Getting to Know the Southland Conference: Cross Country

Getting to Know the Southland Conference Series
June 26 - Volleyball

The following is the second in a series of stories surrounding the University of New Orleans's entrance into the Southland Conference. Over the next several weeks, stories will feature introductions to the Southland in a particular sport while also sharing UNO's history in the sport.

The Privateers will become an official member of the Southland Conference on July 1, 2013.  The 2013-14 academic year is one of change for the Southland, which will also welcome Abilene Christian, Houston Baptist and Incarnate Word as it becomes a 14-member league.

Southland Conference Cross County– Historically Speaking

Men's cross country was one of the initial sports sponsored by the Southland Conference with Abilene Christian,
Arkansas State, Lamar and Texas-Arlington comprising the competing schools in 1964.

ACU made its mark early in the sport, hoisting the league title the first seven times it was contested. The Wildcats' seven championships ranks third all-time behind Lamar (11) and McNeese (eight). More than half of LU's league championships in the sports came during a recent six-year run of success from 2006 through 2012.

Over the course of the league's history, there have been seven student-athletes who have won the league's individual championship at least twice during their career. The group includes Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Shadrack Songok (2006 and 2007), who recently was inducted into the Southland's Hall of Honor. Songok twice earned All-American status and most recently had his league-record seventh place finish at the NCAA national championship meet matched by McNeese's David Rooney.

The women did not start competing as a Southland Conference sport until 1985 when the league comprised of Arkansas State, Lamar, McNeese State, North Texas, Northeast Louisiana (now ULM), Southwestern Louisiana (now Louisiana-Lafayette) and Texas-Arlington.

The school now known as ULM won the first two championships before never winning again. Stephen F. Austin most recently won their league-league seventh championship, which is two more than UTSA (five) and three ahead of TAMU-CC, which did not join the league until 2005.

Amongst individuals, SFA has seven individual champions to their credit including 2012 winner Lauren Smith. Smith's 2012 individual championship was her second in a row.  Top women's competitors over the years include a pair of three-time champions in Nicola Roff-Ratcliffe of ULM (1987-89) and MSU's Sita Waru (1999-2001).

Southland Conference Cross Country – The 2012 Season
The 2012 Southland Conference Cross Country Championships were held in Beaumont, Texas and saw several historic performances turned in by David Rooney and the MSU men's team.

Rooney established a Southland record of 23:33, breaking the previous league mark of 23:54 set in 2009 by Lamar's Francis Kasagule.  Rooney also became the first Cowboy to win an individual title since 1988 while helping MSU end LU's six-year run as league champions. The Cowboys had not won a league title since 2000 and the 25 points scored were the lowest in the Southland since 1982.

Following the Southland meet, Rooney later advanced to the NCAA meet, finishing seventh while Lamar's Matt Johnsen also added NCAA All-American honors by placing 33^rd at the competition which was held in Louisville, Kentucky.

SFA was also represented in the NCAA championships by Xavier Rodriguez, who placed 119^th.

On the women's side, SFA scored 56 points to edge out Piney Woods rival Sam Houston State (58) for the Ladyjacks' seventh title in school history. The two points separating the two Texas schools was the closest margin since 1994. SFA's Lauren Smith won the individual championship in a time of 20:59.1.

Smith was the lone Southland participant at the NCAA meet, finishing 157^th.

New Orleans Privateer Cross Country– Historically Speaking

The Southland Conference will be the third league in which the UNO men's and women's cross country teams have competed, following the American South and Sun Belt Conferences.

A little known fact to many that follow the Privateers is that the 2000 UNO women's cross country team remains the only female team in school history to earn a league team championship.

That squad finished first out of 12 teams in Little Rock, Ark. with Michaela Mannova's individual championship leading a Privateer charge which included four of the top seven runners. Mannova was joined by Radka Holubova (fourth), Jana Bulirova (sixth) and Katerina Sobanova (seventh).

Mannova was named the Sun Belt's 'Performer of the Week' seven times during the 2000 season and was eventually named to the Sun Belt's All-Time team alongside Bulirova (1999-2000), Rachel Cassanova (1995-97), Julie Hotard (1988-89), Santilla Victorian (1994-96) and Pavlina Vondrakova (2000-2003).

Amongst UNO cross country competitors, Vondrakova and Diana Jepchirchir rank alongside Mannova at the top.
Vondrakova won six career races during her tenure on the Lakefront, including three consecutive races and 4 of 5 in 2002. Jepchirchir won the 2005 Sun Belt Conference meet en route to being named Louisiana's Runner and Newcomer of the Year. The 2005 Sun Belt Conference championship is the last meet won by a UNO runner – male or female.

For their male counterparts, the best finish for the Privateers came with a fourth place showing in 2005. Over the years, only Tom Hefferman (1978) and Kees Jan Bongaertz (1992) placed amongst the top 10 in the Sun Belt Conference championship meet with sixth and 10^th place showings, respectively.

In 2005, the Sun Belt announced that Mike Hancock (1997), Steve Happel (1998-99) and Omar Smith (2000-03) had been named to the league's all-time cross country team. Smith likely had the most impressive career of the trio, placing as the top Privateer performer in 25 of 26 career meets while accumulating 15 top 20 finishes during his tenure on the Lakefront.

The 2013 Season – UNO's First in the Southland

UNO head coach Ty Sevin will begin his second year at the helm of the Privateer cross country program.

The 2013 campaign will represent a relatively fresh start for a program which will feature no returning student-athletes from the 2011 or 2012 seasons.

This year's freshman-heavy roster is the first to be recruited by Sevin and assistant Katherine Hoskins, who serves as the distance specialist on the coaching staff. The only non-freshmen on the roster are De La Salle product Logan Alonzo and Rebecca Callaway, both sophomores. Callaway competed as a member of the UNO track and field program in 2013.

There is no shortage of talent on the roster which includes several incoming student-athletes who achieved at a high level during their prep careers.

On the men's side, this group includes TAPPS All-State selection Michael Batson of Fort Worth (Texas) Nolan Catholic and Blake Robertson of Amarillo (Texas) Randall. Robertson enters UNO ranked amongst the top 50 seniors in the 2013 graduating class in the 3000m.

Top female newcomers include Louisiana 4A All-State selections Sarah Booth of St. Louis Catholic and Samantha Pavlovich of Sam Houston – both from Lake Charles, La. Texas Girls Coaches Association All-State selection Emily Martinez of Canyon (Texas) also arrives on the Lakefront with All-State honors.

The coming season's schedule has not been announced by Sevin, though one thing is certain – the UNO cross country teams will be the first in 2013 to get their chance at a Southland Conference title.

The first Southland championship of the 2013-14 academic season will be the league's cross country meet slated for Nov. 4, 2013 at the Ward 3 Rec Complex in Lake Charles, La.