Beaumont, TX - McNeese State's cross country teams finished second (men) and third (women) at the Southland Conference championship meet here Thursday but a missed turn in the route could have prevented Cowboy standouts David Rooney and Joshua Sawe from finishing first and second individually.
The Cowboys had gone into the meet as the second ranking team in the league and they nailed that position down, scoring 70 points to champion Lamar's 38 points. But, instead of placing a possible first and second individually, Rooney and Sawe finished fourth and fifth, nine and 15 seconds off the pace set by champion Patrick Kimeli of TAM Corpus Christi.
With about a half of a mile left, the McNeese duo went one way while their followers went another. By the time the two saw they had made a wrong turn and reversed their path, they were 20 yards behind.
They were able to recapture some of their loss but couldn't get all the way back in their scramble to regain their lead.
"It definitely hurt our momemtum," said Rooney following the race. "But, it was one of those things."
Cowboy head coach Brendon Gilroy filed a protest but it was not allowed and the results stayed as they were.
"That wrong turn definitely hurt their momemtum," said Gilroy. "They had led all the way and there was only a little more than a half mile left. Even if they had finished one-two, we would have still been in second place as a team because Lamar ran such a good race."
It was reported that a race official at the missed turn had pointed the two Cowboys one way and the following runners the other way.
Both Rooney and Sawe earned all-conference honors as did teammate Jarrett LeBlanc, all three among the top 10 runners in the meet. Rooney ran 24:56.6 for the 8K while Sawe posted a 25:02.9 mark. LeBlanc finished in 10th place at 25:32.5.
Also for the Cowboys, Abdi Hassan turned in one of his better showings with a 26:27.1 clocking for 25th place, Johnathan Koenck was 28th at 26:35.9, Jordan Neil was 29th at 26:37.2, Brent Ewing finished 49th at 27:37.7 and Edwin Koenck ran 54th with a 27:49.2 effort.
Trailing Lamar and McNeese in the team scoring were UTSA with 77 points, SFA 114, TAMCorpus 134, Texas State 155, UTA 201, SE Louisiana 213, Central Arkansas 234, Sam Houston State 298, Northwestern State 304 and Nicholls 378.
In the women's race, a 6K event, Berger led the Cowgirls to their third place showing, two steps in front of last year's fifth place. The Cowgirl senior ran 21:57.2 for eighth place and an all-conference award.
McNeese scored 116 points, trailing champion SFA which had 34 points and TAM-Corpus which had 78. Other team scoring had UTA with 137, UTSA 139, Nicholls 155, Lamar 158, Texas State 170, Central Arkansas 218, SE Louisiana 254, Sam Houston 265 and Northwestern State 332.
The individual champion was Emily Koenig of UTA who ran 21:30.3.
Amy Guinn was the second McNeese Cowgirl to cross the finish line and did so in 22:30.3 while Fionnuala Ross was 22nd at 22:40.2, Alvy Carragher ran 32nd at 23:13.4, Georgia Ball was 36thg at 23:30.0, Aisling Casey was 56th at 24:05.4 and Carly Thurman finished 80th at 25:44.8.
McNeese was the only school in the conference to have both of their teams finish among the top three in both divisions.
2010 Southland Conference
Cross Country Championship
Bayou Din Golf Club, Beaumont, TX - 10/28/2010
Event 1 Men 8k Run CC
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Name Year School Finals Points
=======================================================================
Results - Men
1 Patrick Kimeli SO TAMUCC 24:47.0 1
2 Bob Ahimbisibwe SO Lamar 24:49.7 2
3 Matt Johnsen SO Lamar 24:50.1 3
4 David Rooney JR McNeese State 24:56.6 4
5 Joshua Sawe SR McNeese State 25:02.9 5
6 Henry Rop SR Southeastern LA 25:07.6 6
7 Tallum Kipruto * JR Lamar 25:13.3 7
8 Cole Reveal JR UTSA 25:22.7 8
9 Albert Cardenas JR UTSA 25:27.3 9
10 Jarrett LeBlanc JR McNeese State 25:32.5 10
11 Anthony Pequeno * JR Lamar 25:36.6 11
12 Jonathan Hernandez SR Texas State 25:37.7 12
13 Michael Morris JR Texas State 25:38.4 13
14 Dennis Yeats SR Stephen F. Austin 25:40.1 14
15 Tom Wade * GS Lamar 25:42.4 15
16 Xavier Rodriguez JR Stephen F. Austin 25:51.8 16
17 Joe Wade * GS Lamar 26:03.4 17
18 Kyle Hawley SO Lamar 26:10.4 18
19 Ivan Garcia JR UTSA 26:11.1 19
20 Daniel Balbontin SO UTSA 26:15.0 20
21 Brandon Chiuminetta JR UTSA 26:17.2 21
22 Jim Stitt SO UTSA 26:19.4 22
23 Chris Jones FR Lamar 26:22.0
24 Cody Widener SO UT Arlington 26:25.0 23
25 Abdi Hassan * SO McNeese State 26:27.1 24
26 Mitch Ownbey JR Stephen F. Austin 26:28.7 25
27 Arisel Perez SR TAMUCC 26:30.0 26
28 Johnathan Koenck SR McNeese State 26:35.9 27
29 Jordan Neil JR McNeese State 26:37.2 28
30 Adam Saloom JR Stephen F. Austin 26:37.4 29
31 Moses Luevano FR Stephen F. Austin 26:40.3 30
32 Heinz Schwarzkopf SR UT Arlington 26:44.9 31
33 Mark Dotson * SO Northwestern State 26:50.5 32
34 Justin Adame FR TAMUCC 26:51.4 33
35 Jonus Rodriguez FR Stephen F. Austin 26:51.9 34
36 Scott Vance SR TAMUCC 26:52.4 35
37 Jesus Ordas SO Texas State 26:53.8 36
38 Benjamin Gerber FR Central Arkansas 26:56.5 37
39 Joseph LeGrange FR Southeastern LA 27:06.9 38
40 Eloy Zertuche SR TAMUCC 27:07.6 39
41 Jason Garcia FR TAMUCC 27:12.0 40
42 Harmon McClanahan JR Stephen F. Austin 27:15.6 41
43 Nathan Collier FR Stephen F. Austin 27:20.0
44 Tony Stewart SO Central Arkansas 27:22.0 42
45 Jeremiah Fleeman FR Central Arkansas 27:27.3 43
46 Eric Montou SO UT Arlington 27:29.0 44
47 Daniel Barlow JR TAMUCC 27:36.2 45
48 Matt Novak SR Texas State 27:37.0 46
49 Brent Ewing * FR McNeese State 27:37.7 47
50 Michael Richards SR Texas State 27:37.9 48
51 Michael Allen FR Central Arkansas 27:38.2 49
52 David Rayo FR UT Arlington 27:39.5 50
53 Joaquin Ortegon FR UTSA 27:42.0 51
54 Edwin Koenck SO McNeese State 27:49.2
55 Patrick Krol SO Sam Houston State 27:55.7 52
56 Aaron Purser FR UT Arlington 27:57.6 53
57 Seth Cunningham SO Southeastern LA 27:59.7 54
58 Miguel Alanis SO Texas State 28:03.0 55
59 Reese Lee SR Southeastern LA 28:04.0 56
60 Ryan Saam FR Sam Houston State 28:09.0 57
61 Patrick Pitts FR Sam Houston State 28:15.3 58
62 Paul Arthur FR Southeastern LA 28:17.5 59
63 Jason Enright FR Northwestern State 28:23.1 60
64 Clint Anders SO Sam Houston State 28:25.4 61
65 Adrian Marquez JR TAMUCC 28:32.3
66 Kevin Vasquez FR UT Arlington 28:45.8 62
67 Bradley Kintner SO Central Arkansas 28:47.4 63
68 Hance Loyd SO UT Arlington 28:50.6 64
69 Jesse McDavitt SO Southeastern LA 28:59.6 65
70 Al Johnson JR UTSA 29:08.2
71 Blaine Gisclair FR Nicholls State 29:12.7 66
72 Kyle Lessig SO Northwestern State 29:27.9 67
73 Logan Dockery SR Central Arkansas 29:37.6 68
74 Travis Plumb FR Northwestern State 29:40.9 69
75 Travis Kocurek SR Sam Houston State 29:48.0 70
76 Andreas Herrera SO Texas State 29:59.2 71
77 Jaron Ortego JR Southeastern LA 30:10.7 72
78 Kasey Keiser JR Nicholls State 30:17.8 73
79 Holton Hemby FR UT Arlington 30:19.8
80 Tanner Hubbard JR Central Arkansas 30:21.7 74
81 Martin Resendiz FR Central Arkansas 30:32.1
82 Matt Mouton FR Southeastern LA 30:35.9
83 Austin Brown SO Sam Houston State 30:46.0 75
84 Dusty Dischler SR Northwestern State 30:52.1 76
85 Chris Lanier SO Northwestern State 31:09.3 77
86 Tyler Folse JR Nicholls State 31:18.2 78
87 Nic Benoit FR Nicholls State 31:34.1 79
88 Robert Carrier FR Northwestern State 31:58.1 80
89 Matt Stephenson JR Sam Houston State 32:07.5 81
90 Joby Fryou SR Nicholls State 33:05.3 82
Team Scores
=================================================================================
Rank Team Total 1 2 3 4 5 *6 *7 *8 *9
=================================================================================
Results - Men
1 Lamar 38 2 3 7 11 15 17 18
Total Time: 2:06:12.10
Average: 25:14.42
2 McNeese State 70 4 5 10 24 27 28 47
Total Time: 2:08:35.00
Average: 25:43.00
3 UTSA 77 8 9 19 20 21 22 51
Total Time: 2:09:33.30
Average: 25:54.66
4 Stephen F. Austin 114 14 16 25 29 30 34 41
Total Time: 2:11:18.30
Average: 26:15.66
5 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 134 1 26 33 35 39 40 45
Total Time: 2:12:08.40
Average: 26:25.68
6 Texas State 155 12 13 36 46 48 55 71
Total Time: 2:13:24.80
Average: 26:40.96
7 UT Arlington 201 23 31 44 50 53 62 64
Total Time: 2:16:16.00
Average: 27:15.20
8 Southeastern Louisiana 213 6 38 54 56 59 65 72
Total Time: 2:16:35.70
Average: 27:19.14
9 Central Arkansas 234 37 42 43 49 63 68 74
Total Time: 2:18:11.40
Average: 27:38.28
10 Sam Houston State 298 52 57 58 61 70 75 81
Total Time: 2:22:33.40
Average: 28:30.68
11 Northwestern State 304 32 60 67 69 76 77 80
Total Time: 2:25:14.50
Average: 29:02.90
12 Nicholls State 378 66 73 78 79 82
Total Time: 2:35:28.11
Average: 31:05.62
Event 2 Women 6k Run CC
=======================================================================
Name Year School Finals Points
=======================================================================
Results - Women
1 Emily Koenig FR UT Arlington 21:30.3 1
2 Lauren Smith * SO Stephen F. Austin 21:38.0 2
3 Taylor Cloy JR Lamar 21:40.8 3
4 Julia Sambu JR TAMUCC 21:43.1 4
5 Stephanie Ganter JR Stephen F. Austin 21:44.4 5
6 Megan Jenkins SR Stephen F. Austin 21:49.2 6
7 Amy Shackelford SR Stephen F. Austin 21:52.3 7
8 Tinette Burger SR McNeese State 21:57.2 8
9 Steffanie Armstrong JR Texas State 21:59.4 9
10 Samantha Fish FR UTSA 22:04.1 10
11 Katrine Vaesel FR Lamar 22:05.5 11
12 Sarah Kimaiyo JR TAMUCC 22:07.1 12
13 Jessica McCleod JR Nicholls State 22:12.1 13
14 Randi Wymer SO Stephen F. Austin 22:18.1 14
15 Jennifer Carey JR UT Arlington 22:23.1 15
16 Kristine Torres JR TAMUCC 22:26.5 16
17 Marie Flores SR Stephen F. Austin 22:27.2 17
18 Amy Guinn SR McNeese State 22:30.3 18
19 Courtney Johnson SR TAMUCC 22:36.5 19
20 Isabel Balbontin FR UTSA 22:38.5 20
21 Lauren Jones SR Nicholls State 22:39.7 21
22 Fionnuala Ross SO McNeese State 22:40.2 22
23 Naomi Jeruto SR Southeastern LA 22:47.3 23
24 Amanda McMahon SR UT Arlington 22:48.4 24
25 Nina Herrera FR UTSA 22:49.8 25
26 Kadi Whisnant SR Nicholls State 22:52.2 26
27 Caitlin Arambula SR TAMUCC 22:52.2 27
28 Erika Setzler FR Central Arkansas 22:54.2 28
29 BreAnna Briggs SO TAMUCC 22:57.1 29
30 Sandra Venegas JR Texas State 23:05.2 30
31 Danielle Higgins JR TAMUCC 23:10.8 31
32 Alvy Carragher JR McNeese State 23:13.4 32
33 Rachel Melton FR Texas State 23:17.2 33
34 Kayla Nehus FR Central Arkansas 23:21.8 34
35 Meredith Blocker SR Stephen F. Austin 23:27.7 35
36 Georgia Ball FR McNeese State 23:30.0 36
37 Angela LaBorde FR Lamar 23:30.8 37
38 Whitney Curry SR Southeastern LA 23:31.4 38
39 Lawana Perkins JR Northwestern State 23:31.4 39
40 Alyssa Diaz FR UTSA 23:35.5 40
41 Michelle Jones FR Texas State 23:36.4 41
42 Alyssa Dooley FR Sam Houston State 23:38.4 42
43 Victoria Gemeny JR Sam Houston State 23:39.0 43
44 Sarah Wedgeworth FR UTSA 23:40.4 44
45 Jackie White FR Nicholls State 23:41.0 45
46 Courtney Efurd SO Central Arkansas 23:42.8 46
47 Samantha Walkow SO Lamar 23:43.8 47
48 Perri Ford SR UT Arlington 23:45.7 48
49 Esther Abuto SR UT Arlington 23:47.7 49
50 Emily Charlesworth FR Nicholls State 23:48.9 50
51 Courtney Nelson JR UTSA 23:49.6 51
52 Lauren Losoya FR UTSA 23:52.8 52
53 Sara Collazos JR Sam Houston State 23:56.3 53
54 Sheila Salil SR TAMUCC 23:58.3
55 Heather Estetter JR Central Arkansas 24:02.3 54
56 Aisling Casey JR McNeese State 24:05.4 55
57 Sabrina Peterman SO Central Arkansas 24:09.7 56
58 Maria Lopez SO Texas State 24:12.8 57
59 Dana Dolejsi JR Texas State 24:21.3 58
60 Courtney Johnson FR UTSA 24:24.0
61 Molly Farrell JR Sam Houston State 24:24.6 59
62 Tessa Denis FR Lamar 24:31.3 60
63 Bethany Burst SO Southeastern LA 24:32.5 61
64 Dacey Mitchell SO Central Arkansas 24:34.7 62
65 Elizabeth Craig SO Central Arkansas 24:35.3 63
66 Amanda McKinney SR Texas State 24:37.3 64
67 Heather Fitzhenry FR Southeastern LA 24:44.0 65
68 Karensa Ellis SO Northwestern State 24:47.4 66
69 Lindsey Toups SO Southeastern LA 24:49.8 67
70 Kylie Fitzgerald SO Sam Houston State 24:50.4 68
71 Marissa Paz SO UT Arlington 25:01.8 69
72 Crystal Santos SO Sam Houston State 25:13.6 70
73 Allison Fontenot SO Northwestern State 25:15.8 71
74 Imma Kosgei SR Nicholls State 25:17.1 72
75 Danisha Hicks FR UT Arlington 25:29.2 73
76 Katie Suplee FR Southeastern LA 25:31.9 74
77 Andrea Warren SR Northwestern State 25:32.9 75
78 Emily McAfee FR Southeastern LA 25:35.5 76
79 Meagan Snipes JR Central Arkansas 25:41.0
80 Carly Thurman SR McNeese State 25:44.8 77
81 Brittany Blackmon JR Southeastern LA 25:48.5
82 Nora-Beth Saunders SO Lamar 25:48.7 78
83 Sharon Sason SO Lamar 25:50.0 79
84 Kim Brooks FR Sam Houston State 26:05.3 80
85 Rebecca Meehan SO Northwestern State 27:08.1 81
86 Courtney Hershberger SR Northwestern State 28:51.7 82
87 Sarah Emory SO Northwestern State 28:57.2 83
88 Kirstie Jones SO Northwestern State 29:30.0
Team Scores
=================================================================================
Rank Team Total 1 2 3 4 5 *6 *7 *8 *9
=================================================================================
Results - Women
1 Stephen F. Austin 34 2 5 6 7 14 17 35
Total Time: 1:49:22.00
Average: 21:52.40
2 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 78 4 12 16 19 27 29 31
Total Time: 1:51:45.40
Average: 22:21.08
3 McNeese State 116 8 18 22 32 36 55 77
Total Time: 1:53:51.10
Average: 22:46.22
4 UT Arlington 137 1 15 24 48 49 69 73
Total Time: 1:54:15.20
Average: 22:51.04
5 UTSA 139 10 20 25 40 44 51 52
Total Time: 1:54:48.30
Average: 22:57.66
6 Nicholls State 155 13 21 26 45 50 72
Total Time: 1:55:13.90
Average: 23:02.78
7 Lamar 158 3 11 37 47 60 78 79
Total Time: 1:55:32.20
Average: 23:06.44
8 Texas State 170 9 30 33 41 57 58 64
Total Time: 1:56:11.00
Average: 23:14.20
9 Central Arkansas 218 28 34 46 54 56 62 63
Total Time: 1:58:10.80
Average: 23:38.16
10 Southeastern Louisiana 254 23 38 61 65 67 74 76
Total Time: 2:00:25.00
Average: 24:05.00
11 Sam Houston State 265 42 43 53 59 68 70 80
Total Time: 2:00:28.70
Average: 24:05.74
12 Northwestern State 332 39 66 71 75 81 82 83
Total Time: 2:06:15.60
Average: 25:15.12