NACOGDOCHES, Texas — Freshman Dusty Dischler and junior Chris Pearson combined to register a winning 39:48.5 time over 12,000 meters Friday evening, giving Northwestern State first place in the men’s division of the Lumberjack Opener cross country competition hosted by Stephen F. Austin.
Pearson and Dischler each ran 6,000 meters, three loops around the 2,000 meter course at Pecan Acres Park. They finished 24 seconds ahead of the second-place tandem of Gerardo Moreno and Aaron Hohn of SFA.
The other two NSU teams finished 7-8. Galen Mudd and Cade Gentry ran 42:57.5 and Chad Leath, an intermediate hurdler for the track team, and Cameron Mehl clocked 46:45.9.
For the Lady Demons, the top finish was a fifth-place 33:37.0 by Naumy Bor and Redd Williams. Teammates Shannon Foley and Courtney Hershberger were sixth in 33:37.0 while NSU’s Britany Culoth and Jo Anne Penn ran eighth in 35:20.6 over an 8,000-meter track. The winning women’s mark was 30:19.3 by the unattached combo of Ashley Monteau and Chelsea Bradford. SFA’s Katrina Nicholas and Amy Shackleford were the top collegiate finishers, second overall in 31:01.2.
The event launched the cross country season for both teams. Northwestern runs again next Saturday morning at Louisiana Tech, then goes to Louisiana-Monroe on Sept. 22 before hosting the NSU Invitational on Oct. 1.