the best that we can and see how it goes."
On running in the colder weather that is expected for Friday and the different course conditions:
"I think some of the girls run better in colder weather so that will be good for them. Personally, I don't but that's okay. I'll just have a longer warm-up and wear lots of warm clothes. There are more hills at this course which will be different than conference. But we've raced on the course before so that'll be good. We'll have to go out and tackle the hills the best that we can and move up in the middle of the race when everyone else starts dying off hopefully."
On personal goals for Friday's meet:
"It's hard for me to say a personal goal because I've never raced regionals before. Again, I always just try to go out and do my best and really move up in the middle of the race and try to pick people off. I'll be looking to get as close to the top 25 as I can.
Admissions to both races on Friday afternoon are free of charge and open to the public. Live results can be found here.
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