After completing their last meets, the Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams are gearing up for the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships happening this weekend. The meet will take place in Georgetown, Texas as all nine SCAC programs compete for the conference title.

Team Success is Key for Men’s Cross Country

Men’s Cross Country has been continuously growing with its young core throughout the season. At different meets, different freshmen have stepped up and contributed to the overall team score. Micah Hampton led St. Thomas at the Incarnate Word Invitational with a good pace of 5:22 and clocking 27:06 in the 8k. Marc Mendoza also finished top three for St. Thomas at the highly competitive Nory Hersey Rice Invitational clocking 22:04. It is with this combination of youth and experience, Men’s Cross Country has the conference meet to look forward to.

Two Sophomores Lead the Pack

Men’s Cross Country has been led by sophomores James Urbina and Jhancarlos Carpio. Carpio had a stellar start to the season taking first place at the Celt Opener. Following this he had an impressive week at the Nory Hersey Rice Invitational topping all DIII runners and finishing in 20th place. These two outings earned him back-to-back SCAC Men’s Runner of the Week Honors. James Urbina has been steady throughout the entire season. The sophomore led St. Thomas at the Concordia Invitational finishing in fourth place at 23:43 —his best time of the season. At that meet, the Celts finished the highest of all Division III programs to take second place. Urbina’s performance that week earned him SCAC Men’s Runner of the Week Honors. 

Women’s Cross Country Is Built by Veteran Leadership and Young Core 

The Celts started the season strong at the Celt Opener taking first place overall against a field belonging to a Division I program. The team was led by senior Sophia Sanchez who topped all runners with her first place finish. As the season continued, it was junior Ashley Martinez who began to stand out. Martinez topped St. Thomas runners at the Concordia Invitational and consistently finished in the top three for the Celts. From there, it was all freshmen as Ana Luna and Victoria Ramirez began to showcase their speed at all subsequent meets. 

Prepped and Ready for the Conference Meet

Women’s Cross Country has had five meets prior to the conference final. They started the year strong taking first place at the Celt Opener, before taking on tough Division I competition at the Nory Hersey Rice Invitational. Then at the Concordia Invitational, the Celts finished just a hair behind rival Texas Lutheran. At that meet, both Samantha Hernandez and Elizabeth Stepaniak shone posting 21st and 29th place finishes respectively. Most recently, at the Upstate Invitational, the Celts faced their toughest challenge yet against a field of all Division I teams in preparation for the SCAC meet. With the conclusion of their regular season, Women’s Cross Country is ready to take on all other SCAC programs for the title. 

Cross Country wraps up their season this weekend at the SCAC meet. Follow the tournament on the official website!