SFA Claims Runner-Up Finish at Southland Conference Women's Cross Country Championships

Friday, November 1

Conway, AR

ALL DAY

Stephen F. Austin

SLC Conference Championships

SFA Claims Runner-Up Finish at Southland Conference Women's Cross Country Championships

11/1/2019 11:25:00 AM | Women's Cross Country

Ramirez finishes as event runner-up, three Ladyjacks among top 15

By: SFA Athletics

Complete Results

CONWAY, Ark. - Powered by a runner-up finish by junior Kelsey Ramirez as well as top-15 finishes by Southland Conference Freshman of the Year Meredith Clayton and All-Southland Conference Third Team choice Madison Compass, the SFA women's cross country team posted a runner-up finish at the 2019 Southland Conference Cross Country Championships Friday morning at Beaverfork Lake.

Coming within 1.5 seconds of an individual title, Ramirez crossed the finish line behind just one other Southland Conference competitor - New Orleans' Arina Klashchukova who traversed the six-kilometer course in 20:50.5. Ramirez' time of 20:51.5 was one of only three on the day that were under 21 minutes.

From a team standpoint, SFA compiled 70 points - only six more than Central Arkansas who hoisted the Southland Conference championship trophy after having two of its runners post top-ten finishes.

Ramirez' impressive finish was hardly the only fine performance of the morning by SFA as Clayton put forth her best race so far as a collegian. The freshman continued an impressive turnaround year by getting clocked in a time of 21:59.5 which was good for an 11th-place finish. Clayton was the only freshman in the field who completed the course in under 22 minutes.

Not far behind Clayton was Compass who secured a 15th-place finish in a time of 22:06.7. Both Clayton and Compass latched on to All-Southland Conference Third Team accolades for their efforts.

Each of the Ladyjacks' top five finishers were among the top 25 on the morning. Coming in fourth among SFA's group was Isabel Borrego who posted a 20th-place time of 22:14.1. The final member of SFA's top five was senior Claire Crone (22nd, 22:18.9).

Rachel Taylor (32nd, 22:51.2), LaSean Davis (37th, 22:54.2) and Taryn Surratt (41st, 23:02.9) also took part in Friday morning's championship race for SFA.

In two weeks the Ladyjacks will be back in action as they head to Fayetteville, Ark., to take part in the NCAA South Central Regionals on Friday, Nov. 15. Currently SFA is ranked sixth in the latest edition of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) regional rankings.

Head Coach Cody Clark's Comments
"Kelsey is on point this year. She's on a mission. The New Orleans girl got her there at the end, but Kelsey led us from the start this year. As far as regionals go in two weeks, she'll have just a handful of girls she's going to be competing with. There are always people who are going to step up in that meet, but she's going to have to run a perfect race to hopefully get to nationals. Meredith Clayton was barely on the team. If you would have told me at the start of this year that she would wind up being the Southland Conference Freshman of the Year, I would have laughed at you. She has done a complete 180 from where she was. I couldn't be more proud of her. The strides she has made are unbelievable especially since she wouldn't have even been in the conversation for a top ten or top twelve spot for us. Madison, coming from track, and gutting it out is impressive as well. In cross country that's what you have to do sometimes is gut things out and just be a tough individual. We had three girls gut it out today, but we just needed two more at the end of the day."