HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Young Northwestern State men's and women's cross country teams are continuing to learn on the fly, and NSU runners had another learning experience Friday at the Southland Conference Cross Country Championships at Sam Houston State's Country Campus Golf Course.
The men finished 11th in the 12-team event while two NSU women's individual runners finished in the bottom half of their race.
Sophomore Josh Wilkins finished 26th with a time of 26:06 to lead the Demons in the 8K race. The top-30 finish is Wilkins' second of his college career after placing 22nd as a freshman.
"Josh was sitting in the top 15 going into the final mile," said NSU coach Nathanial McReynolds. "That was the make-it-or-break-it point. Overall, it was a tough day for us. It's a not good representation of who we are, but I know this young group will learn from this.
"We finished two points behind Southeastern for 10th-place (on the men's side). We have 18-19 year-olds running against some 21-year-olds and even older, so there is going to be a maturity difference."
NSU's other four men's scorers were packed between places 65-79. Sophomore Hunter Wamack (65th, 27:59), sophomore Grant Butts (69th, 28:14), senior Jeremy Elliott (70th, 28:22) and junior Lucas Moncla (79th, 29:16) crowded together in the 93-runner event.
On the women's side, NSU sent two runners instead of a whole team with injuries plaguing other Lady Demons.
Sophomore Jacqueline Rushford finished 54th with a time of 24 minutes in the 6K event. Fellow sophomore Erin Sitarz came in 71st with a time of 25:46 in the 84-runner meet.
"They ran solid races – it's the same times they've been running all year," McReynolds said. "We can't argue with the results. We just had what we had today."
Rushford placed 48th in 2014 as she's led the Lady Demons in her two seasons.
Other male runners who competed but didn't score included freshman Anson Ballow (86th, 29:58), junior Mitchell Landry (89th, 30:19) and freshman Jacob Dahlhoff (90th, 30:51).
Only one runner – Jeremy Elliott – is out of eligibility this season, meaning the Demons and Lady Demons will return plenty of championship experience next season.
Landry, a Haughton native, competed despite a foot injury that's limited his training. Landry rode a bicycle in an attempt to replicate the cardiovascular work of running, and he's indicated that this cross country season will be his last as the industrial engineering major is on pace to graduate this spring.
Lamar won the men's cross country championship with Stephen F. Austin coming in second. Lamar freshman Iliass Aouani won the event with a 24:24.
On the women's side, Abilene Christian ran away with the title with junior Alexandria Hackett finishing more than 30 seconds ahead of the field with a 20:27.
