Stephen F. Austin
NCAA South Central Regional
Mathenge Punches Ticket to Nationals
11/14/2014 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Men's Results | Women's Results
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Sophomore Charles Mathenge navigated the Agri Park course at the University of Arkansas to perfection on Friday afternoon in the NCAA South Central Regional cross country meet. He finished seventh to secure a spot in the field at the NCAA National Championships on Nov. 22 in Terre Haute, Ind. The SFA men placed fifth out of 23 schools in the 10K race while the women took ninth out of 20 teams in the 6K race to cap another successful season.
Mathenge tackled the course in 29:58 - roughly a 4:50 mile pace - to break his second school record of the season. The Ol Kalou, Kenya native also owns the school record in the 8K (23:42) after his runner-up performance in the SLC Championships on Nov. 3 in Natchitoches, La.
Mathenge ran a very smart race, starting conservative and moving up in the middle. At the 2,000 meter split, Mathenge settled in at 14th and continued to pass people throughout the race. He earned All-Region honors for his top 25 showing.
Junior Cody Brown, who narrowly missed an all-conference selection by finishing 11th in the SLC Championships, joined Mathenge on the All-Region team with a 19th place finish. The Canton, Texas native turned in a time of 30:20 to finish second on the team.
Sophomore Anthony Gallardo got off to a blistering start, crossing the 2,000 meter checkpoint second among 152 competitors. He fell back a little over the duration of the event but still put up a time of 30:56 to take 38th. Gallardo led four SFA runners who were in the top 14 at the first 2,000 meter stage.
Sophomore Colby Mehmen and redshirt freshman Jeffrey Weisheit turned in the final two SFA scores submitted to count in the team competition. Mehmen (31:05) and Weisheit (31:23) went 44th and 56th respectively.
Stanley Kebenei of Arkansas won the individual title and saw his team win its own event with 42 points. Texas also advanced to Nationals as a team with 51 points. SLC foe Lamar came in third and North Texas finished fourth ahead of SFA.
The top four men not on one of the two teams to make it out of regionals were selected to move on to the National meet. After three Arkansas runners and an athlete from Texas came in ahead of Mathenge, he clinched the third spot with an automatic nod to the NCAAs.
The women improved on their team result from a year ago and moved up three spots from the latest USTFCCCA South Central Regional rankings, which tabbed the Ladyjacks 12th heading into Friday's competition.
At the 2,000 meter split in the race, no Ladyjack runner was in the top 55, but the team continued to move up in the middle of the race to squeeze four women in the top 51 by the end.
SFA crossed in pairs en route to the ninth place, 224-point showing. Fresh off her all-conference recognition at the SLC Championships on Nov. 3, sophomore Samantha Ottman continued to run well, pacing the Ladyjacks with a time of 21:29. Junior Shelby Pesek came in right behind Ottman with a mark of 21:31. The duo placed 32nd and 33rd respectively.
The next pair to cross was redshirt freshman Courtney High and true freshman Brittany Innis who took 50th and 51st on the afternoon. High ran the 6,000 meter race in 21:46 while Innis was just off the pace at 21:47.
Redshirt freshman Taylor Bohr rounded out the scoring for the Ladyjacks, finishing in 22:11 to give SFA 69 points. Bohr (69th) ran with teammate Katrina Fite (70th) to secure the last scoring spot. The top five women nearly made the team goal of running within a 30-second spread as just 42 seconds separated first and fifth on the squad.
The University of Arkansas' Dominique Scott (19:43) won the individual title to help her team take first place with 29 total points. The Ladyjacks finished second among SLC competitors at the event with Lamar being the lone team to finish ahead in fourth place. Overall, 142 women competed on the women's side.
Up next, Mathenge will represent SFA in the NCAA National Championships on Saturday, Nov. 22 in Terre Haute, Ind. to close the 2014 cross country season.
2014 NCAA South Central Regionals Final Results
Men - 5th place overall (164 pts.)
7. Charles Mathenge - 29:58*
19. Cody Brown - 30:20
38. Anthony Gallardo - 30:56
44. Colby Mehmen - 31:05
56. Jeffrey Weisheit - 31:23
89. Quinlin McGregor - 32:01
94. Josh Torres - 32:04
Women - 9th place overall (224 pts.)
32. Samantha Ottman - 21:29
33. Shelby Pesek - 21:31
50. Courtney High - 21:46
51. Brittany Innis - 21:47
69. Taylor Bohr - 22:11
70. Katrina Fite - 22:14
84. Bridgette Kozar- 22:35
-SFA-
Players Mentioned
