Final Results
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Lamar senior Jamie Crowe's first-place finish headlined the Southland's representation at Friday morning's NCAA South Central Regional Championships, and both Southland Conference cross country individual champions secured spots in the national championship meet as Texas A&M-Corpus Christi senior Allyson Girard finished sixth in the women’s race.
Crowe will be the Southland’s first male representative at the NCAA Championship meet since 2015 and the fifth Cardinal to qualify for the event in the last six years. After clocking in at sixth at the 2K mark, Crowe climbed his way to the top spot, finishing with a time of 31:36.3.
Girard’s race played out the exact opposite, leading at the 2K mark and dropping to sixth when she crossed the finish line with a time of 20:41.5. She is the first A&M-Corpus Christi student-athlete to secure a spot in the national championship since Anne Ronoh in 2009.
Three men and two women earned spots on the All-South Central Region team with top-25 individual finishes. Joining Crowe was teammate Jordan Rowe, whose time of 31:49.1 was good for seventh overall, followed by Incarnate Word senior Garrett Cortez, who finished 14th with a time of 32:16.3. Joining Girard on the women’s side was New Orleans sophomore Arina Kleshchukova, who took 18th with a time of 21:24.1.
UIW’s men finished seventh with 194 points while Lamar took ninth (242), followed by Central Arkansas in 10th (260), Stephen F. Austin at 11th (264) and McNeese at 12th (337). Sam Houston (467) and Southeastern Louisiana (468) came in 17th and 18th, respectively, and New Orleans (630) and Nicholls (670) rounded out the scoring teams at 22nd and 23rd.
With 290 points, A&M-Corpus Christi’s 10th-place team finish led the Southland’s women’s teams, followed by Stephen F. Austin in 13th (353), McNeese at 15th (373), Lamar at 17th (383) and Incarnate Word at 19th (489). Sam Houston State (542) and Nicholls (682) rounded out the league’s women’s sides at 21st and 22nd, respectively.
Crowe and Girard will head to the Zimmer Championship Course in Madison, Wis., for the 2018 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Nov. 17, hosted by Wisconsin.