Women's Results
Men's Results
CLINTON, Miss.—The Lady Hornets of Alabama State backed up their 2011 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Cross Country Championship with the 2012 Championship collecting 42 points. They easily outdistanced second-place Mississippi Valley State who finished with 77 points.
Not only was it a back-to-back championship, but it was the third SWAC title in the last five years for the Lady Hornets.
The Lady Hornets were led by
Artrailia LeSane who finished third with a time of 18:52.17. ASU had two other top-10 finishes with Kim Wedderburn's (18:53.71) fourth-place finish and
Paige Rankin (19:02.66) who finished seventh.
Shantia Wilson (19:53.83) finished 13
th and
Jerrica Mahone (19:55.73) finished 15
th.
Soyong Smith (19:56.43) was 16
th and
Santina Williams (20:20.91) finished 21
st.
The Lady Hornets ran a combined time of 1:36:38.09, averaging 19:19.62 per runner. Six of the seven ASU runners ran their best times of the season in the championship which was the main reason ASU was able to record their seventh championship in the history of the women's program.
“This competition today was amazing and they did everything we asked them to do,” Head Coach
Ritchie Beene said. “The times they ran, the way they came together and the PR's (personal records) they had is what we practice for. The game plan Coach Snapp (Michael) and I came up with worked perfectly so we are excited about that.”
LeSane and Wedderburn received First-Team All-SWAC honors and Rankin was named to the Second-Team. Head Coach
Ritchie Beene was named the SWAC Women's Coach of the Year.
Behind ASU and MVSU, were Alcorn State (107 pts.), Grambling (110 pts.), Prairie View (117 pts.), Texas Southern (150 pts.), Alabama A&M (159 pts.), Jackson State (208 pts.), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (219 pts.) and Southern (232 pts.).
The men came into the Championships looking to best their seventh-place finish from last season. They were able to do that with their fifth-place finish.
The Hornets were led by
Brandon Coombs who finished 18th, crossing the finish line in 27:56.41.
Cory Nwaiji (28:21.65) finished 22
nd and
Carlos Flores (29:09.52) finished 31
st.
Other finishers for the men were
James Walker (29:16.06) who finished 33
rd,
Carleddy St. Jean (31:41.70) was 44
th, and
Malcolm Brockton (33:23.80) finished 53
rd.
Like the women, several of the men set personal records today in the event that helped lead ASU to their improvement over last season.
“One thing I want the men to realize is that this is a new beginning for the men's program,” Beene said. “We knew if they would come in here and improve on their place they would be on their way to becoming a championship caliber team within the next couple of years. We still have some recruiting to do and some gaps to fill. We have to get them to mature a little bit more, and I think the sky is going to be the limit for them.”
Mississippi Valley won the men's event with 38 points followed closely by Prairie View with 40 points. Texas Southern (81 pts.) was third and Grambling (84 pts.) was fourth. Following ASU's (146 pts.) fifth-place finish were Alcorn State (162 pts.), Jackson State (195 (pts.), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (205 pts.) and Southern (217 pts.).
With the win, the Lady Hornets have now qualified for the NCAA South Region. The regional championship will be held at the Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla. Florida State University will be the host and it will run on Friday, Nov. 9.
