Coming off a three-week break, Sam Houston State cross country teams saw its stiffest competition in the Alabama Crimson Tide Classic this past Friday at the Harry Pritchett Course in Tuscaloosa, Al.
The SHSU women came away with 13th place, and the men took home 14th out of the 24 schools competing.
The women’s course was 4,975 meters while the men’s race covered 8,085 meters.
Senior Anna Moreno had her best race of the year and was the top finisher for the Bearkats, placing 43rd with an elapsed time of 18:21.90. Sophomore standout Olivia Olguin finished 47th with a time of 18:22.91. Sophomore Miranda Prado did not clock in until thirty seconds later in 78th place with a clocked time of 18:55.02. Junior Nicole Apate finished 85th with a marked time of 18:58.25. Sophomore Haley West was the last Bearkat to cross the finish line ending in 115th place at 19:41.39.
Host Alabama won the race. University of Tennessee’s Chelsea Blaase was the individual women’s champion with a time of 16:37.66
“We worked together and helped each other till the very end,” Moreno said. “We definitely worked really hard, but we are positive that our performances can be much better in our next race. These next two weeks before conference, we are going to work harder than hard.”
Senior Karl Schreiber was the first to finish for the Bearkat men for the second consecutive time. He crossed the finish line in 48th with a time of 26:12.51. Sixteen seconds passed until sophomore Evan Arambula ran in at 62nd at 26:28.32.
The two freshmen were the next to cross the finish line for the Bearkats. Colton Stoker finished in 81st place with a marked time of 26:38.32 and Grant Burley finished behind him in 83rd with a total time of 26:46.30. Junior Logan Terry finished right behind Burley at 84th place with a time of 26:47.46.
The last two Bearkats to finish were seniors Ryan Saam and Patrick Pitts. Saam finished in 97th place with a 26:52.94 time and Pitts finished 100th at 27:06.55.
Clemson University won the men’s race while Auburn’s Ty McCormack was the men’s individual champion with a time of 16:37.66.
“Our top six all finished within the top half of the race with a forty-second gap from first to sixth,” Arambula said. “Those are solid stats for such a competitive race. However, there are improvements that need to be made because we had two inner conference teams finish ahead of us.”
The SHSU cross country teams will look to improve their overall performances at the SLC Championships on Nov. 3 in Northwestern Natchitoches. The men are set to run an 8000-meter race while the women will be running a 6000-meter race.
