Mathenge, Hackett Named Cross Country Athletes of the Week
Southland Conference
FRISCO, Texas – Stephen F. Austin junior Charles Mathenge was named Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week while Abilene Christian junior Alexandria Hackett was named Women’s Cross Country Athletes of the week presented by UniversalCoin.com, the league announced Tuesday.
Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week – Charles Mathenge, Stephen F. Austin
In his first race of the 2015 season, Mathenge broke his own 8K school record from last year by 10 seconds to claim runner-up honors at the Texas A&M Invitational in College Station, Texas. The Ol Kalou, Kenya, native was in first place after the 2,000-meter and 5,607-meter checkpoints before taking second out of 155 runners. He was just four seconds behind first and helped his team place fifth overall and first among SLC teams.
Honorable Mention: Iliass Aouani, Lamar; Carlos Arias, Houston Baptist.
Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week – Alexandria Hackett, Abilene Christian
Hackett was the runner-up in a star-studded 6K race that featured teams from the SEC, Big 12, and Southland Conferences. The Cranston, Rhode Island (West Cranston HS), native ran a career best mark of 20:11.1 that was only six seconds behind the Aggies’ individual champion. The Wildcats placed third overall with 107 points behind only Texas (87) and Missouri (92). ACU finished first of six Southland schools.
Honorable Mention: Verity, Ockenden, Lamar.
Each school’s sports information director nominates and votes for the players of the week, though is not permitted to vote for his or her own player. To receive honorable mention, a player must receive votes from 25 percent of the Southland sports information directors
.