ABILENE, Texas - The Southern Utah University men's and women's cross country teams both finished strong at the Western Athletic Conference cross country championships on Friday, Oct. 27. The men finished third out of 11 teams in the 8k and the women finished fourth out of 11 in the 6k.
Men's Recap
With 67 points, the men's team finished in third place just behind Utah Valley and meet champion California Baptist.
Leading the way for the T-Birds was Freshman Jacob Peterson in sixth place and a time of 23:51.7, Travis Feeny followed close behind in eighth and a 23:57.3. Coleman Cragun finished in 14th with a time of 24:27.9 and Noah Jenkins came in 16th and a time of 24:34.1. Santiago Gaitan and Max Jones came in 23rd and 24th place respectively with times of 24:51.7 and 24:52.3.
Rounding out competition for the 'Birds was Bowen Martin in 27th place with a time of 25:00.2, Lanse Larsen in 32nd and a time of 25:17.8 and Nethaneel (Ban) Taylor in 38th and a time of 25:22.2.
Head coach Eric Houle said of the teams efforts: "It wasn't the result we were looking for, but we still finished top three in the conference championship. Our number one, Santiago Gaitan, made a valid effort to perform after a early season injury and he finished just outside of all-conference honors. We had some very outstanding performance from his other teammates. Jake Peterson, Travis Feeny, Coleman Cragun and Noah Jenkins all achieving All-Conference honors still made us extremely competitive today."
Women's Recap
In fourth place, the women's team finished with 115 points, behind UT Arlington, Cal Baptist and Utah Valley.
Sariah Hernandez led the way for the Thunderbirds with a ninth place finish and a time of 20:49.6. 27th place went to Taylor Jorgensen with a 22:07.8, and Daisy Baker and Quinn Hagerman finished back-to-back in 29th and 30th with times of 22:16.5 and 22:23.4.
Wrapping things up for Southern Utah was Josii Johnson in 32nd place with a time of 22:29.4, Addison Dalton in 37th place and a time of 22:42.6 and Makalya Pitcher in 40th with a time of 22:52.7.
Coach Houle commented on the teams performance: "An outstanding performance today by the entire women's team. With a very young team, going into the conference championship up against 11 other teams, and not really sure if we could break the top five, they rose to the occasion."
Up Next
Southern Utah will now take the next two weeks to prepare and await for the NCAA Mountain Regional Championships. The meet will take place in Lubbock, Texas on the campus of Texas Tech University on Friday, Nov. 10.
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