Lamar ranked sixth regionally in men’s cross country

Published 9:27 pm Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Lamar’s men’s cross country team is ranked higher than any other Southland Conference program in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s South Central Region poll.

Lamar is the four-time defending Southland champion and ranked sixth in the region, with Stephen F. Austin 12th and McNeese State 14th. Winners of 15 conference titles, Lamar claimed 10 of them in 11 years.

Three of the Cards’ top-20 finishers have finished their eligibility but they return last year’s Southland runner-up, Freddie Gasbarri, and 19th-place Keith Fallon, the 2016 conference Newcomer of the Year. Tony Houchin returns as a two-time Southland men’s coach of the year, continuing a streak of four straight honors by a Lamar coach.

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Lamar’s women’s team is ranked 14th regionally and led by returning Southland Female Athlete of the Year, Evelyn Chavez. She won the conference title last year, and teammate Jannika John was third.

The Cardinal women is going for their sixth overall women’s team title.

Lamar is scheduled to begin the season Friday in the Aggie Opener at Texas A&M.
— I.C. Murrell

About I.C. Murrell

I.C. Murrell was promoted to editor of The News, effective Oct. 14, 2019. He previously served as sports editor since August 2015 and has won or shared eight first-place awards from state newspaper associations and corporations. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, grew up mostly in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

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