Oct. 30, 2009

The Lamar men's and women's cross country teams will look to bring home the first hardware of the 2009-10 athletic season with the Southland Cross Country Championships, Saturday morning at West Guth Park in Corpus Christi, Texas.

The men's 8-kilometer race will begin at 8:30 a.m. and the women's 6-kilometer race will follow at 9:15 a.m.

In the 2008 championships, the LU men won their third consecutive SLC title giving the Cardinals a league-best eight conference championships. Stephen F. Austin finished second followed by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, UT Arlington and Sam Houston State rounding out the top five.

Lamar senior Francis Kasagule, the second-place finisher in 2007 and 2008, will go for his first individual title trying to follow former teammate Samuel Kosgei, who won last year to take home the first medalist honors by a Lamar runner since 1984.

Seven of the top-10 men's finishers from 2008 return, including Southeastern Louisiana's Kalphys Kemboi, who finished third and was the Newcomer of the Year in 2008 and fellow Lion Henry Rop, who was fourth. Other returning all-conference honorees include Lamar's Hillary Samoei (sixth), Stephen F. Austin's Dennis Yeats (seventh) and Mitch Ownbey (ninth), the 2008 Freshman of the Year. McNeese State's David Rooney finished 10th at last year's championship.

Kasakule, Samoei and Randy Becker are all seniors for the Cards looking to conclude their conference careers in style.

Lamar leads the men's teams in number of cross country championships with eight while McNeese State has won seven, winning its last title in 2000. Abilene Christian, which no longer competes in the Southland, also has seven team titles, while North Texas, another former member has six titles. Stephen F. Austin's five consecutive conference titles between 2001 and 2005 are the most by a current Southland member.

On the women's side, A&M-Corpus Christi won its second consecutive Southland title a year ago on its home course in Nacogdoches, edging Stephen F. Austin. Texas State, UT Arlington and UTSA finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

Lamar will send a group of 10 women into the race, but just four - Mercy Bungei, Daisy Cantu, Emily Carpenter and Taylor Cloy - who have experience at the SLC meet. That group will also be joined by a junior and five freshman as a team looking to put Lamar back on the top podium spot for the first time since 2006. LU finished second in 2007 and seventh last year.

UTSA senior Dana Mecke, the medalist and athlete of the year in 2008, returns in an effort to become the first Roadrunner to claim consecutive individual titles. Mecke, a three-time athlete of the week this season, was the top runner for UTSA this fall taking first place in three events.

Eight all-conference selections return in the women's race, including three from A&M-Corpus Christi - Anne Ronoh, the second-place finisher and 2008 newcomer of the year, Caitlin Arambula (eighth) and Courtney Johnson (10th). The other top-10 finishers include Stephen F. Austin's Stephanie Ganter (third), Texas State's Heather Bullin (fifth), Southeastern Louisiana's Dorcus Kipkiai (seventh) and Stephen F. Austin's Brette Fleming-Wood (ninth).

Stephen F. Austin and UTSA lead the women's teams with five team championships. UT Arlington has won four, while Lamar has won three.