BEAUMONT, Texas - Looking to defend their 2013 championships, the Lamar men's and women's cross country teams will compete in the 2014 Southland Conference Championships, which start at 8:30 on Monday morning at the Walter P. Ledet Track Complex in Natchitoches, La.
The men will run an 8-kilometer course to open the event followed by the women's 6-kilometer course that starts at 9:30. Both award ceremonies will immediately follow the women's race.
Last season, the men's team put up a score of 26, which was the lowest total for Lamar since 1982, and the women's squad put up a score of 36, second-best in school history.
"Our goal first and foremost is to win the meet on both sides, but we've set other goals as well for a little added motivation," said cross country coach Darren Gauson, "We just need to execute what we've done in practice. On the women's side, if we can repeat what we did in Pre-Nationals, I think we should be in good shape."
The men are led by last year's fourth place finisher Sam Stabler, whose top finish in an 8K this season is 24:10 in Fayetteville, Ark. at the Chile Pepper Invitational. The Leicester, England native also finished with a 24:21 mark at the Adidas Invitational.
"Sam has only gotten better, and he really took a step forward in the indoor and outdoor track seasons earlier this year," said Gauson. "He really picked up where he left off from there. On Monday, if we can get the rest of the team close to his times I think we'll be in great shape."
Last year's runner-up Leigh Lattimore returns to the team this season, and has the team's second-lowest time of the season in the 6K (21:41) behind freshman Minttu Hukka who ran a 21:17 mark at the Pre-Nationals event in Indiana.
"It'll be a battle between our ladies," said Gauson. "We need to pack up and work together like we've been practicing. We need to gauge and feed off of each other." Ryan Creech, whose top time this season is 24:42 at the Chile Pepper Invitational, joins Stabler as all-conference honorees returning from a year ago. Creech finished in ninth place last season.
Alex Dumbar (24:54, top time in the 8K this season), Mike Kershaw (24:56), Jan Lukas Becker (24:59), Tobias Riker (25:38), Stu Ferguson (25:55) and Federico Fasbarri (26:18) will all represent the Lamar men's team on Wednesday.
Belinda Aguilar, whose top time in the 6K is 24:30 mark at Pre-Nationals, is a repeat performer at the league meet last season. She is joined by Jannika John (21:44), Verity Ockenden (21:55), Evelyn Chavez (22:10), Megan Flanagan (23:40), Beth Aguilar (24:30) and Kaitlynn Warren (24:32).
As a team, the women placed first at the Texas A&M Invitational and second and eighth at the Chile Pepper Festival and Pre-Nationals, respectively.The men's team placed second in both the Texas A&M Invitational and Chile Pepper Festival.
The Cardinals have won 12 Southland Conference championships in cross country while the Lady Cardinals have four. The two teams have swept the league's championships twice, 2006 and 2013.
The NCAA South Central Regionals are slated for Nov. 14 hosted by Arkansas in Fayetteville, and the NCAA Championships are set to be run on Nov. 22 in Terre Haute, Ind., at Indiana State.
