XC Heads to Fayetteville for NCAA South Central Regional

Friday, November 15

Fayetteville, Ark.

11 a.m. CT (Women’s 6K); 12 p.m. CT (Men's 10K)

Baylor

NCAA South Central Regional Championships

XC Heads to Fayetteville for NCAA South Central Regional

11/14/2019 10:14:00 AM | Cross Country

Women’s 6K begins Friday at 11 a.m. CT, followed by the men’s 10K at noon CT.

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            All year long, the Baylor men's and women's cross country teams have been chasing something that seems so elusive – "the best race on the best day."
            That's the hope when the Bears compete in the NCAA South Central Regional on Friday at Agri Park in Fayetteville, Ark. The women's 6,000-meter race starts at 11 a.m., followed by the men's 10K at 12 noon.
            "Not everyone has been there, and it only takes one person to have a little bit of an off day," associate head coach Jon Capron said. "Really, what you want is all the pieces to come together, and it's really hard for that to happen. What we're really aiming for is to have everyone there healthy and contributing and get their best race on the best day."
            While a top-two finish and automatic bid to the NCAA Championships "would be a heck of a surprise," Capron said, the goal is to improve on their seventh-place finishes at the Big 12 Championships Baylor hosted two weeks ago at Cottonwood Creek Golf Course.
            "I would say we all didn't have the days we wanted to on that day," said senior Lindsay Walton, who led the women with a 32^nd-place finish and 6K time of 21:47.6. "It was a harder race than I was expecting. . . . We're just looking to have a better day."
            Joining Walton for the regional meet will be fellow seniors Gabby Satterlee and Hana Marsheck, junior Sarah Antrich, sophomores Celia Holmes and Mazie Larsen and freshman Sophia Leidner.
            "I need to get out a little bit quicker in my race," said Holmes, who was second on the team and 42^ndoverall at the conference meet with a time of 22:08.8. "I'm going to run uncomfortably the whole time, which is not something I normally do. My goal is just to get out hard and keep moving through the pack and vacuum up as many girls as I can throughout the run."
            Going into the meet, the women are ranked eighth in the region behind Arkansas, Texas, Texas A&M, Rice, Arkansas State, Central Arkansas and SFA.
            Capron said his goal is for Walton, Holmes, Satterlee and Antrich to challenge for top-25 individual finishes in a field that will have close to 200 runners.
            Walton said it's "definitely in the back of my head" that this will be her last collegiate cross country race unless she qualifies for the NCAA Championships.
            "I wish we were in a place where our team could go, but that's not necessarily the place we're in yet," she said. "For now, I'm just going to go out there and do what I can, and whatever happens, happens."
            Baylor ran on this same course at last month's Chile Pepper Festival, when the women placed 10^th and the men were 20^th, with wins over regionally ranked UTRGV, Texas State and ACU.
            "The course is relatively flat and relatively enjoyable," said freshman Ryan Hodge, who was second on the team and 75^th overall at the Chile Pepper with an 8,000-meter time of 25:17.7. "Just knowing where it's going to hurt and maybe where it's going to feel better when you have a downhill, that helps a lot."
            Coming back from a knee injury, Hodge was just outside the top 25 through 3,000 meters at the Big 12 meet, but got a side cramp and faded to 56^th at 25:55.3.
            "Last race wasn't my best," Hodge said. "I got a random (side) stitch and just overall it wasn't a very good race. Wouldn't say I was expecting it, but lots of time the first race back can be a little difficult."
            Matt Henderson, the lone senior, is joined by juniors TJ Sugg and Connor Laktasic, sophomore Ryan Day and freshmen Cal Johnston, Philip Roxas and Hodge.
            "I think our goal for regionals is just to have everyone put together their best race all at once," said Day, who was third on the team and 53^rd overall at the Big 12 meet. "That's sort of an object we've been looking towards achieving as a team, and I don't think it's quite happened yet. We've been pretty close at times, but I think for me personally, that just means to have my best race."
            Sugg, coming off a 32^nd-place finish in the conference meet, said it "would be really fun to come off of (a closing downhill) and try to kick down some guys."
            With 2,000 meters added to the 8K courses the Bears ran at last month's Chile Pepper and the Big 12 meet, "you're going to have to focus and grit your teeth and get through the pain," Hodge said.
            "We definitely have to see it coming," Hodge said. "When we pass 8K, we know we don't want to be totally gassed like we would in a normal race. . . . It helps that you know you have a downhill finish, so you can still finish fast."
            Live results for the meet will be available at https://flashresults.com/2020_Meets/xc/NCAASC/.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – After hosting the Big 12 Championship, Baylor cross country hits the road for the 2019 NCAA South Central Regional Championships Friday at Agri Park at the University of Arkansas.

"I really want to better our performance from conference," associate head coach Jon Capron said. "I think the field lends itself a little bit more to doing that. There will be more competition top to bottom. It won't be so compact. I think just the way the race lays out with the larger field will help those athletes move through the pack a lot better."

Coming into the race, the Baylor women's team is ranked eighth in the region, while the men's team looks to move into the rankings with its performance at regionals.

"The guys will have two more K to do it, so I think that will really help them," Capron said. "The ladies have gotten a lot more confidence just in racing, and I think having raced this course before and racing the people that will be here before will help grow their confidence and help make them a little more brave.

Lindsay Walton, Celia Holmes, Gabby Satterlee, Sarah Antrich, Sophia Leidner, Hana Marsheck and Mazie Larsen will be competing for the women's team, while TJ Sugg, Connor Laktasic, Ryan Day, Ryan Hodge, Cal Johnston, Matt Henderson and Philip Roxas will be representing the men's team.

"I'd like to better our rankings going in," Capron said. "Our girls are eighth. I'd be a lot happier if we were top five. That may take a heck of a race, but we're capable. On the guys' side, top 10 would be doing something I think. We're capable. I'd just like everyone to better their conference performance."

The women's 6,000-meter race will get things going at 11 a.m. CT, followed by the men's 10,000-meter race at 12 p.m. CT. Live results will be provided by FlashResults.com at https://flashresults.com/2020_Meets/xc/NCAASC/.

For updates on Baylor cross country throughout the season, follow @BaylorTrack on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.