November 01, 2013

Islanders Take Third and Fifth In Southland Championships

LAKE CHARLES, La. – The Texas A&M – Corpus Christi men's and women's cross country teams had to navigate their way through mud, puddles and fog at Lake Charles, La., for the Southland Conference Championships.

The men's team splashed their way to a third-place finish with a team total of 88, while the women's team came in fifth place with 126 points.

"The race we did really, really well with was the men's race," head coach Shawn Flanagan said. "Getting third in such a strong conference is a good step forward. It was not easy, they had to battle the course conditions, but they really helped each other out. You could really see they all pushed each other in order to get the job done, and it was a great step in the right direction."

Philipp Baar paced the men's team with an extremely solid race, crossing the finish line in 25:23.4 to earn seventh place and a spot on the Second Team All-Conference. The junior jumped into the top 10 after a 14^th-place finish last year.

Two seniors came in not too far back of Baar, as Jason Garcia crossed the line in 25:54.2 for 16^th place, while Justin Adame ran to an 18^th-place finish in a time of 26:08.5.

The freshman also ran very well, helping the Islanders to their third-place title. Edgar Martinez and Cesar Gonzalez both finished in the top 25, coming in at 22^nd and 25th, respectively. Rounding out the team totals for A&M – Corpus Christi was Daniel Guerrero in 32^nd place.

The other two Islanders were senior Jacob Abrego in 42^nd place and junior Christoph Hintz as the 62^nd finisher.

The two teams finishing ahead of A&M – Corpus Christi were Lamar with a team total of 26 after all of its five men who scored finished in the top 10 and Stephen F. Austin who had 54 points. Host McNeese State (104) and Central Arkansas (114) rounded out the top five teams on the men's side.

"The women got out good, they put themselves in contention to win the race after one mile, unfortunately we just couldn't hold the pace," Flanagan said. "Our top three girls didn't do too bad, we just needed a couple more of them to finish in the top. We're going to go back to the drawing board with them for the Regionals, but we have a good group of athletes and they try hard. We just have to get some better results and keep working at it."

Leading the way for the women's team was freshman Brandie Garcia who received Honorable Mention All-Conference honors with a 15^th-place finish in a time of 22:17.6.

Running in her final conference championship for A&M – Corpus Christi was Cecilia Jones, who was the last of the top 20 runners with a time of 22:31.5. Regina Salinas was right behind Jones in 24^th, crossing the line in 22:52.9.

Two ends of the spectrum rounded out the scoring for the Islanders with senior Jasmine Boutte coming in 29^th while Lara Huelsebusch finished in 38^th to complete the team's total of 126.

The final three runners were Vanessa Galindo, Ann-Kathrin Ott and Saira Gonzalez with times of 23:23.6, 23:36.9 and 24:08.3, respectively.

The top three teams in the women's race were Lamar (36), UCA (78) and SFA (97), while Sam Houston State placed just two points ahead of the Islanders with a total of 124.

Next up for A&M – Corpus Christi will be the South Central Regional Meet, which will take place in Waco, Texas, on Friday, Nov. 15.

For the latest information, follow Islanders Cross Country on Twitter and Instagram (@IslandersTFXC) and Facebook (Texas A&M Corpus Christi Track & Field/Cross Country).

Women's Team Results (6k):

1. Lamar 36

2. Central Arkansas 78

3. Stephen F. Austin 97

4. Sam Houston State 124

5. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 126

6. Houston Baptist 190

7. Abilene Christian 192

8. UIW 202

9. McNeese State 207

10. Nicholls 221

11. Oral Roberts 302