COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Southeastern Louisiana held its own in competing against a field that featured eight regionally-ranked teams at the Texas A&M Invitational Saturday morning at the Dale Watts Cross Country Course.
Southeastern, ranked 14
th in the South Central Region, this week, came in 11
th with 274 points. Host and fourth-ranked Texas A&M won with 62 points and was followed by No. 12 McNeese (110), No. 7 Rice (129), No. 8 Texas State (136) and No. 13 Houston (142).
The Lady Lions finished 14
th in a field that included five ranked teams with 368 points. Texas A&M, ranked sixth, completed the sweep with 50 points and was followed by No. 13 Lamar (88), No. 8 TCU (96), No. 7 Rice (109) and McNeese (143).
Sophomore
Grant O'Callaghan led the Southeastern men with a 33
rd-place finish in 24 minutes, 53.2 seconds for the 8K course. Freshman
Adam Cortez (24:56.6) took 37
th, freshman
Anthony Cordero (25:16.6) 53
rd, junior
Brett Olivier (25:40.2) 76
th and sophomore
Bryant White (26:38.9) 110
th. Freshman
Reed Callegan was 147
th.
The Lady Lions were paced by freshman
Tara Stuntz who placed 43
rd in the 6K in 22:31.4. Freshman
Sophie Daigle (22:51.5) came in 55
th, freshman
Breanna Bernard (23:39.0) 83
rd,
Lindsey Hutcheson (26:25.5) 130
th and freshman
Lydia Pevey (26:58.2) 133
rd.
MEET NOTES
The Southeastern men averaged 25:29.10. The Lady Lions averaged 24:29.13.
Houston's Brian Barraza won the men's race in 23:51.4.
North Texas's Susannah Lynch captured the women's race in 20:23.0.
The NCAA South Central Regional will be held on the Watts Cross Country Course on Nov. 10.
QUOTES
Southeastern head coach Rocky Capello:
On the Lions' performance…
"We finished where we should have based upon the rankings. I believe that may have been the fastest team time in the history of the program, to my knowledge. We averaged 25:29 so they should be proud of that. The conditions were tough, really hot, really humid so the boys did great. We still have some work to do. We still have to get our number five and number six closer to our number four because our top four really killed it. For the first 8K of the season, considering the heat and the quality of competition, I thought we did great. I think we beat two conference teams today, Central Arkansas and Sam Houston, so that's a pretty good start because those are pretty good programs. We're young and we're competing so hopefully we keep getting better and the next time we face some of these teams, we'll improve a little bit."
On the Lady Lions' finish…
"Our top three did fabulous. Tara and Sophie both ran under 23 minutes and Breanna was around 23:40 and that was the first time any of them had ever run a 6K."
On running on the same course as regionals…
"That was a big reason we wanted to come to this. We wanted to see some of our conference competitors and to see the course. The next time we see it, it may not be as intimidating and we'll be more comfortable running on it."
UP NEXT
Southeastern is scheduled to compete in the McNeese Cowboy Stampede on Sept. 30 in Lake Charles, La.
Texas A&M Invitational
Dale Watts Cross Country Course
Saturday
Men's Team Results
1. Texas A&M 62
2. McNeese 110
3. Rice 129
4. Texas State 136
5. Houston 142
6. UT Arlington 143
7. UL Lafayette 188
8. Lamar 192
9. LSU 203
10. North Texas 231
11. Southeastern La. 274
12. Sam Houston State 328
13. Central Arkansas 352
14. Texas Wesleyan 391
15. Old Army TC 394
16. Texas A&M-Kingsville 438
17. Prairie View 476
18. TCU 504
Women's Team Results
1. Texas A&M 50
2. Lamar 88
3. TCU 96
4. Rice 109
5. McNeese 143
6. LSU 146
7. Houston 202
8. UL Lafayette 220
9. UT Arlington 230
10. Central Arkansas 246
11. North Texas 247
12. Texas State 282
13. Sam Houston State 362
14. Southeastern La. 368
15. Texas A&M-Kingsville 459
16. Southeastern Oklahoma 460
17. Prairie View 509
