Women win SLC cross country title

Led by second-place finisher Rebecca Johansson, the women's team won the Southland Conference Cross Country Championships last fall in Nacogdoches.

Johansson, a sophomore from Sweden, ran the 5,000-meter course in a personal best 17 minutes, 52.8 seconds, 17 seconds off the first-place time of McNeese State's Sita Waru. UTA's Kajsa Haglund finished fourth overall in 18 minutes, 12.89 seconds.

One of the keys to the team victory was the strong showing of the Lady Mavericks' third, fourth and fifth runners. Melissa Corlett finished 12th, Deborah McGowan was 18th and Camilla Dahlin 25th in the 75-runner field.

"Those three ran their best races of the year," said coach John Sauerhage. "We talked the week before about somebody stepping up and being a hero. Basically, every one of them responded with that type of effort."

The SLC title was the first for the women since 1997.

In the men's competition, UTA placed three runners in the top 10 but still finished second to McNeese State.

"These guys ran heroically," Sauerhage said. "We were one man away from sweeping. I'm optimistic that we can sweep the men's and women's titles next year."

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