A team in cross country consists of five men/women that score points according to the place they get in the race and two runners to add if a tie occurs.  The hard realization is each runner plays such a vital role in the team score in that if someone has a bad race the team could suffer dramatically.  The team, then, is expected to pick up the slack and hopefully help counteract that runner’s placement.

The SBU men’s cross country team came to realize just how important every runner is this past weekend at the South Central Regional held at Live Oak, Texas.  The men came into the meet ranked 2^nd and were a 'shoe in' to go to Nationals, “if they ran to their potential.”  Pittsburg State University placed 3^rd, claiming the last spot to the NCAA National race by a score over SBU of 149 to 151.  The men were shocked and realized the opportunity was there but due to two points it was now gone.

The men finished the season ranked #23 in the nation.

Coach McElhaney commented, “As a coach you never want your team to feel the way we do today.  We will never take the word team lightly again.  Each person on this team was a mere second from getting us to Nationals.  Each one of these guys will remember this day and will either let it light a fire or let it discourage them.  It was the worst way to miss nationals but now we have to put our focus in getting ready for indoor track and hope the teams that beat us can go and represent our region well at the National meet.”

The women’s team was lead by Juniors Courtney Ayers and Chelsea Strahm.  Courtney ran a personal best of 22:11 in the 6k to claim 10^th place. Her 10^th place effort was enough to be named All-Region for the second time in her career.  Right behind her in a time of 22:19 was Chelsea Strahm.  This was Strahm’s best finish and a career best.  The women’s team finished 6^th out of the 19 team field which was the same place the women finished last year. 

Coach McElhaney, “Our women ran very hard and we knew that we would have to have every girl run amazing to finish in the top three.  I am very proud of Courtney and Chelsea for really stepping up.  We have everyone coming back for next year and the team has a good attitude about the possibilities of next year with the number of runners the teams above us are losing.”