HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana cross country head coach Rocky Capello is optimistic the Lions can make a historical run when they compete at the 2017 Southland Conference Championships Friday morning at the Abilene Christian University course in Abilene, Texas.

    Southeastern's previous best finish at the Championships were sixth-place marks in both 2004 and 2009. Capello believes his squad that can top that now that it is as healthy as it has been since winning the LSU Invitational in mid-September.

    "I'm a huge optimist so I think on the men's side, it wouldn't shock me if we finish in the top three," Capello said. "I feel like we have a really good shot to finish in the top three just because we're healthy and I know how good we ran at LSU when we were healthy. Now, that we're healthy again, the workouts have been really good. I know how good everybody is. I've looked at what everybody has done this year and to me it looks like there are six teams that could finish in the top two and get a trophy and we're one of those teams. We could finish anywhere from first to sixth, in my opinion, but I really like our odds of finishing in the top three."

    The women's 6K is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m., followed by the men's 8K at 9:30 a.m. Both races will stream via Facebook Live at facebook.com/southlandsports. A link to live stats will be accessible on the Southeastern cross country schedule page at www.LionSports.net.

    Competing for the Southeastern men are junior Brett Olivier, sophomores Grant O'Callaghan and Bryant White and freshmen Reed Callegan, Anthony Cordero, Adam Cortez and Jonathan Respress. Running for the Lady Lions will be freshmen Breanna Bernard, Sophie Daigle, Lindsey Hutcheson, Lydia Pevey and Tara Stuntz.

    Capello said the Lady Lions also have a shot at their best finish in conference in years. The Lady Lions placed fifth in 1998 and sixth in 2008 but have been in the top 10 only once (2014) since.

    "On the women's side, I feel really good about our top three girls (Stuntz, Daigle, Bernard) and Lydia and Lindsey, our four and five, have done better," Capello said. "I don't think we're ready to make that jump into the top five or six, but it wouldn't shock me. I hope we finish better than last year and that gives us kind of a jump-start going into the next year. 

    O'Callaghan has the top 8K time for the Lions in 2017, a 24:53.3 at the Texas A&M Invitational, while Cortez took second at both UNO and LSU. Stuntz paces the Lady Lions with a 22:31.5 6K time at Texas A&M.

    O'Callaghan was the top finisher for Southeastern at the meet in 2016, coming in 55^th in 26 minutes, 13.7 seconds. Olivier took 59^th in 26:34.5 while White was 86^th. Both the Lions and Lady Lions finished 10^th in the team standings.

    Lamar has won the past five straight men's titles and 15 overall. Stephen F. Austin won its eighth women's league title in 2016.

    This will be the first time the Championships will be held at the ACU course. Capello said the forecast is for the temperatures to be in the low 30s with 20 to 30 mile-per-hour winds and almost no humidity.

    "It's going to be really, really dry, really, really cold and really, really windy and we haven't had any of those conditions so far this year," Capello said. "But I'd rather it be cold and dry than 90 degrees and humid. It's going to be interesting."

    For those athletes who qualify, the NCAA South Central Regional qualifying race will take place on Friday, Nov. 10 in College Station, Texas, hosted by Texas A&M. The 2017 NCAA Cross Country Championships will take place at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky., on Saturday, Nov. 18.