Clark Announces 2015 Cross Country Schedule
8/18/2015 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
2015 SFA Cross Country Schedule
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Stephen F. Austin cross country coach Cody Clark has announced the 2015 cross country schedule. The upcoming slate features seven competitions, including a dual meet in Nacogdoches to start the year.
The 2015 season will officially get underway on Friday, September 4 when SFA hosts Northwestern State for the SFA Lumberjack Opener in Pecan Acres City Park. The women will start things off with a two-mile race beginning at 7:00 p.m. with the men to follow in a 5k at 7:30 p.m.
The following weekend, the ‘Jacks will split up to run in the Rice Invitational on Friday, September 11 and the Southland Conference Championship Preview in Huntsville on Saturday, September 12. The Huntsville course will be the site of the SLC Championships in late October.
“Over those first three meets we will just be trying to get back into the swing of things,” said Clark. “We’ll be really heavy on training during that time, mileage will be up and workouts will be tough.”
After taking the next week off from competition, SFA will get a chance to run on the NCAA South Central Regional course in the Texas A&M Invitational. The meet, held on September 26 in College Station, will feature some of the top teams from the region.
“The A&M Invite will be our first big meet of the season,” Clark said. “It will be a great opportunity for our squad to get an idea of what the regional meet will look like later in the year, and it’s also the first weekend that meets count for points for at-large bids to the NCAA Championships. We’ll have a pretty good idea where we are as a team after that weekend.”
In another potential preview, both the men and women will head to Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday, October 17 to run in the NCAA Pre-National Invitational with the opportunity to pick up points against the best teams in nation while scouting the championship course.
The SLC Championships will be held two weeks later on Friday, October 30. Both the Lumberjacks and Ladyjacks are coming off runner-up finishes at the 2014 meet and will be hungry to collect a pair of titles in Huntsville.
Finally, SFA will seek national championship berths in the NCAA South Central Regional on Friday, November 13 in College Station. Junior Charles Mathenge was the lone qualifier for the Lumberjacks in 2014.
“Our big team goals this year are to win two SLC Championships and qualify a team and individuals for nationals in November,” said Clark. “We have everyone returning back to the team this season and we also added some people that I think can help. Our returners are a year older now and they should be good to go. The big thing will just be keeping everybody healthy. We are all just really looking forward to getting the season started.”
2015 SFA Cross Country Schedule
Sept. 4 – SFA Lumberjack Opener (Nacogdoches, Texas)
Sept. 5 – SFA High School Lumberjack Invite (Nacogdoches, Texas)
Sept. 11 – Rice Invitational (Houston, Texas)
Sept. 12 – SLC Championship Preview (Huntsville, Texas)
Sept. 26 – Texas A&M Invitational (College Station, Texas)
Oct. 17 – NCAA Pre-National Invitational (Louisville, Ky.)
Oct. 30 – SLC Championships (Huntsville, Texas)
Nov. 13 – NCAA South Central Regionals (College Station, Texas)
Nov. 21 – NCAA National Championships (Louisville, Ky.)
-SFA-
