Lamar Men, A&M-Corpus Christi Women Win Southland Cross Country Championships
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The Lamar men's team and the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's team won 2009 Southland Conference Cross Country Championships Saturday at West Guth Park. Lamar senior Francis Kasagule claimed the men's individual title, while Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Anne Ronoh won the women's individual title.
Lamar scored 38 points to record its fourth consecutive conference championship. McNeese State finished second with 65 points followed by UTSA (86), Stephen F. Austin (87) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (127). The title was the Cardinals' ninth overall.
Kasagule, who is from Gayhza, Uganda, completed the men's 8-kilometer course in a time of 23 minutes, 54 seconds, setting the championship record for the distance. The previous record time of 24:05 was set in 2007 by former A&M-Corpus Christi runner Shadrack Songok. Kasagule finished second last season with a time of 24:31.
Four Lamar runners finished in the top 10 and the five runners who scored points were among the top-14 finishers. Joonas Harjamaki finished fifth (24:50), Bob Abimbisibwe was eighth (24:24) and Drew Bean was 10th (24:31) to earn all-conference honors. The top-10 individuals earn all-conference recognition. Alejandro DeLaGarza finished 14th (25:01).
A&M-Corpus Christi scored 58 points to win its third overall and consecutive Southland championship. Stephen F. Austin finished second with 82 points followed by UT Arlington (105), UTSA (115) and McNeese State (128).
Ronoh, a native of Iten, Kenya, improved on her second-place finish from a season ago and turned a a winning time of 20:44 on the women's 6-kilomter course. Her winning time of 20:44 was an improvement on her time of 21:47 last season, but was 20 seconds off the course record.
Two Islanders finished in the top 10 and three others finished among the next eight to cross the finish line. BreAnna Briggs finished 10th to give A&M-Corpus Christi two all-conference selections. Sarah De Los Santos finished 14th (21:47), Faith Barlow finished 15th (21:48) and Meghan Lemke was 18th (21:54) to round out the scoring for the Islanders.
Men's Team Results
1. Lamar, 38
2. McNeese State, 65
3. UTSA, 86
4. Stephen F. Austin, 87
5. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 127
6. Southeastern Louisiana, 162
7. UT Arlington, 204
8. Sam Houston State, 221
9. Texas State, 222
10. Central Arkansas, 288
11. Northwestern State, 342
12. Nicholls, 358
Women's Team Results
1. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 58
2. Stephen F. Austin, 82
3. UT Arlington, 105
4. UTSA, 115
5. McNeese State, 128
6. Nicholls, 157
6. Lamar, 157
8. Texas State, 173
9. Sam Houston State, 235
10. Southeastern Louisiana, 237
11. Central Arkansas, 271
12. Northwestern State, 294
Men's Individiaul Top 10 (All-Conference)
1. Francis Kasagule, Sr., Lamar, 23:54
2. Joshua Sawe, Jr., McNeese State, 24:06
3. David Rooney, So., McNeese State, 24:13
4. Mitch Ownbey, So., Stephen F. Austin, 24:16
5. Joonas Harjamaki, Jr., Lamar, 24:20
6. Kalphys Kemboi, Jr., Southeastern Louisiana, 24:23
7. Layne Nixon, So., UTSA, 24:24
8. Bob Abimbisibwe, Fr., Lamar, 24:24
9. Henry Rop,,Jr., Southeastern Louisiana, 24:25
10. Drew Bean, Jr., Lamar, 24:31
Women's Individual Top 10 (All-Conference)
1. Anne Ronoh, Sr., Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 20:44
2. Kayla Pratt, So., UTSA, 20:51
3. Tinette Burger, Sr., McNeese State, 21:16
4. Samantha Walkow, Fr., Lamar, 21:20
5. Dana Mecke, Sr., UTSA, 21:23
6. Amy Shackelford, Jr., Stephen F. Austin, 21:26
7. Pernilla Savestrand, Sr., UTSA, 21:34
8. Lauren Jones, Jr., Nicholls, 21:37
9. Megan Jenkins, Jr., Stephen F. Austin, 21:37
10. BreAnna Briggs, Fr., Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 21:40
QUOTES:
Lamar coach Jake Stewart
"This is our fourth Southland Championship in a row. It's exciting and says a lot about the program. They ran very aggressive today and I was real pleased with our effort. It was our best race of the year so far and it is always nice to win a conference championship.
"This is the first step. We are not satisfied with just winning a conference championship. Now we move forward to the regional championships in two weeks.
"I said to Francis (Kasagule) last night, it would be great for him to win after finishing runner-up the past two years at conference. He is the best runner in the conference. I think he proved that today. I think he is one of the best runners in the United States and I have great faith in his ability to go out, run and be competitive.
"I'm really excited for Francis. He has really worked hard and been a great team guy. We redshirted him in the spring with this in mind, to come back, have a big cross country season and have a great year."
Francis Kasagule, Men's Champion
"It feels great. After being third my freshman year and second the past two years, I needed to be a champion this year. It feels great to win four consecutive conference team championships as well.
"Now we go to nationals. My focus is to get my third All-American title and compete well in the NCAA's."
A&M-Corpus Christi coach Shawn Flanagan
"I thought we had the best team race we ran all year. We had some people really come through for us this year. Annie Ronoh had a tremendous victory, Faith Barlow ran really well. Brianna Briggs came through and all the performances from the team. Up and down the line it was a team race and this is the best team race we have had all season.
"Anne is right on track, right where we are hoping she would be for a repeat trip to the NCAA regionals."
Anne Ronoh, Women's Champion
"It feels good, it was something we all wanted to do and it is great to be able to achieve it.
"I was so happy that the whole team was able to step up and help us to victory. It's all about team work. Although I won the individual championship, without the rest of the team we couldn't have done it.
"We have much more expectations going into the NCAA regionals this year. We hope to qualify for nationals for the first time at the meet."