Cross Country | 10/30/2015 12:43:00 PM
Men's Results | Women's Results | Photo Gallery | Homecoming interviews with the Wildcats
HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Junior Alexandria Hackett's extraordinary cross country season reached a fitting conclusion Friday as her third individual victory of the fall carried Abilene Christian University to its first Southland Conference Championship since the school rejoined the league in 2013.
The Wildcats totaled 43 points with Hackett crushing the competition in the 84-woman, 6-kilometer race behind a winning time of 20:26.6 that was 31.0 seconds ahead of Lamar seniors Jannika John (21:04.5) and Verity Ockenden (21:04.9). ACU junior Diana García Muñoz captured fourth place in 21:14.0 to earn all-conference honors for the second consecutive season, and rounding out the top-five was Stephen F. Austin sophomore Courtney High (21:18.1).
Lamar entered today's meet as the two-time defending conference champions but claimed only one additional runner in the top-10 and settled for third place with 84 points. SFA provided the Wildcats a bit of a uncertainty in the team standings after its No. 2 runner Shelby Pesek placed eighth (21:29.4) and its No. 3, 4 and 5 runners all finished among the top-15; however, Alexandria Hackett's twin sister, Michaela, helped ACU's cause with a seventh-place time of 21:22.6 and freshman Aubrey Till took 12th in 21:48.8.
SFA, which has won seven Southland team titles (most recently in 2012), finished with 52 points for its second straight runner-up showing.
Michaela Hackett's improvement at this meet was just as impressive as her sister's. Last year she recorded a 45th-place time of 23:15.8 for the Wildcats and now she is one of three all-conference honorees for the Purple and White.
The Wildcats' fifth and final scorer was sophomore Bella Gutierrez, who finished among the top-20 for the second consecutive year in 22:35.1.
First-year runner Carnley Graham just missed the top-20 by one spot with her effort of 22:38.4, and second-year Wildcats Gabby Thompson and Marina Guerrero were 43rd (23:37.8) and 56th (24:15.2), respectively.
"The best part about all of this is seeing the congratulations our kids are receiving on their hard work and commitment," said head coach
Keith Barnier. "They are getting what they deserve. They did the work. They didn't win the distance lottery … I can't think of a better leadership example for this team to have than Diana (García Muñoz) and Allie (Hackett) in all areas: lifestyle, spiritually and emotionally."
Cross country was one of the Wildcats' most dominant programs for over 20 years between the early 1980's and mid-2000's as the men's and women's teams combined for 39 Lone Star Conference titles in addition to consecutive NCAA Championships won by the men in 2006 and 2007.
But until today, the Wildcat women had not won a conference crown since they won the last of their 14 Lone Star championships in 2007 and not claimed an individual gold medal since Anais Belledant in 2010. Chloe Susset came close to winning LSC's in 2011 with a runner-up time of 21:51, and was the school's most recent NCAA Regional Champion, placing first at Midwestern State in 21:37.90. She and teammate Alyse Goldsmith then became the last Wildcats to represent ACU at the NCAA Championships, albeit at the DII level.
Without Susset and Goldsmith in 2012 the women's program hit bottom with a last-place finish at their final Lone Star meet with only one individual reaching the top-20. But the following season, a new coaching staff that included Barnier and assistants
Ray Walker and Drew Graham rejuvenated the roster from top to bottom. First they brought back Susset for her senior season and recruited their trio of all-conference performers García Munñoz and the Hackett twins.
ACU's climb to the top started slowly. Susset was fifth at her first and only Southland meet, while Garcia Munoz just cracked the top-20 and Michaela and Alexandria were 60th and 75th. That team finished seventh with 192 points, but one year later they shaved off 70 points thanks to three top-20 showings.
And now today, it feels as if the mission is complete even though there's so much more for these young ladies to accomplish during the upcoming indoor and outdoor track and field seasons.
"This (first place) is where we want to be, but it wasn't easy," said Barnier. "I'm glad we finished first – we give all the glory to God – and it feels fantastic to be coming home with the team trophy. It's fun being the first ACU team (to win a Southland Conference title) and hopefully it give the rest of our teams a shot in the arm – but we had to fight off two teams (SFA and Lamar) with winning traditions to get this. SFA put up an amazing fight today."
From start to finish Alexandria Hackett's 2015 season is one for the history books. A three-time Southland Conference Athlete of the Week, she defeated Texas Tech in a 5K dual meet and runners from 10 other schools earlier this month in Little Rock. She also went toe-to-toe against the nation's best runners at Texas A&M, placing second against a 16-team field, and finished as the No. 3 DI runner at the prestigious Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Ark.
"Allie was a champ today and she won by a lot … it was pedal to the metal from the go," said Barnier. "She's been in tougher races this season so I wasn't surprised at all at how fast she started. It wasn't unusual. She simply ran her pace and the others had to keep up with her.
"I think one of the biggest keys today was Bella finishing fifth for us and in the top-20 while Diana, Michaela and Aubrey did what they've been doing all season long … and it was enough to win."
Although Alexandria Hackett dominated the headlines here, the consistency and contributions of García Muñoz can't be overstated. She won the season-opening meet by 20 seconds over Hackett at McMurry's Bill Libby Invitational, was fifth and 11th at the year's strongest meets hosted by A&M and Arkansas and was the runner-up to Hackett at UALR.
For ACU's men's XC team, its climb up the Southland standings will have to wait another year as the Wildcats finished ninth for the second consecutive season with 250 points – a 24 improvement from the previous fall.
In the final distance race of his collegiate career, fifth-year senior Daniel Block posted an 8K time of 26:01.7 to lead all Wildcat runners for the sixth time this season. He also was the team's No. 1 runner at five of six meets in 2014 and was ACU's top finisher at the conference meet during all three of his years at ACU after transferring from the University of Saskatchewan.
Block was 40th in his Southland debut in 2013, moved up to 31st last season and was 23rd this morning. He's also won a conference indoor 800m title during his two-plus years as a Wildcat and been named Third Team Academic All-America.
Barnier said he'd forever be grateful to Block's contributions.
"He's been a leader for us ever since I've been here," he said. "He's a great student, a strong Christian, and seemingly does everything right. He made things easy for me and the coaching staff … at a recent team meeting he spoke up to voice his appreciation and all I can say is the feeling is mutual."
Finishing behind Block for ACU were sophomore Ryan Cleary (26:27.6), junior Sterlen Paul (27:23.0), junior Reid Rivers (28:23.4), senior Taylor Ochs (28:37.2), sophomore John Baker (29:12.8) and freshman Lincoln Jones (30:57.0).
Lamar won the men's team title for the ninth time in the last 10 years, edging SFA by two points, 27-29. McNeese was a distant third with 79 points.
Cardinal freshman Iliass Aouani won the individual title in 24:24.6 and was followed by the Lumberjack trio of Charles Mathenge (24:35.9), Nicholas Guerra (24:37.1) and Colby Mehmen (24:43.9). Lamar then finished fifth through eighth, while SFA's No. 4 and 5 runners were split up between McNeese's Nathan Jones who placed 10th in 25:22.7.
As was noted previously, ACU men won the first seven Southland Conference cross country titles from 1964 to 1970. Today's championship, however, was the first ever won by an ACU women's program in the Southland and the 216th combined conference title for Wildcat Athletics.
