As we move through the summer of 2018 and into the 2018-19 season, Lamar University Athletics will take the next few weeks to celebrate each of its 17 NCAA Division I athletics programs. Tuesday and Thursday of each week we'll spend time highlighting a special moment in the 2017-18 season or look forward to what the 2018-19 season will bring.

First up for the "Top Moments" countdown are the men's and women's cross country teams, which finished first and second, respectively, in the 2017 Southland Conference Cross Country Championships.

Big Red's championship on the men's side was the fifth consecutive cross country championship for Lamar and its 20th in program history. The Cards were paced by individual champion Jamie Crowe, a junior transfer from the University of Stirling in Glasglow, Scotland. Crowe won the eight-kilometer race in a time of 24 minutes and 29.1 seconds, a full 4.7 seconds ahead of Nathan Jones from Lamar's archrival, McNeese State University.

"We had a perfect execution of our race strategy today," said LU coach Tony Houchin, who was named the conference's men's cross country coach of the year. "There was absolutely zero margin for error."

Five Cardinal men finished in the Top 15 on a blustery day in Abilene, Texas, with temperatures in the 40s and a driving north wind. Cormac Kelly finished seventh in the race with a time of 24:56.6, just ahead of teammate Matthew Arnold in eighth with a race of 24:59.0. Freddie Gasbarri placed 11th with a time of 25:07.1, and Kyle Garcia rounded out the Top 15 with a 15th place finish at 25:13.9.

In the women's race LU's Evelyn Chaez, the 2016 individual SLC champion, once again took the top Cardinal finish with an eighth-place, six-kilometer time of 21:38.1. Big Red's other Top 15 finishes included Georgia Tuckfield in 11th with a time of 21:50.8. Katie Buckley in 13th with a time of 21:54.8, and Katy Whiteoak in 14th with a time of 21:59.5.

"Georgia Tuckfield had the best race of her career, and everyone else also stepped it up today," Houchin said. "Katy Whiteoak was named freshman of the year. Today was a tremendous day for both teams. We're bringing plenty of hardware back to Lamar University."

Both Cardinal cross country teams advanced to the NCAA South Central Regionals where Lamar again was paced by Crowe on the men's side and Chavez on the women's side. Crowe took 15th with a time of 30 minutes and 30.5 seconds in the 10-kilometer race, and Chavez finished eighth with a time of 20:47.2 in the six-kilometers.