Southland Conference Preview
Kats defend home course at Southland Preview
9/12/2015 11:37:00 AM | Cross Country, Cross Country
HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston State cross country men successfully defended their home course, paced by junior Chris Speaks' top mark of 19:52.5 in the four-mile, in route to 32 points and the top spot at Saturday's Southland Conference Preview Meet from Kate Barr Ross Memorial Park.
The Bearkats edged Stephen F. Austin, who finished with 33. Texas Wesleyan secured 65 points in third and Northwestern State grabbed fourth with 106 points.
“I told them a couple days ago I would be busy being the meet administrator but they have good senior leadership,” cross country coach Jesse Parker said. “I told them they just needed to take it upon themselves and they did that. Chris looked really good. I had a feeling he would run really well but you don't actually know until we race with the uniform on."
Meanwhile, the women took second in the 5,000 meters, led by junior Olivia Olguin who notched a four-place finish at 18:42.6. Senior Nicole Aponte secured sixth at 18:47.6, helping the Kats to 67 points, trailing SFA's 18 points and besting Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's 85, Texas Wesleyan's 85 and Northwestern State's 115.
“On the depth side of things, Nicole and Olivia ran pretty well,” Parker said. “Ana (Moreno) ran unattached today but she'll run. The top ran really well and we had some freshmen run attached that did well but as a whole we've got to get better four, five and six.”
Speaks, who along with the Bearkats, used the past week for recovery, said things went seamless in the top individual and team finish.
“It turned out perfect – perfect timing, perfect weather; everything worked out in our favor,” Speaks said. “After that first mile, I looked over at SFA and I heard his breathing so I just went and pushed the pace. I knew I could handle the pace and he couldn't. It's a big confidence boost for sure.”
While the Coldsprings product paced the competition, Parker noted the Kats' four top-10 performances including sophomore Grant Buley's four-place finish (20:17) and sophomore Colton Stoker's sixth place mark of 20:25.7, were key in the win.
“It's a great group,” Parker said. “I was impressed with Grant and Colton. They ran really well and gave us a chance. Jeffrey Moore, our fourth man, had a phenomenal finish – classic Jeffrey Moore, which is what really put us over the top. It was a close battle but I'm really proud of the guys.”
On the women's side, Olguin credits the squad's summer regiment, which includes up to 60 miles a week, along with readiness in the weight room for the success.
“In the beginning, we used each other to pace each other and have a smart race,” Olguin said. “We picked people off one-by-one and finished strong. It makes you feel more prepared with some of the weight training we do and just having someone to run with helps you substantially.”
For Parker, the preparation for Saturday's Southland Preview Meet and UIL Region III Preview, which followed the collegiate races and serves as the training for the Oct. 26 championships, was well worth the effort.
“I feel like a proud parent,” Parker said. “Coach (David) Self did a great job securing the Region meet for us and this has been a great opportunity in many regards. I've got to thank Joe Amburn who did a phenomenal job helping get the course ready. This started back in July so we've been working on this a long time.”
Sam Houston returns to action a week from Friday at the Corpus Christi Islander Splash. For the latest on Bearkat cross country, follow @SHSU_TFXC on Twitter and visit GoBearkats.com.
Event 1 Men 4 Mile Run CC University
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Name Year School Finals Points
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Results - Men
1 Chris Speaks JR Sam Houston St. 19:52.5 1
2 Nicholas Guerra SR Stephen F. Austin 20:09.1 2
3 Jeffrey Weisheit SO Stephen F. Austin 20:13.4 3
4 Grant Buley SO Sam Houston St. 20:17.0 4
5 Anthony Kimaiyo SR Texas Wesleyan 20:23.4 5
6 Colton Stoker SO Sam Houston St. 20:25.7 6
7 Josh Torres JR Stephen F. Austin 20:32.3 7
8 Oraine Wint SR Texas Wesleyan 20:39.1 8
9 Jeffrey Moore FR Sam Houston St. 20:43.3 9
10 Anthony Gallardo JR Stephen F. Austin 20:45.7 10
11 Cody Brown SR Stephen F. Austin 20:46.5 11
12 Evan Arambula JR Sam Houston St. 20:56.1 12
13 Larry Deramus FR Stephen F. Austin 21:00.9 13
14 Connor McLain SO Stephen F. Austin 21:01.3 14
15 Quinlin McGregor SO Stephen F. Austin 21:07.1
16 Andrew Middleton Unattached 21:16.5
17 Alex Hernandez SO UNA-Sam Houston St. 21:18.6
18 Alan Ramirez FR Texas Wesleyan 21:32.4 15
19 Joshua Wilkins SO Northwestern St. 21:38.7 16
20 John Bounds JR Sam Houston St. 21:46.8 17
21 David Swiatocha JR Texas Wesleyan 21:50.0 18
22 Brandt Preston UNA-SFA 21:51.1
23 Matt Farina FR Stephen F. Austin 21:51.5
24 Fernando Orellana FR Texas Wesleyan 21:56.2 19
25 Robert Monticone JR Sam Houston St. 22:06.8 20
26 Samuel Wallace SO Stephen F. Austin 22:17.0
27 John Shirk SO Stephen F. Austin 22:31.0
28 Guy Butts SO Northwestern St. 22:31.9 21
29 Lucas Moncla JR Northwestern St. 22:36.6 22
30 Hunter Wamack SO Northwestern St. 22:41.7 23
31 Joe Sosa FR Sam Houston St. 22:44.8
32 Bailey Rhodes SO UNA-Sam Houston St. 22:46.4
33 Xavier Arellano FR Texas A&M-CC 23:06.2
34 Jake Alexander FR Sam Houston St. 23:11.9
35 Mitchell Landry JR Northwestern St. 23:19.1 24
36 Dylan Dunford FR Northwestern St. 23:40.5 25
37 Lorence Ballow FR Northwestern St. 23:47.7 26
38 Corban Ogle SO UNA-Sam Houston St. 23:50.9
39 Chase Slater FR Northwestern St. 24:07.1
Team Scores
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Rank Team Total 1 2 3 4 5 *6 *7 *8 *9
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Results - Men
1 Sam Houston St. 32 1 4 6 9 12 17 20
Total Time: 1:42:14.60
Average: 20:26.92
2 Stephen F. Austin 33 2 3 7 10 11 13 14
Total Time: 1:42:27.00
Average: 20:29.40
3 Texas Wesleyan 65 5 8 15 18 19
Total Time: 1:46:21.10
Average: 21:16.22
4 Northwestern St.
Event 2 Women 5k Run CC University
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Name Year School Finals Points
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Results - Women
1 Shelby Pesek SR Stephen F. Austin 18:08.9 1
2 Taylor Anderson SO Stephen F. Austin 18:27.0 2
3 Katrina Fite JR Stephen F. Austin 18:28.7 3
4 Olivia Olguin JR Sam Houston St. 18:42.6 4
5 Brittany Innis SO Stephen F. Austin 18:45.7 5
6 Nicole Aponte SR Sam Houston St. 18:47.6 6
7 Rana Ryan SO Stephen F. Austin 18:54.3 7
8 Macy Davis SO Stephen F. Austin 18:56.5 8
9 Ana Moreno UNA-Sam Houston St. 19:06.7 9
10 Leah Gaytan JR Texas Wesleyan 19:14.9 10
11 Bridgette Kozar UNA-SFA 19:21.9
12 Carrisa Pinon SO Texas A&M-CC 19:23.3 11
13 Cassidy Allen SO Sam Houston St. 19:24.3 12
14 Jamie Contreras FR Stephen F. Austin 19:26.7 13
15 Marisol Lopez SR Texas Wesleyan 19:32.2 14
16 Stephanie Quintero FR Texas Wesleyan 19:38.7 15
17 Jacqueline Rushford SO Northwestern St. 19:44.6 16
18 Kendra Long UNA-SFA 19:46.6
19 Mary Luster JR Stephen F. Austin 19:54.4
20 Erin Wrozek SO Northwestern St. 19:55.4 17
21 Shelby Polasek SR Texas A&M-CC 19:56.5 18
22 Aliza Duenes SO UNA-Sam Houston St. 19:58.6 19
23 Marie Isabel Mednoza FR Texas A&M-CC 20:00.6 20
24 Taylor Hawes SO Texas A&M-CC 20:05.9 21
25 Hannah Tarrant SO UNA-Sam Houston St. 20:11.1 22
26 Briana McCall SO Sam Houston St. 20:13.4 23
27 Alex Rossi SR Texas A&M-CC 20:13.9 24
28 Maria Galarza FR Texas Wesleyan 20:24.2 25
29 Erin Sitarz SO Northwestern St. 20:28.9 26
30 Linda Garcia FR Texas A&M-CC 20:29.8 27
31 Cynthia Quiroga FR Texas A&M-CC 20:34.8 28
32 Miranda Prado JR Sam Houston St. 20:44.2 29
33 Allison Esposito SO UNA-Sam Houston St. 20:44.4 30
34 Jacqueline Lopez FR Texas Wesleyan 20:48.7 31
35 Meaghen Seales FR Sam Houston St. 20:54.7 32
36 Kassandra Luna SO UNA-Sam Houston St. 21:21.1 33
37 Samantha Hardin SR Texas A&M-CC 21:24.7
38 Emily Sitarz SO Northwestern St. 21:25.6 34
39 Becky Lavarn SR Texas Wesleyan 21:37.0 35
40 Melissa Rubio FR Texas Wesleyan 21:53.9 36
41 Carrie Finson SO Texas Wesleyan 23:23.4
42 Kaitlyn Tunks FR Northwestern St. 25:47.5 37
Team Scores
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Rank Team Total 1 2 3 4 5 *6 *7 *8 *9
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Results - Women
1 Stephen F. Austin 18 1 2 3 5 7 8 13
Total Time: 1:32:44.60
Average: 18:32.92
2 Sam Houston St. 67 4 6 12 23 29 32
Total Time: 1:37:52.10
Average: 19:34.42
3 Texas A&M-CC 85 11 18 20 21 24 27 28
Total Time: 1:39:40.20
Average: 19:56.04
4 Texas Wesleyan 85 10 14 15 25 31 35 36
Total Time: 1:39:38.70
Average: 19:55.74
5 Northwestern St. 115 16 17 26 34 37
Total Time: 1:47:22.00
Average: 21:28.40
Players Mentioned
