CLINTON, Miss. – The Philander Smith men’s cross country program wrote its names in the record books as the Panthers narrowly edged out 12-time champion Xavier by three points.

Philander and Xavier alternated between the top-six runners of the meet with the Panthers placing first, third and fifth while the Gold Rush came in second, fourth and sixth. PSC landed one more player on the All-GCAC at ninth which ultimately was the winning placement. Dillard got two runners on the board in the eighth and tenth slots while Edward Waters got represented at number seven.

EWC came in third place with 73 points, Tougaloo was fourth at 101 points and Dillard did not have enough runners to provide a team score.

Philander Smith freshman Desmond Merritt became the second straight freshman to become the GCAC men’s cross country individual champion and only the fourth freshman in the past two decades to cross the finish line first. The Panthers had Isaiah Millet (31:05.00) place third, Miles Flood (31:47.00) come in fifth and Noel Lyons (32:47.90) earn ninth.

XULA placed three student-athletes on the All-GCAC team as Ahmad Wilson (30:21.9) got second, Zacchaeus Mosley (31:09.20) earned fourth and Adrian Thornton II (32:15.30) pulled in at sixth.

Edward Waters saw its lone top-ten finisher in senior Jourdan Bell, running a 32:22.70 in the 8k.

Tougaloo’s best placement came from Jaylen Lester at 38:46.50, good enough for 19th.

Dillard, despite not getting credited with a team score, had two of its three runners claim All-GCAC honors with eighth place finisher Tevrin Jackson (32:36.90) and tenth place Isaiah Rankins carried the Bleu Devils.

PSC Head Coach Chris McConnell received his second career GCAC Coach of the Year Award, second in the past three seasons.

GCAC Coach of the Year: Chris McConnell (Philander Smith)

                                                                                           All-GCAC

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FORT SMITH – The University of Arkansas- Fort Smith cross country teams took the titles at Saturday’s Fort Smith Invitational. The Invitational, only the second hosted by UAFS in school history, opened the the 2019 season for the Lions and Lady Lions.

Senior Kandace Young set the pace in the women’s five kilometer competition, earning individual honors with a time of 20:52. Freshman Kari Sosa and Junior Morgan Fagen finished second and third with respective times of 22:01.01 and 22:20.08. Senior Cami Hedstrom finished fourth with a time of 22:31.3 while Freshman Megan Thompson rounded out the field at fifth finishing with a time of 22:58.6.

Senior Will Phillips earned the individual title in the men’s eight kilometer competition running the race in 28:30.2. Freshman Shad Cates and Senior Oliver Perezfinished second and third with respective times of 30:08 and 30:22.4. Freshman Nathaniel Gonzalez finished fourth with a time of 31:19.2 while Alfredo Gallegos, also a Freshman, finished fifth with a time of 31:33.5.

UAFS’ travel to Joplin, Missouri on Saturday, Sept. 21 to compete in the Missouri Southern State University Stampede.

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WALNUT RIDGE – The women’s cross country team from Williams Baptist College’s 2017 season could not have gotten off to a better start. They return from the Lyon College Invitational with a team championship, as well as an individual championship. The meet took place in Batesville, Ark., on Thursday, Aug. 31.

Hannah Roberts led the way with her first ever individual first place finish. She finished the 5km race in 22:40, becoming the second ever Lady Eagle to earn an individual cross country championship.

“Hannah comes to work every day. She deserves every honor she receives. She keeps a level head and has improved every year. What an honor for her and this team,” head coach Andrew Watson said.

The team dominated the four team invitational, finishing with 19 points total. Central Baptist College (51), Crowley’s Ridge College (61), and Lyon College (96) finished behind WBC.

“It is a special thing to come away with an individual and team championship. I am proud of the way this team competed,” Watson said.

Betsy Ryan followed Roberts to finish the meet in second place. She finished with a time of 23:28. Other scorers for the Lady Eagles were Kristen Smith (third place) with a time of 25:55, Andrea Gayton (26:50)  in sixth place, and Lauren Garrison (27:25) in seventh place.

Also finishing the race for WBC was Breana Roberts with a time of 28:44, and Taylor Johnson with a time of 34:19.

The Lady Eagles will take part in the College of Ozarks Invitational on Sept. 9. This meet will be held in Hollister, Mo.

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BATESVILLE – Lyon College has announced that it will lift the moratorium on its  men’s and women’s cross country programs and restart them in the fall of 2017, seven years after suspending those programs, Director of Athletics Kevin Jenkins stated Monday.

Lyon has begun a nation-wide search for a new head coach for the programs and hopes to name the leader by mid-February, Jenkins said. The coach will then be looking to fill squads of 12 student-athletes on both the men’s and women’s teams and compete for the American Midwest Conference championship in November.

“One of the reasons we placed a moratorium on the programs is because there was a lack of teams in the TranSouth Athletic Conference,” Jenkins explained. “We were a member of that conference in 2009, but there were only four men’s teams and four women’s teams and we were the only conference member from Arkansas.

“But a lot has changed since then. We’re now a member of the very strong American Midwest Conference and there were 10 men’s teams and 11 women’s teams this past fall. There are also both men’s and women’s teams from (AMC members) Central Baptist College and Williams Baptist College in Arkansas. The AMC also hosted the NAIA National Championships as well, indicating the conference’s commitment to excellence in this sport, to go along with the other 16 championship sports.

American Midwest Conference schools who currently sponsor men’s and women’s cross country include Freed-Hardeman University in Tennessee, Lindenwood University at Belleville in Illinois and Columbia College, Hannibal-LaGrange University, Missouri Baptist University, Park University, St. Louis College of Pharmacy and William Woods University in Missouri, in addition to CBC and WBC in Arkansas. Stephens College, an all-women’s college, also competes in the AMC.

Only Harris-Stowe State University and Lyon were AMC members who did not field cross country squads in 2016.

“(Lyon) is very excited about the return of cross country to our fast-growing athletics programs here,” Jenkins added. “Our goal is to have 24 student-athletes on these squads and to begin challenging for an AMC championship next fall.

“Cross country is a sport that we feel we will now have an excellent opportunity to recruit some outstanding student-athletes. And because it is more of an individual sport, it won’t take long to begin challenging for a conference title.”

In the fall of 2016, 89 men competed for the AMC men’s championship’s eight kilometer race, with Columbia claiming the team title for the third straight year and William Woods placing second. Both teams qualified for the NAIA Meet held in Elsah, Ill. There were 77 conference runners in the women’s five kilometer race. Missouri Baptist won it’s first-ever AMC title, with Park placing second. Both teams advanced to the national championships.

The reinstatement of the two cross country teams, in addition to restarting football and beginning men’s and women’s wrestling programs in the past three years, will bring the number of intercollegiate sports sponsored by Lyon to 14.

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CONWAY – The Arkansas Tech cross country team put together some record-setting performances as the Golden Suns came away from the UCA Open with a third-place finish Saturday morning at Beaverfork Lake Park in Conway, Ark.

The Suns scored a 92 as a team in the 4K race, finishing ahead of conference foes Southern Arkansas, Ouachita Baptist, and Arkansas-Monticello as well as ahead of Division I schools Arkansas-Little Rock and Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the 11-team race.

Cami Hedstrom pitched another head-turning performance, setting the Golden Suns individual record in the 4K with a time of 15:27.5 and coming away with a ninth-place finish. Hedstrom broke the previous record of 15:45.67 set by Eimear O’Brien back in 2005. Hedstrom also got the opportunity to run against her twin sister, Carmen Hedstrom who competes for Arkansas-Fort Smith.

Shannon McLaughlin also cashed in on a 15^th place finish, crossing the finish line in 15:36.1 and setting the Golden Suns’ second-best time in the 4K. Amy Riera came away with 17^th(scoring 16^th) with a time of 15:45.9, setting the fourth-best 4K mark in Tech history.

Logan Edwards and Mary Simmons finished back-to-back in 35^th and 36^th respectively (scoring 32^nd and 33^rd) with times of 16:34 and 16.34.2 to round out the scoring for the Suns.

GOLDEN SUNS TIMES AND PLACES

• Cami Hedstrom – 15:27.5 – 9^th
• Shannon McLaughlin – 15:36.1 – 15^th
• Amy Riera – 15:45.9 – 17^th
• Logan Edwards – 16:34 – 32^nd
• Mary Simmons – 16:34.2 – 33^rd
• Kami Ward – 16:47.6 – 39^th
• Mallory Morris – 17:34.4 – 60^th
• Megan Bradley – 17:39.3 – 62^nd
• Adrianna Simmons – 18:05.2 – 70^th
• Angel Mapp – 18:41.3 – 77^th

NEXT UP

• Next Saturday, the Golden Suns will travel to Joplin, Mo. for the Southern Stampede hosted by Missouri Southern. Start time for the race is slated for 8 a.m.

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We wrap up the 2015-2016 athletic season with a series of Podcasts visiting with the coaches of the conference champions during the year. Today’s visit is with East Central men’s cross-country coach, Steve Sawyer.

GAC Weekly June 7, 2016

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We wrap up the 2015-2016 athletic season with a series of Podcasts visiting with the coaches of the conference champions during the year. Today’s visit is with Harding women’s cross-country coach, Steve Guymon.

GAC Weekly June 6, 2016

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