Men's Results | Women's Results
 
LAKE CHARLES, La. - The Nicholls State University women's and men's cross country teams finished 13^th and 12^th, respectively, in the 2018 Southland Conference Cross Country Championships at the Derbonne Sports Complex on Friday.
 
The women's team totaled 347 points in the 6k, while the men finished with 324 in the 8k.
 
The top finish for the women's squad (59^th) came on a 26-minute, 54.7-second run by freshman Lara Reifers, followed by sophomore Eleana Callejas with a 63^rd-place finish on a 27:00.3. Also crossing the finish line for the team were freshmen Faith Keter (27:35.7) and Julia Garcia Verges (27.55.2) in 71^st and 74^th, respectively, and sophomore Joyce Kiplagat (28.42.7) in 80^th.
 
"The women did a good job of pushing each other, with each of our five women leading for the team at different points in the race, which helped push our pack through," Nicholls Head Coach Stefanie Slekis said. "Lara and Eleana really stepped up for the team today in the mud, with Eleana improving seven places from last year.
 
"I know this group is capable of more based on the training they have put in together the past two months, so I am excited for them to race 6k again in College Station so Julia, Joyce and Faith can show that they can race with Lara and Eleana. We have a young group that is positive, works hard and is dedicated, so they know this is step one in a three-to-four year plan to build a championship-caliber distance program at Nicholls."
 
Freshman Jonathan Hernandez led the men's team with a 56^th-place finish on a 29:32.1, with freshman Tyler Granger finishing closely behind in 57^th on a 29:36.9. They were followed by freshmen Daniel Figueroa (30:03.2) in 62^nd, Dustin Worley (30:46.2) in 69^th and Cam Carter (37:23.8) in 80^th. Junior Teril Cooper (38.04.7) rounded out the pack in 81^st.
 
"Our men's scoring team was all freshmen and took on their first Southland Conference Championship really well. They worked together throughout the race, with Daniel, Jonathan and Tyler leading for us at different points during the race," Slekis said.
 
Slekis said that the top four men's runners posted better finishes at this meet than the team's top finisher in each of the last five years.
 
"I am proud of the work this young group has put in taking on the increase in race distance from high school and look forward to seeing them compete over 10k in two weeks," Slekis said. 
 

First Southland Conference Championship in the books for our 9 freshmen/newcomers. Proud of all the hard work these young teams have put in & there is more to come. Top 4 men all beat Nicholls Men's top performance from last 5 years. Woman ran tough as a pack. #GeauxColonels pic.twitter.com/9SA6hwWRoj

— Stefanie Slekis (@StefanieSlekis) October 26, 2018

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi took home the women's title with 70 points, boasting the race's top finisher Allyson Girard (22:15.6). The men's title went to Central Arkansas with 57 points, breaking Lamar's five-season win streak. The race's top-two finishers, Jamie Crowe (25:59.1) and Jordan Rowe (26:17.5), hailed from Lamar.
 
The Colonels will travel to the Watts Cross Country Course in College Station on Nov. 9 for the South Central Regional Championships hosted by Texas A&M. The women's 6k is set to begin at 9:15 a.m., and the men will follow at 10:15 a.m.
 
The NCAA Championships will take place on Nov. 17 at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in Madison, Wisconsin.
 
To stay up to date with the Nicholls cross country squads, follow the teams on twitter @Nicholls_XCTF.