Stephen F. Austin
SLC Championship Preview
Ladyjacks Cruise to First Place in Huntsville
9/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Final Results: Men | Women
HUNTSVILLE, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin men’s and women’s cross country teams got a taste of what the Southland Conference Championships will be like in late October as the ‘Jacks ran well at the SLC Preview Meet in Huntsville on Saturday morning. The women took first as a team in the 5k and the men claimed second at the four-mile distance.
The Ladyjacks dominated the six-team field with three other teams from the SLC in action. SFA put its first six runners in the top eight and finished the meet with 18 team points, leaving Sam Houston State in the dust in second with 74 points.
Shelby Pesek was the first individual to cross the finish line in the 5k women’s race, posting a time of 18:08. It was the senior’s first race of the 2015 season. Pesek was followed by teammates Taylor Anderson (18:27) and Katrina Fite (18:28) to make it an all purple and white top three. Anderson, a redshirt sophomore from Frisco, took first at the SFA Lumberjack Opener last week at Pecan Acres City Park in Nacogdoches.
Sophomore Brittany Innis was the next to complete the course for the Ladyjacks, coming home in fifth with a mark of 18:45. Rounding out the point earners for SFA was redshirt sophomore Rana Ryan who took seventh in 18:54.
“All of our girls ran well today,” said cross country coach Cody Clark. “People are starting to really step up for us, especially Taylor who had another good race. Overall, I was pleased with the effort on the women’s side.”
In the men’s four-mile competition, the Lumberjacks finished with 33 points to take second place out of four teams – just one point behind Sam Houston State for first. Senior Nick Guerra led the way with a runner-up individual performance, coming in at 20:09. He was followed closely by Jeffrey Weisheit, who took third with a time of 20:13.
Josh Torres (20:32), Anthony Gallardo (20:45) and Cody Brown (20:46) went 7-10-11 to round out the Lumberjacks’ point earners.
“Next week will be a big week of training for us as we prepare for the Texas A&M Invitational,” said Clark. “We didn’t bring two of our top runners on both the men’s and women’s side today but all of our athletes will be on the line in two weeks in College Station. We’re looking forward to getting the full squad out there to compete.”
The Texas A&M Invitational will start at 8:15 a.m. on Saturday, September 26 in College Station.
SLC Championship Preview Final Results
Women – 1st Place (18 points)
-- 5,000m run --
1. Shelby Pesek – 18:08
2. Taylor Anderson – 18:27
3. Katrina Fite – 18:28
5. Brittany Innis – 18:45
7. Rana Ryan – 18:54
--
8. Macy Davis – 18:56
14. Jamie Contreras – 19:26
19. Mary Luster – 19:54
Men – 2nd Place (33 points)
-- Four-mile run --
2. Nick Guerra – 20:09
3. Jeffrey Weisheit – 20:13
7. Josh Torres – 20:32
10. Anthony Gallardo – 20:45
11. Cody Brown – 20:46
--
13. Larry Deramus – 21:00
14. Connor McLain – 21:01
15. Quinlin McGregor – 21:07
23. Matt Farina – 21:51
26. Sam Wallace – 22:17
27. John Shirk – 22:31
-SFA-
