Stephen F. Austin
Southland Conference Championships
SFA Sweeps Second at the SLC Championships
11/3/2014 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Men's Results | Women's Results
NATCHITOCHES, La. - The Stephen F. Austin men's and women's cross country teams both ran to second place finishes in the 2014 Southland Conference Championships on Monday morning at the Walter P. Ledet Track Complex on the campus of Northwestern State.
Sophomore Charles Mathenge shattered the SFA school record in the 8,000 meter race, crossing the finish line in 23:42 to claim runner-up in the individual men's competition. He is the only SFA runner ever to run under 24 minutes in an 8k race and was named First Team All-SLC for his efforts.
"Charles ran a very smart race today," said head coach Cody Clark. "He didn't go out too hard, he held back of the leaders and let them do the work, then just kept moving up. He's fit, he's ready and he made some adjustments coming off of his two previous races (Chile Pepper and Alabama). He ran a school record in his first year here, which is a huge achievement, and I'm looking forward to seeing him run at regionals. I think he'll have as good a shot as anybody to contend for the individual title."
Joining Mathenge with all-conference accolades was sophomore Colby Mehmen, who took eighth place for the men with a time of 24:21 to be placed on the second team. Mehmen improved nine spots and took 1:38 off his time from last year's SLC Championship.
The rest of the point-earners on the men's side finished within 12 seconds and four places of each other. Junior Cody Brown came in just outside the top-10 at 11th with a 24:34 mark. Sophomore Josh Torres (24:44) and redshirt freshman Jeffrey Weisheit (24:46) ran right behind Brown and took 13th and 14th, respectfully, to round out the top five for the men.
The Lumberjacks tallied 48 points overall en route to their second place finish. Lamar's Sam Stabler won the event with a 23:29 showing to lead the Cardinals to the team title. SFA topped third place McNeese State by 49 points and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Central Arkansas rounded out the top five.
The women's team got three all-conference performances with a balanced attack from redshirt freshman Courtney High, sophomore Samantha Ottman and true freshman Brittany Innis. The trio crossed 6-7-8 for the Ladyjacks to earn second team recognition in the 6,000 meter race. High paced the women with a time of 21:01, Ottman posted 21:04.4 and Innis followed closely with a 21:04.7 mark.
Junior Shelby Pesek improved on her SLC performance from last season, finishing in 21:29 to take 13th. Sophomore Bridgette Kozar notched 16 points for her team after completing the course in 21:39 to round out the top five.
"It was great to get a six-seven-eight finish for the women," Clark said. "Samantha really stepped up today. She's kind of been back and forth all year and it was good to see her have a quality race in the conference championships. It should do a lot for her confidence. Courtney has been running solid for us all year, finishing as our number two or number three. Brittany has been anywhere from our number one to our number three, so with the three of them working together to get it done, that was good to see. I think today was a good step for Samantha and for Brittany. We've grown up a lot in a year's time. For us to make this next big step is awesome and I'm proud of the girls today."
The Ladyjacks scored 50 points as a team in their runner-up finish. Lamar's Minttu Hukka won the individual race with a time of 20:06 - 38 seconds faster the second place runner - to help the Lady Cardinals win the team title. SFA beat third place Sam Houston State by a large, 56-point margin. McNeese State and Abilene Christian rounded out the top five for the women.
The SFA cross country teams will now turn their focus to the NCAA South Central Regional meet on Friday, Nov. 14 in Fayetteville, Ark. with NCAA National Championship berths on the line.
"Now we need to get ready for 11 days from now at the South Central Regional meet," said Clark. "It will be a 10,000 meter race, so 2,000 more than it was today. That's what we train for, so hopefully we can get a national qualifier out of that. Teamwise, it's going to be close, so we'll see. Anything can happen."
2014 Southland Conference Championships Final Results
Men - 2nd place overall (48 pts.)
2. Charles Mathenge - 23:42
8. Colby Mehmen - 24:21
11. Cody Brown - 24:34
13. Josh Torres - 24:44
14. Jeffrey Weisheit - 24:46
36. Anthony Gallardo - 25:26
48. Quinlin McGregor - 25:51
Women - 2nd place overall (50 pts.)
6. Courtney High - 21:01
7. Samantha Ottman - 21:04.4
8. Brittany Innis - 21:04.7
13. Shelby Pesek - 21:29
16. Bridgette Kozar - 21:39
22. Katrina Fite - 21:54
25. Taylor Bohr - 22.07
83. Laurie Byrd - 25:59
-SFA-
