Cardinals, Wildcats Win Southland Cross Country Title
Southland Conference
Men's Results (PDF)
Women's Results (PDF)
Photo Gallery
Highlights:
Men |
Women
Trophy Ceremony Video:
Men |
Women
Interviews:
Aouani |
Houchin |
Hackett |
Walker
HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Lamar men’s team won the 8-kilometer championship race while the Abilene Christian women’s team won the 6-kilometer championship race at the 2015 Southland Conference Cross Country Championships Friday at the Country Campus Golf Course.
The Lamar men's team scored 27 points to claim their third straight Southland title and ninth in the last ten years. Stephen F. Austin men finished second with 29 points, while McNeese State was third with 79 points. Central Arkansas men took the fourth spot with 129 points and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi rounded out the top five, scoring 147 points.
Iliass Aouani, a native of Sicily, Italy, ran the 8,000-meter men’s race with a time of 24:24.6, leading a group of Lamar men who finished five in the top eight. Stephen F. Austin’s Charles Mathenge placed second in the race with a time of 24:35.9, followed by his teammates Nicholas Guerra (24:37.1) and Colby Mehmen (24:43.9) who placed third and fourth, respectively. Lamar’s Alex Dunbar finished out the top five with a time of 24:51.9. Lamar and Stephen F. Austin combined for 10 of the top-11 finishes.
Scoring 43 points, Abilene Christian women’s team captured their first Southland title. Stephen F. Austin women were runner-up with 52 points. Lamar women scored 84 points for a third-place finish, while UIW came in fourth with 112 points. McNeese women finished fifth, scoring 130 points.
Alexandria Hackett, a Cranston, Rhode Island, native, ran the 6,000-meter women’s race in 20:26.6, as the Abilene Christian women claimed two of the top five spots. Lamar’s Jannika John finished second with a time of 21:04.5 while her teammate Verity Ockenden was right behind her at 21:04.9. Diana Garcia-Munoz placed fourth for Abilene Christian with a time of 21:14.0 while Stephen F Austin’s Courtney High placed fifth at 21:18.1.
The top-15 finishers in each race earned all-conference honors. The top five finishers earned first-team honors, while the next five finishers were named to the second team. The 11th through 15th finishers earned honorable mention all-conference honors.
The NCAA South Central Cross Country Regional Championships will be held Nov. 13, in College Station, Texas, followed by the NCAA Championships Nov. 21, in Louisville, Kentucky.
Men’s Team Results
| 1 |
Lamar |
27 |
| 2 |
Stephen F. Austin |
29 |
| 3 |
McNeese State |
79 |
| 4 |
Central Arkansas |
129 |
| 5 |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
147 |
| 6 |
Houston Baptist |
177 |
| 7 |
Sam Houston State |
198 |
| 8 |
UIW |
223 |
| 9 |
Abilene Christian |
250 |
| 10 |
Southeastern Louisiana |
289 |
| 11 |
Northwestern State |
291 |
| 12 |
New Orleans |
318 |
Men’s All-Conference Selections
First Team: Iliass Aouani, Lamar; Charles Mathenge, Stephen F. Austin; Nicholas Guerra, Stephen F. Austin; Colby Mehmen, Stephen F. Austin; Alex Dunbar, Lamar.
Second Team: Sean Chalmers, Lamar; Gabriel Steffenson, Lamar; Tobias Riker; Lamar; Jeffrey Weisheit, Stephen F. Austin; Nathan Jones, McNeese State.
Honorable Mention: Cody Brown, Stephen F. Austin; Julien Jeandree, Central Arkansas; Enock Bor, McNeese State; Bradley Traviss, McNeese State; Garett Cortez, UIW.
Women’s Team Results
| 1 |
Abilene Christian |
43 |
| 2 |
Stephen F. Austin |
52 |
| 3 |
Lamar |
84 |
| 4 |
UIW |
114 |
| 5 |
McNeese State |
130 |
| 6 |
Central Arkansas |
150 |
| 7 |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
181 |
| 8 |
Sam Houston State |
194 |
| 9 |
Houston Baptist |
202 |
| 10 |
Southeastern Louisiana |
304 |
| 11 |
Nicholls |
355 |
| 12 |
New Orleans |
355 |
Women’s All-Conference Selections
First Team: Alexandria Hackett, Abilene Christian; Jannika John, Lamar; Verity Ockenden, Lamar; Diana Garcia-Munoz, Abilene Christian; Courtney High, Stephen F. Austin.
Second Team: Gemma Bridge, McNeese State; Michaela Hackett, Abilene Christian; Shelby Pesek, Stephen F. Austin; Rainy Castaneda, UIW; Katrina Fite, Stephen F. Austin.
Honorable Mention: Evelyn Chavz, Lamar; Aubrey Till, Abilene Christian; Katja Woelfl, McNeese State; Taylor Anderson, Stephen F. Austin; Brittany Innis, Stephen F. Austin.
Quotes:
Lamar Head Coach, Tony Houchin
On the men’s team
“Three individual champions in three years, and all of them different guys says a lot about your program. When you lose a big gun at the front like Sam Stabler, you hope that someone will step up and fill the hole. For us, it just so happened to be a freshman.”
On strategy
“The team strategy unfolded exactly like I thought it would. We were behind to start, but that is what we expected. We had the pieces in place and that allowed us to race aggressively.”
On the women’s team
“With the women coming in as the defending champs, you always hope to have a good race, but credit ACU. They ran a great race. Jannika and Verity ran the kind of races that we talked about going in. They did everything we could ask of them.”
“If third place at your league championships is a down year, then your program is in great shape.”
Iliass Aouani
On the course
“It was a nice course, very fast, while I stayed behind Charles (Mathenge) it was very brief so the last 3K I changed pace and it felt very good. I really enjoyed it and everything was amazing.”
On Charles Mathenge
“I raced with him at (Texas) A&M. Between athletes we know each other, even if we don’t talk to each other so I knew he was really strong and I have a lot of respect towards him. I enjoyed racing against him and I hope we race more and more.”
Abilene Christian Head Coach, Keith Barnier
On the women’s team
"The best part about all of this is seeing the congratulations our kids are receiving on their hard work and commitment. They are getting what they deserve. They did the work. They didn't win the distance lottery … I can't think of a better leadership example for this team to have than Diana (García Muñoz) and Allie (Alexandria Hackett) in all areas: lifestyle, spiritually and emotionally."
On strategy
"I think one of the biggest keys today was Bella finishing fifth for us and in the top-20 while Diana, Michaela and Aubrey did what they've been doing all season long … and it was enough to win."
On Alexandria Hackett
"Allie was a champ today and she won by a lot … it was pedal to the metal from the go. She's been in tougher races this season so I wasn't surprised at all at how fast she started. It wasn't unusual. She simply ran her pace and the others had to keep up with her.”
Alexandria Hackett
On strategy
“I definitely wanted to stick with (my competitors) in the beginning, and break away when I knew I could. Because of my training I knew I was capable of coming in first. I broke away a little earlier than I was expecting but I felt good so I just tried to stay confident and strong, and everything worked out.”
On the women's team
“Our goal was to win and give it our all. We have been training for this, we were nervous but we knew we could do it. Just having Diana (Garcia-Munoz) and my sister (Michaela Hackett) and our freshman Aubrey (Till) right there behind us, it was great.”