BEAUMONT, Texas - Demolishing the competition by a full 86 points, Lamar University's men's cross country team breezed through the 2019 Southland Conference Cross Country Championship race. The Cardinals scored 34 points en route to an SLC record 17th men's cross country championship, and the 12th in 14 years.
"It's good to get the trophy back to Beaumont," said head cross country coach
Tony Houchin. "We're very proud of the guys and their execution of the race plan. The women also had their best race of the season. Julie and Katy really stepped up today."
Jordan Rowe won the men's individual title with a race of 24:01.7, a full seven seconds ahead of Abilene Christian's Kevin Kipkosgei in second place. Rowe ran an average mile of 4:50.1, and his total time was just 0.2 seconds slower than his personal best set at the Chile Pepper XC Festival on Oct. 5. Rowe's win is the 12th individual title for Lamar and the sixth in the last seven seasons.
Rowe didn't do it alone though; helping the senior from Frinton-on-Sea, England, win the team title were
Jack Gooch in third with a time of 24:09.6 (a new PR),
Liam Burthem in fourth with a time of 24:12.9 (his new personal best),
Harry Halford in 12th with a time of 24:39.2, and
Declan Neary in 14th with a 24:45.1 (a new PR). Those five finishes added up to 34 points for the Cardinals, 86 fewer points than Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's 120 points. Also running very well but not counting towards Lamar's point total in the championship were
Matthew Arnold in 15th with a time of 24:49.1,
Kyle Garcia in 29th with a time of 25:14.7, and
Brandon Lantau in 50th with a time of 25:53.2. The 2019 squad's point total is the lowest for an SLC championship team since Big Red won the 2015 title with 27 points. The team's 86 point margin was also the biggest margin of victory in an SLC Championship, smashing the previous record of 58 points set by Lamar in 2008.
On the women's side Lamar had two Top 10 finishes and took sixth place as a team.
Julie Emmerson ran the 6,000-meter race of her life and captured fifth place with a time of 21:35.3, almost a full minute better than her previous personal best.
Katy Whiteoak had a great race as well with a ninth place finish in a time of 21:46.3. Rounding out the top five Cardinal finishes were
Katie Astin (33rd, 22:52.2),
Mya Taylor (55th, 23:23.8), and
Faith Outing (77th, 26:19.3).
Lamar claimed three spots on the first team all-conference men's squad with Rowe, Burthem and Gooch. Rowe was honored with the Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Year award, and Burthem was named the Men's Newcomer. Joining the three first team members were Halford, Neary, and Arnold on the third team All-SLC squad. Coach Houchin earned his fourth SLC Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year award in five seasons.
On the women's side Emmerson earned a first team honor and Whiteoak was named to the second team.
"For us to have eight All-Southland performers between both men's and women's teams speaks volumes about the program," concluded Houchin.
Lamar's men's and women's teams will head to the NCAA South Central Regional Championships, hosted by the University of Arkansas on Nov. 15 in Fayetteville, Ark., on the same course as the 2019 Chile Pepper XC Festival. Heading into this weekend Lamar's men's team was ranked fourth in the South Central Region behind Texas, Arkansas, and Texas A&M. Any qualifying Cardinals from the regional will then advance to the NCAA National Championships, hosted by Indiana State University on Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Ind.
