Stephen F. Austin
NCAA South Central Regional
Mathenge Earns NCAA Bid at South Central Regionals
11/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
2015 NCAA South Central Regional Championships
Watts Cross Country Course • College Station, Texas
Team Results: Men (5th of 24 teams); Women (6th of 19 teams)
Race Info: Men – 10k (162 runners); Women – 6k (135 runners)
Complete Results: Men 
• Women
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – For the second straight year, Stephen F. Austin distance runner Charles Mathenge will compete at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. The junior earned his bid to nationals by finishing eighth at the NCAA South Central Regionals on Friday morning at the Watt Cross Country Course on the campus of Texas A&M.
Mathenge, a native of Ol Kalou, Kenya, was with the lead pack throughout the morning. He sat in seventh position at the 2k split and improved to fourth by the 7,700m mark before ending the race in eighth (30:16.4). Last year, Mathenge broke the 10k school record with a time of 29:58 in Fayetteville, Arkansas at the regional meet to advance to the national stage.
Mathenge’s accomplishment was just one of many highlights for the SFA men’s and women’s teams in College Station. The Ladyjacks posted 155 points to place sixth in the 6,000-meter race, representing the best team finish since 2010. The Lumberjacks grabbed fifth place for the second consecutive year and third time in the last four years at the 10,000-meter distance with 139 points.
The women beat both Texas A&M and Lamar by 35 points and came just 10 points shy of fifth-place Rice. Only 23 spots separated the Ladyjacks from SMU in third. The men did well to outrun Baylor and North Texas but came up short to fourth-place Lamar (95 points).
After only landing two student-athletes on the All-South Central Region team a year ago, SFA was represented by five on Friday. Mathenge, who crossed in 30:16.4, was followed by senior Nick Guerra in 15th (30:35.0) and sophomore Jeffrey Weisheit in 23rd (30:55.1). For the women, sophomore Taylor Anderson (20:37.0) and senior Shelby Pesek (20:37.1) came in neck-and-neck to take 21st and 22nd, respectfully. All five runners were classified as all-region for finishing in the top 25 individually.
Junior Colby Mehmen was the fourth man across for SFA, coming in at 31:38.0 to take 43rd. He started strong, running right behind Mathenge for the first 2,000 meters, but faded from eighth to 30th by the next checkpoint (7,700m). Junior Josh Torres capped the scoring for the men, placing 58th with a time of 31:59.1.
For the Ladyjacks, Anderson and Pesek were followed by sophomore Courtney High in 31st (20:53.8). High improved on her team-best fifth place time at the 2015 Southland Conference Championships two weeks ago, where she posted a 6k mark of 21:18.1. Sophomore Brittany Innis (21:14.2) and Rana Ryan (21:20.3) took 44th and 48th to round out the squad’s point earners.
Mathenge will be in the hunt at the NCAA Championships next Saturday, Nov. 21 in Louisville, Kentucky. More information will be available on SFAJacks.com in the days leading up to the event.
2015 NCAA South Central Regional Championships
Men – 5th Place (139 points)
10,000 meters
8. Charles Mathenge – 30:16.4^*
15. Nick Guerra – 30:35.0*
23. Jeffrey Weisheit – 30:55.1*
43. Colby Mehmen – 31:38.0
58. Josh Torres – 31:59.1
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88. Cody Brown – 32:43.4
113. Quinlin McGregor – 33:20.6
Women – 6th Place (155 points)
6,000 meters
21. Taylor Anderson – 20:37.0*
22. Shelby Pesek – 20:37.1*
31. Courtney High – 20:53.8
44. Brittany Innis – 21:14.2
48. Rana Ryan – 21:20.3
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72. Samantha Ottman – 21:59.5
80. Katrina Fite – 22:08.3
^ NCAA Qualifier
* All-South Central Region
-SFA-
