Heartland Cross Country Championships Preview
October 21, 2016
The Heartland Conference released the following preview of the Cross Country Championships which will take place this weekend in Mansfield, Texas. Both the men's and women's teams from Panhandle State will have runners competing in the meet. Good luck and safe travels to the Aggie Cross Country teams!
MANSFIELD, Texas - The 2016 Heartland Conference Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships are set to take place this weekend on Saturday, October 22at the Mansfield Sport Complex hosted by Dallas Baptist University.The women's 6k championship will begin at 9 a.m. followed by the men's 8k race which is slated to start at 10 a.m.
Visit the Heartland Conference Cross Country Championship tournament page for results, awards and photos throughout the weekend.
Men's Preview
Reigning conference champion Oklahoma Christian will face tough challenges from Dallas Baptist, Lubbock Christian, Rogers State and Newman all who have put together multiple top-three team finishes this season.
OC is riding high after its final tune up for the conference meet where four Eagles' runners set personal records in an 8,000-meter course. Junior Sissay Gillock and Senior Kyle Brodderick lead the way for Oklahoma Christian and both are returning All-Heartland runners from a season ago.
Dallas Baptist is one of the teams most poised to take over the conference crown coming into the meet ranked ninth in the stacked South Central Region. The Patriots were narrowly picked to finish second in the conference preseason poll and finished ahead of OC in their lone common meet at the Missouri Southern Stampede where DBU finished second to OC's seventh-place finish. Dallas Baptist is paced by sophomore, and 2015 All-Heartland runner, Stetson Rayas who won Heartland Runner of the Week after a fourth-place finish in the Division II South Central Preview in Colorado.
Rogers State has a chance to make some noise at the meet with one of the top individual runners in the region in Baylor Harvey. RSU also returns 2015 Heartland Freshman of the Year Sam Whittington. Harvey is an excellent candidate to take the individual title at the meet after picking up three individual titles this season and finishing inside the top three in every meet this season. RSU was picked to finish fifth coming into the season.
Newman enters the meet with a pair of top-three finishes and a sixth-place finish at the National Catholic Championship in Notre Dame, Ind. The Jets have a strong core of runners including two 2015 All-Heartland runners in Jacob Wallace and Paul Johnson. Newman was picked to finish third in the preseason poll.
Lubbock Christian has a trio of top-three team finishes on the year and is paced by newcomer Alex Ntagawa who has three top-five individual finishes this season. Lubbock Christian was picked fourth in the preseason poll. Texas A&M International also returns All-Heartland runner from 2015 Justo Idrogo. The Dustdevils also have a strong runner in freshman Ulises Perez.
St. Edward's comes into the meet off a seventh-place finish at the George Fox Invitational where the Hilltoppers were led by freshman Mauri Padilla. Padilla has led St. Edward's in three meets this season. UA Fort Smith and Oklahoma Panhandle State are looking to improve on last year's eighth and 10th place finishes from a season ago.
Women's Preview
Dallas Baptist enters the meet as the heavy favorite to claim a 10th straight conference championship and a No. 15 ranking in the USTFCCCA Division II Poll. Senior Cashlee Rayas, two-time Heartland Runner of the Week, is a favorite to claim the individual crown after earning All-Heartland First Team honors in each of her previous three seasons with the Patriots. DBU also returns five other All-Heartland First Team runners from 2015.
Oklahoma Christian will have a strong favorite to claim the individual title in senior Layne Hammer. Hammer has earned Heartland Runner of the Week honors three times this season and finished inside the top-10 in four times. OC also returns All-Heartland runners in Maci Rich and Aubrey Watson. The Lady Eagles have finished inside the top-5 twice this season.
Texas A&M International also has a strong individual favorite in returning All-Heartland First Team runner Rebekah Hernandez who finished second at the meet in 2015. The Dustdevils have won two meets this season at the Texas A&M Corpus Christi Invitational and UIW Invitational.
Newman sophomore Clara Lane will look to repeat her 2015 championship performance after claiming Freshman of the Year honors while placing eighth in last year's meet. Fellow sophomore Alondra Romo has helped the Jets record top-three finishes twice this season including a win at the JK Gold Invitational hosted by Wichita State.
Lubbock Christian, picked to finish fourth in the preseason poll, enters the championship after picking up its first team win since 2009 at the Texas Tech Invitational. The Lady Chaps are led by Amira Cunningham who finished fourth in LCU's final tune-up at the South Plains Invitational in Levelland, Texas. LCU was picked fourth in the preseason poll.
St. Edward's enters Saturday's championship after turning in a solid regular season that included two top-three finishes led by Rachel Frei who landed a pair of top-10 individual finishes. Frei was named Heartland Runner of the week after placing eighth at the George Fox Invitational earlier this month.
Rogers State has finished in the top-10 in all four meets this season, and recently earned their highest finish ranking sixth at the Oklahoma Baptist Invitational to round out the regular season.UA Fort Smith and Oklahoma Panhandle State have each put in top-10 finishes as a team this season and look to improve on their 10th and 8th place finishes from a season ago.
MANSFIELD, Texas - The 2016 Heartland Conference Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships are set to take place this weekend on Saturday, October 22at the Mansfield Sport Complex hosted by Dallas Baptist University.The women's 6k championship will begin at 9 a.m. followed by the men's 8k race which is slated to start at 10 a.m.
Visit the Heartland Conference Cross Country Championship tournament page for results, awards and photos throughout the weekend.
Men's Preview
Reigning conference champion Oklahoma Christian will face tough challenges from Dallas Baptist, Lubbock Christian, Rogers State and Newman all who have put together multiple top-three team finishes this season.
OC is riding high after its final tune up for the conference meet where four Eagles' runners set personal records in an 8,000-meter course. Junior Sissay Gillock and Senior Kyle Brodderick lead the way for Oklahoma Christian and both are returning All-Heartland runners from a season ago.
Dallas Baptist is one of the teams most poised to take over the conference crown coming into the meet ranked ninth in the stacked South Central Region. The Patriots were narrowly picked to finish second in the conference preseason poll and finished ahead of OC in their lone common meet at the Missouri Southern Stampede where DBU finished second to OC's seventh-place finish. Dallas Baptist is paced by sophomore, and 2015 All-Heartland runner, Stetson Rayas who won Heartland Runner of the Week after a fourth-place finish in the Division II South Central Preview in Colorado.
Rogers State has a chance to make some noise at the meet with one of the top individual runners in the region in Baylor Harvey. RSU also returns 2015 Heartland Freshman of the Year Sam Whittington. Harvey is an excellent candidate to take the individual title at the meet after picking up three individual titles this season and finishing inside the top three in every meet this season. RSU was picked to finish fifth coming into the season.
Newman enters the meet with a pair of top-three finishes and a sixth-place finish at the National Catholic Championship in Notre Dame, Ind. The Jets have a strong core of runners including two 2015 All-Heartland runners in Jacob Wallace and Paul Johnson. Newman was picked to finish third in the preseason poll.
Lubbock Christian has a trio of top-three team finishes on the year and is paced by newcomer Alex Ntagawa who has three top-five individual finishes this season. Lubbock Christian was picked fourth in the preseason poll. Texas A&M International also returns All-Heartland runner from 2015 Justo Idrogo. The Dustdevils also have a strong runner in freshman Ulises Perez.
St. Edward's comes into the meet off a seventh-place finish at the George Fox Invitational where the Hilltoppers were led by freshman Mauri Padilla. Padilla has led St. Edward's in three meets this season. UA Fort Smith and Oklahoma Panhandle State are looking to improve on last year's eighth and 10th place finishes from a season ago.
Women's Preview
Dallas Baptist enters the meet as the heavy favorite to claim a 10th straight conference championship and a No. 15 ranking in the USTFCCCA Division II Poll. Senior Cashlee Rayas, two-time Heartland Runner of the Week, is a favorite to claim the individual crown after earning All-Heartland First Team honors in each of her previous three seasons with the Patriots. DBU also returns five other All-Heartland First Team runners from 2015.
Oklahoma Christian will have a strong favorite to claim the individual title in senior Layne Hammer. Hammer has earned Heartland Runner of the Week honors three times this season and finished inside the top-10 in four times. OC also returns All-Heartland runners in Maci Rich and Aubrey Watson. The Lady Eagles have finished inside the top-5 twice this season.
Texas A&M International also has a strong individual favorite in returning All-Heartland First Team runner Rebekah Hernandez who finished second at the meet in 2015. The Dustdevils have won two meets this season at the Texas A&M Corpus Christi Invitational and UIW Invitational.
Newman sophomore Clara Lane will look to repeat her 2015 championship performance after claiming Freshman of the Year honors while placing eighth in last year's meet. Fellow sophomore Alondra Romo has helped the Jets record top-three finishes twice this season including a win at the JK Gold Invitational hosted by Wichita State.
Lubbock Christian, picked to finish fourth in the preseason poll, enters the championship after picking up its first team win since 2009 at the Texas Tech Invitational. The Lady Chaps are led by Amira Cunningham who finished fourth in LCU's final tune-up at the South Plains Invitational in Levelland, Texas. LCU was picked fourth in the preseason poll.
St. Edward's enters Saturday's championship after turning in a solid regular season that included two top-three finishes led by Rachel Frei who landed a pair of top-10 individual finishes. Frei was named Heartland Runner of the week after placing eighth at the George Fox Invitational earlier this month.
Rogers State has finished in the top-10 in all four meets this season, and recently earned their highest finish ranking sixth at the Oklahoma Baptist Invitational to round out the regular season.UA Fort Smith and Oklahoma Panhandle State have each put in top-10 finishes as a team this season and look to improve on their 10th and 8th place finishes from a season ago.
