NEW ORLEANS – McNeese cross country teams finished in the middle of the pack at Friday's Southland Conference Cross Country Championships as the Cowboys placed seventh out of 12 teams and the Cowgirls eighth.
UIW won the men's team title followed by Stephen F. Austin and HCU to round out the top three. On the women's side, Lamar captured the team title while Texas A&M-Corpus Christi placed second and HCU third.
The Cowboys were the top Louisiana team to finish while the Cowgirls were the second-highest placing Louisiana squad only to the host school New Orleans.
"Both crews battled to the end," said head coach
Brendon Gilroy. "It was a good learning experience for this young group. It was also a little warmer than we expected. Now we can regroup and get ready for the regionals in two weeks."
Junior runner
Jeny Barcenas paced the Cowgirls with a 21
st-place finish in the individual rankings as she clocked a 22:33.16 in the 6k race.
Leading the way for the Cowboys was freshman
Ryan McCarthy who finished the 8k race in 27
th place and a time of 26:35.71.
The teams will be back in action on November 15 when they run at the NCAA South Central Regionals which will be held at Texas A&M.
Cowboy Results: 27,
Ryan McCarthy 26:35.71; 33,
Alex Martin 26:50.63; 42,
Kevin Kimaiyo 27:05.93; 43, James Boutte 27:10.08; 54,
Sullivan Hanna 27:47.26; 62, Abdullah Elkhair 28:22.52; 66,
Owen Kirkland 28:38.65.
Cowgirl Results: 21,
Jeny Barcenas 22:33.16; 25,
Danielle Salinas 22:43.88; 32,
Grace Sullivan 23:07.93; 49, Irene Barreiro-Lopez 24:05.49; 54,
Grace French 24:18.05; 67,
Thea Pappas, 25:24.02; 72,
Uxue Castro-Martin 25:50.04.
Men's Results: 1, UIW 29; 2, Stephen F. Austin 59; 3, HCU 116; 4, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 125; 5, Texas A&M-Commerce 143; 6, Lamar 146; 7, McNeese 183; 8, New Orleans 192; 9, UTRGV 219; 10, Nicholls 311; 11, Southeastern 327; 12, Northwestern State 367.
Women's Results: 1, Lamar 43; 2, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 59; 3, HCU 110; 4, New Orleans 113; 5, UIW 131; 6, UTRGV 148; 7, Stephen F. Austin 164; 8, McNeese 178; 9, Nicholls 237; 10, Texas A&M-Commerce 259; 11, Southeastern 342; 12, Northwestern State 363.
