Cardinals and Lady Cardinals Capture Southland Cross Country Championships
Southland Conference
Men's Results (PDF)
Women's Results (PDF)
Photo Gallery
NATCHITOCHES, La. – Lamar swept the men’s and women’s team titles at the 2014 Southland Conference Cross Country Championships Friday at the Walter P. Ledet Track Complex. Lamar senior Sam Stabler set a new Southland Cross Country Championship 8K record and captured the individual men’s title, while. Lamar freshman Minttu Hukka won the women’s individual title and shattered the Southland Cross Country Championship 6K record.
The Lamar men’s team scored 26 points to claim their second straight Southland title and eighth in the last nine years. Stephen F. Austin men finished second with 48 points, while McNeese State was third with 97 points. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men took the fourth spot with 107 points and Central Arkansas rounded out the top five, scoring 128 points.
Stabler, a native of Leicester, England (Ratcliffe College), ran the 8,000-meter men’s race in a record-setting time of 23:29.1, leading a group of Lamar men who finished four runners in the top six and five in the top ten. Stephen F. Austin’s Charles Mathenge placed second in the race with a time of 23:42.3, while Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s Philipp Baar posted a time of 23:46.4 for third place. Rounding out the top five was a fourth-place finish by Lamar’s Alex Dunbar (23:56.9) and a fifth-place finish by Lamar’s Michael Kershaw (24:12.0).
Scoring 20 points, the Lamar women’s team captured their second straight Southland title and fifth overall. Stephen F. Austin women were the runner-up with 50 points. Sam Houston State women scored 106 points for a third-place finish, while McNeese State came in fourth with 122 points. Abilene Christian women finished fifth, also scoring 122 points.
Hukka, a native of Kotka, Finland (Kotkan Lyseon Lukio), ran the 6,000-meter women’s race in 20:06.6 to set the new championship record, as the Lamar women claimed the top four spots. Lamar’s Leigh Lattimore came in second with a time of 20:44.3, while teammate Jannika John finished the race in 20:49.6. The Lady Cardinals’ Verity Ockenden placed fourth, finishing with a time of 20:54.5. To round out the top five was Abilene Christian’s Diana Garcia –Munoz, who posted a time of 20:59.2.
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. 14, in Fayetteville, Ark., followed by the NCAA Championships Nov. 23, in Terre Haute, Ind.
Men’s Team Results
|
1. |
Lamar |
26 |
|
2. |
Stephen F. Austin |
48 |
|
3. |
McNeese State |
97 |
|
4. |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
107 |
|
5. |
Central Arkansas |
128 |
|
6. |
Sam Houston State |
148 |
|
7. |
Houston Baptist |
206 |
|
8. |
UIW |
242 |
|
9. |
Abilene Christian |
274 |
|
10. |
Northwestern State |
292 |
|
11. |
Southeastern Louisiana |
294 |
|
12. |
New Orleans |
344 |
|
13. |
Nicholls |
399 |
Men’s All-Conference Selections
First Team: Sam Stabler, Lamar; Charles Mathenge, Stephen F. Austin; Philipp Baar, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi; Alex Dunbar, Lamar; Michael Kershaw, Lamar.
Second Team: Jan Lukas Becker, Lamar; Jonathan Burgess, Central Arkansas; Colby Mehmen, Stephen F. Austin; Oliver James, McNeese State; Ryan Creech, Lamar.
Honorable Mention: Cody Brown, Stephen F. Austin; Enock Bor, McNeese State; Josh Torres, Stephen F. Austin; Jeffery Weisheit, Stephen F. Austin; Karl Schreiber, Sam Houston State.
Women’s Team Results
|
1. |
Lamar |
20 |
|
2. |
Stephen F. Austin |
50 |
|
3. |
Sam Houston State |
106 |
|
4. |
McNeese State |
122 |
|
5. |
Abilene Christian |
122 |
|
6. |
UIW |
160 |
|
7. |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
203 |
|
8. |
Houston Baptist |
211 |
|
9. |
Southeastern Louisiana |
247 |
|
10. |
Northwestern State |
286 |
|
11. |
Central Arkansas |
288 |
|
12. |
Nicholls |
309 |
Women’s All-Conference Selections
First Team: Minttu Hukka, Lamar; Leigh Lattimore, Lamar; Jannika John, Lamar; Verity Ockenden, Lamar; Diana Garcia-Munoz, Abilene Christian.
Second Team: Courtney High, Stephen F. Austin; Samantha Ottman, Stephen F. Austin; Brittany Innis, Stephen F. Austin; Ana Moreno, Sam Houston State; Evelyn Chavez, Lamar.
Honorable Mention: Olivia Olguin, Sam Houston State; Celia Zaeringer, Southeastern Louisiana; Shelby Pesek, Stephen F. Austin; Gemma Bridge, McNeese State; Katja Woelfl, McNeese State.
Quotes…
Lamar Head Coach, Darren Gauson
On the team
“We had a little adversity coming in. Ryan (Creech) had a real issue with his foot. We didn’t think we were going to run him. The main reason we ran him is because he was a senior and we wanted him to enjoy that last cross country season out there. He did a great job. The group as a whole, we had eight right up there. What was our point total? 26? We were just a little bit off that record score, but the team did a great job. They’re such a tight-knit group. They really wanted it for each other, which was nice. We’re really happy and we just want to enjoy today.”
On both championships
“We’re really proud of both groups. We did a really good job of competing. Defending champions, so we knew we had a target on our backs, so we came out to win on both sides. We were able to do that. It was really nice to pick up the two individual championships as well.”
On the program’s team-first mentality
“We’re really a tight-knit group on both sides. It’s all about the team, all about winning here today. It’s been all about the team the whole way, at Pre-Nats, at Chili Pepper, at Wisconsin, and as it will be in two weeks’ time at the regionals.”
On runner strategy in a pack full of teammates
“That’s probably the most difficult part. On the men’s side, when you have Sam Stabler, who’s a sub-4-minute miler in the group there and he uses his quality and speed over his last half-mile or mile there, he really did a nice job there.”
Sam Stabler, Lamar
On strategy
“I tried to go out there and see where the team was at. We had like five of us in the front group for a while, and the more you have that, the better. The practice is to wait until later before breaking it up. I know we were going stronger from running together. It was a bit tactical.”
On if he felt like the favorite to win
“From last track season, my 5K time was a little bit better than everybody else’s, so maybe, yeah. Cross-country you never k now what’s going to happen.”
On running at the front with a large Lamar contingent
“(It helps) immensely. It’s just a massive boost. They’re not only my teammates, but my best friends. Just the morale, it does a load of good. To (win a championship) with my best mates is awesome. You can farther together than you can alone.”
Minttu Hukka, Lamar
On starting her career with a conference champion
“I don’t think too much that I’m a freshman. The other girls are runners, and I’m a runner. We’re competing against each other, so I don’t think that about senior or freshman. I just try to run fast and beat the other girls.”
On running up front with teammates
“We have a very strong team, so it’s very helpful to train with these girls. We have very good workouts together, and we have a little competition that goes with each other. It’s very good for everybody that we are strong.”
On watching the Lamar men’s team win
“We are like a big family. Everybody’s cheering for each other. The guys, they were very good as well. Of course, we think we have to win as well because the guys won. It’s more like we are cheering each other and we are proud of the other runners.”