Cross Country Ready for SLC Championships
11/2/2014 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin cross country teams are set to compete in the 2014 Southland Conference Cross Country Championships on Monday morning in Natchitoches, La. The men's and women's teams will run at the Walter P. Ledet Track Complex on the campus of Northwestern State University as they seek to bring home two SLC Championship trophies.
The men's 8-kilometer championship race will begin at 8:30 a.m., followed by the women's 6-kilometer championship race at 9:30 a.m. There will be an awards ceremony immediately following the women's race.
The SFA men last won the team event in 2005, the final year of five consecutive titles from 2001-05. Lamar has since won seven of eight men's cross country championships with McNeese State winning in 2012. The last time an SFA male runner won an individual SLC title was when now head coach Cody Clark accomplished the feat in 2005.
On the women's side, the Ladyjacks will look to bring the team trophy back to Nacogdoches for the first time since winning in 2012 - the same year in which SFA's Lauren Smith last won the individual title. SFA has a league-best seven women's team championships and individual titles.
"The whole team's fit - they know they're fit," said Clark. "It's just a matter of making smart race decisions on Monday. We need to mentally be in the race and be able to execute. Being perfect on November 3rd is what we're going to try and achieve."
Both the Lumberjacks and the Ladyjacks have shown well in pre-conference races against quality teams in 2014. In five team races so far this season, the women's team has captured four top-five finishes with a second place showing at the Rice Invitational on Sept. 12. The men have placed in the top-six in all five events of the year, highlighted by third place finishes at the Aggie Opener on Aug. 29 and at the Texas A&M Invitational on Sept. 20.
Over the four standard races in the season, SFA runners have a combined six top-ten finishes between the men and the women. Junior Shelby Pesek and freshman Brittany Innis finished seventh and 10th, respectively, and sophomore Anthony Gallardo took ninth place at the Rice Invitational. Sophomore Colby Mehmen crossed fourth for the men at the Texas A&M Invitational a week later in his first race of the season and also claimed 10th place at the Alabama Crimson Classic on Oct. 17.
Sophomore Charles Mathenge has led the men in both of his races in 2014, including an eighth place performance at the University of Alabama meet. Mathenge missed a couple races early in the season due to a nagging knee injury, but has since returned to top form. He also led the team with a 16th place showing in a packed Chile Pepper Festival field on Oct. 4 - his first race of the season.
Pesek has been a familiar name near the top of the leaderboard for the women this year. She has paced her team in three of her four races and looks to be in the mix again on Monday. The Corpus Christi native finished 17th in the SLC Championships one year ago with a time of 22:21.
"Shelby's a really good leader for us," said Clark. "She's a young lady that's going to lead us and hopefully help us to a conference title and a better finish at the South Central Regional after that. She has been very consistent for us all year long."
Innis is coming off a big race at the Alabama Crimson Classic where she led the women with a 17th place finish and a time of 17:55 to earn SLC Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Week honors. She will look to ride that momentum into Monday's race with numerous conference accolades up for grabs.
"For a true freshman to get honored with the SLC Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Week is very special," Clark said. "I think it will give Brittany a ton of confidence knowing that she was able to have a great race in Alabama, step up and be our number one girl and be voted for the runner of the week. She knows that she can make that next step going in to the conference meet and she has a really good shot of being named the freshman of the year. I think she can be one of the top freshmen that crosses the line on Monday."
The rest of the SFA runners that will make the trip to Natchitoches have also had solid seasons and will be huge keys for both sides in Monday's race. Running for the men will be Mathenge, Mehmen, Gallardo, junior Cody Brown, sophomores Quinlin McGregor and Josh Torres, and redshirt freshman Jeffrey Weisheit.
The top returning performers from last year's second place effort in the conference meet for the men are Brown, Gallardo and Mehmen. Brown finished in sixth with a time of 25:16, Gallardo ran to an eighth place showing with 25:27 and Mehmen tackled the 8k course in Lake Charles, La. in 25:59 to place 17th.
Running for the women will be Pesek, Innis, redshirt freshmen Taylor Bohr and Courtney High, senior Laurie Byrd, and sophomores Katrina Fite, Bridgette Kozar and Samantha Ottman.
Byrd led the Ladyjacks in last year's SLC Championships with a sixth place showing after completing the 6k course in 21:30. The SFA women finished third as a team in 2013.
Both SFA teams will be chasing Lamar - the reigning champions for both the men and women - in this year's event.
"Between us and Lamar on both sides we just have to match up with them," Clark said. "We have to run as a team, be smart, make our moves when we need to make our moves. It's going to be a fight - I have no doubt - because I really feel that we match up well with them. Lamar is a good team and they're going to be tough. That's why you run the race to see what happens.
"I'm expecting some all-conference performances. Who that is I don't know because we can have four or five guys be all-conference and the same thing on the women's side. It's just a matter of who is going to step up on the day, who's going to be more focused and who's going to execute the race plan."
Before the team left for Natchitoches, Mathenge and Pesek each answered a few questions about the goals for Monday's race and the status and mindset of their teams going in.
Q&A - Men's Runner Charles Mathenge
On expectations for Monday's conference meet:
"I've had really good training since June - all of the summer - and I'm looking forward to doing well in conference. It's a good chance for me to do well. I think this year has been one of the best for me. I've never been this fit before so I'm looking forward to good results hopefully."
On transferring to SFA from Oklahoma State:
"This is the best team I've ever been on my whole life. They had a big team when I was at Oklahoma State - it's like a national team. I got a lot of experience there and I used that for my training this summer. But coming to SFA has been a good place for me. I think it's my best hope. I just love being here. I think what I couldn't do in Oklahoma I'm ready to do it here. There's a really good chance for me to do it so I'm really looking forward to it."
On his new teammates this season:
"The guys are really nice and I have become good friends with them. The best thing about the team is that they're always there for each other. I think for a team that's what it's about. You need that connection of being together all the time, being there for each other and being ready to help out."
On battling an injury earlier in the season:
"I had some issues with my knee in between my 16th and 17th weeks of training, but it was only for two weeks and it went away. I just took it easy when it happened earlier this season. I think my body just needed some rest because I was on high mileage for so long. After that I was good. I only raced my first race after one week of training and I did well. My next race was after two weeks of training. Now I've had four good weeks of training and it should be good now. I'm ready for Monday."
On his personal goal for Monday:
"My next goal going into this race - I'm really targeting to win the conference. I'm trying to go below 24:10 - that's my main target. I feel like I'm in the right position where I can be able to do that. If I do that in conference, I should be able to run faster than that the next few races remaining. After that, I'm really looking forward to making it to nationals and hopefully becoming an All-American. I'm hoping we can win as a team too. I think our team is good. We just need to relax now and wait for the race."
Q&A - Women's Runner Shelby Pesek
On where the team stands heading into the Southland Conference meet:
"I feel like we've grown so much since last year. Last year we had so many incoming freshmen with just four veteran girls or so. This year, that class is a lot stronger which makes the older group work harder, and then we get stronger too. You just see that in meets. Early on in the season we did a lot of team building things and talked a lot about our goals for the season. It's really cool because we make goals for each meet and so far we've hit every mark and met every goal that we've made. It's really cool to go back and look at that - it give us more confidence after each race."
On the team goals for the upcoming race:
"Out next goal is to win conference. It's going to be tough but we want to beat Lamar. They're a very good team and even though it'll be hard, it's definitely possible. We also want to get our spread from one to five within 30 or 40 seconds. That'll be a big key for us."
On the mindset going into big meets:
"Last year as a sophomore I still felt pretty nervous before the conference meet. But this year I feel a lot more confident just because I've been attacking each race and really just pushing myself. So my mindset for conference going in is just to run smart in the beginning and then just kill it at the end and move up when people start falling back. Leading up to Monday I've been trying to get my mind where I'm thinking: when I'm out there and it's hurting - every person that I pass is for the girls behind me and for my team. I'm moving up for them. I'm moving up so we can have fewer points. Literally each person is a point. That's what I'll be thinking during the race on Monday."
On being a leader of the team and helping the younger girls prepare for big races:
"I think that we do our best when we're not nervous and when coach is chill and we're chill. When we have the attitude of just going out there and giving everything we have and being relaxed - that's when we run our best. When there's no pressure. To help the team the leaders just try to keep everyone calm."
On the relationships on the SFA cross country teams:
"I really like how we are such a close team. We can address things and be honest with each other if something needs to be changed. I really think that's big - we can address issues, solve them and everyone is always thinking about what they can do for the greater good of the team. And then in general we're all just really goofy and weird, so that's always good."
The Natchitoches Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Natchitoches Historic District Development Commission and the City of Natchitoches are presenting sponsors of the 2015 Southland Conference Cross Country Championships. Lodging and tourism information about historic Natchitoches can be found at Natchitoches.com online.
For updates on SFA's quest for two Southland Conference championships on Monday morning, follow SFA Cross Country on Twitter (@SFA_TFXC). Live results for the event can be found here.
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Below is the course map for Monday's race at the Walter P. Ledet Track Complex on the campus of Northwestern State University.
