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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Winning its sixth Southland Conference Championship in program history, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's cross country team won the title at home Friday morning at the Islanders Cross Country Course.
The women edged out New Orleans by one point to win the championship. Four of the five scorers for A&M-Corpus Christi earned All-Conference recognition.
"Amazing job by our ladies. It was so close that I didn't think that we won – I thought we were a few points short, but to win by one point goes to show we were racing the whole way. It was really an incredible performance one through five for us, and I'm just incredibly proud of the team," said head coach
Brent Ericksen, who was named the 2021 Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year.
The men's team finished in third-place overall and were one point out of second. The Islanders placed two student-athletes in the top-four with freshman
Kelvin Kimaiyo earning runner-up honors and junior
Dennis Kipngeno placing fourth. Kimaiyo was also the SLC Freshman of the Year.
"The men's race was tight too, it just didn't quite go our way today. I'm proud of their overall season though and they've done a really good job throughout the year," Ericksen said. "Kelvin had a great race today. The race got spread out a little bit, but he stayed strong. I think if he would have started attacking the first-place runner a little earlier he could have had a chance to win, but he'll be here four more years and will continue to improve."
Back on the women's side, senior
Faith Bett led the charge with a 6K time of 21:54.40 to finish sixth. She and senior
Quin Johnson earned All-Conference Second-Team honors after Johnson clocked in at 22:17.86 for a top-10 showing.
One spot behind Johnson was senior
Valentina Campos with a 22:29.40. She was recognized on the All-Conference Third-Team along with sophomore
Sharon Kiprop who submitted a 22:42.40.
A&M-Corpus Christi's important fifth scorer was junior
Jasmine Perez. She stopped the timer at 22:53.15 to grab 16th-place.
For the men, Kimaiyo legged out an 8K time of 24:17.51. He was two positions ahead of Kipngeno's 24:41.33 as the duo were tabbed to the All-Conference First-Team.
On the All-Conference Third-Team was senior
Tristan Stellmach. He grinded out a 25:15.47 to end in 11th.
Also scoring for the Islanders were senior
Juan Salinas III and junior
Hunter Haas. Salinas placed 22nd with a 26:12.79, while Haas finished 28th with a 26:40.40.
A&M-Corpus Christi hosted the conference meet for the third time in school history and the first since 2009.
The women have won SLC Championships in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2018 and 2021.
A&M-Corpus Christi will now wait to see how many qualifiers it has for the 2021 NCAA South Central Regional at Cottonwood Creek Golf Course on Friday, Nov. 12 in Waco, Texas, hosted by Baylor. The 2021 NCAA Cross Country Championships will take place at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla., on Nov. 20.
Women's Standings
1. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 56
2. New Orleans, 57
3. McNeese, 62
4. UIW, 75
5. Nicholls, 113
6. HBU, 157
7. Southeastern, 210
8. Northwestern State, 229
Women's Individuals (Out of 60)
6.
Faith Bett, 21:54.40 (All-Conference Second-Team)
10.
Quin Johnson, 22:17.86 (All-Conference Second-Team)
11.
Valentina Campos, 22:29.40 (All-Conference Third-Team)
13.
Sharon Kiprop, 22:42.40 (All-Conference Third-Team)
16.
Jasmine Perez, 22:53.15
33.
Alana Blankenship, 24:12.81
36.
Cambria Clark, 24:41.50
Men's Standings
1. McNeese, 47
2. UIW, 65
3. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 66
4. New Orleans, 93
5. HBU, 117
6. Southeastern, 128
7. Nicholls, 206
8. Northwestern State, 220
Men's Individuals (Out of 65)
2.
Kelvin Kimaiyo, 24:17.51 (Freshman of the Year/All-Conference First-Team)
4.
Dennis Kipngeno, 24:41.33 (All-Conference First-Team)
11.
Tristan Stellmach, 25:15.47 (All-Conference Third-Team)
22.
Juan Salinas III, 26:12.79
28.
Hunter Haas, 26:40.40
35. Boaz Ronoh, 26:57.95
36.
Rogerio Gomez, 26:59.77
43.
Keenan Lawrence, 28:04.46
53.
Gregorio Alcorta, 29:33.68
56.
Andrew Gandy, 29:52.40
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