On top
SUU women take Mid-Con title again;
men finish 2nd
SUU SPORTS INFORMATION
Sophomore Alisha Bezanson shattered the Mid-Continent
Conference 6-kilometer championship record with a time
of 22:09 to help lead the SUU women to their conference-record
fifth-straight Mid-Con title, outscoring second-place
Western Illinois, 37-86, Saturday in Indianapolis, Ind.
Meanwhile, the Thunderbird men, who redshirted their three
top runners at the beginning of the year, saw their five-year
run as conference champions ended by Oakland University
by just eight points, 34-42.
The Thunderbird women placed all five scoring runners
in the top 12 overall led by Bezanson, whose 22:09 was
also a personal-best mark and won her Mid-Con women’s
athlete of the year accolades, winning the race 13-seconds
ahead of Oakland’s Melissa Nasers. Junior Stephanie
Hart and senior Kelly Richards both recorded PRs of 22:43
to finish sixth and seventh, respectively, while sophomore
Maegan Schmutz placed 11th with a personal-best time of
23:09 and junior Natalie Quilter closed SUU’s scoring
in 12th at 23:14.
Junior Carma Douglas ran a personal-best 24:22 for the
’Birds and sophomore Arianne Brown ran a PR 25:47.
All six T-Bird men recorded personal-best 8-kilometer
marks and took five of the top-16 spots overall, led by
sophomore J.D. Nielson with a third-place overall time
of 25:18.
Freshman David Sheeran followed in fourth at 25:23, which
earned him Mid-Con Newcomer of the Year honors.
Juniors Sean McLachlan (25:45) and Aared Sampson (26:07)
crossed the line in seventh and 12th, respectively, and
freshman Chad Sanada closed SUU’s scoring in 16th
at 26:13.
Freshman Koda Livingston, competing in just his second
race of the season, placed 34th at 27:05.
“We are pleased that we walked out of this meet
with a first and second-place finish,” Coach Eric
Houle said. “Our women didn’t dominate like
we did last year, but we had great times on a slow, wet
course.
“I thought our men did an awesome job,” Houle
added. “I was worried about them not being ready
to run, but they came out and really ran well. We had
our chances, but we let Oakland get out a little too ahead
of us. This team, along with our redshirts, should get
us back where we want to be next year. It was a real
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SUU’s Natalie Quilter keeps a steady pace
for the Thunderbirds. The SUU women won their 5th-straight
Mid-Con Conference championship Saturday by a wide
margin and the men finished second despite admittedly
“rebuilding.”
ERIN MADSON / UNIVERSITY JOURNAL
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good season for both our teams.”Bezanson, Hart and
Richards were named women’s first team all-Mid-Con,
while Schmutz and Quilter were named to the second team.
Houle also earned women’s Coach of the Year honors.
Nielson, Sheeran and McLachlan took home men’s first
team all-conference honors and Sampson was named to the
second team.
SUU will enjoy another week off to prepare for the NCAA
Mountain
Regional is Nov. 16, with the University of New Mexico,
Albuquerque to play host.
Last season, the T-Bird women finished a program-best sixth
in Provo, Utah, while the men will look to improve on their
12th-place showing. |
