Jax State Finishes Sixth in First CUSA Championships

Saturday, October 28

Bowling Green, Ky.

9 a.m.

Jacksonville State University

CUSA XC Championship

10/28/2023 1:32:00 PM | Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Championship Results

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – In a wildly successful day on the hill, Jacksonville State scored sixth-place team finishes in both the men's and women's first trips to the Conference USA championships hosted by Western Kentucky on Saturday.

Head coach Jeremy Provence hoped going in that it would be a good day coming off a winning season-finale a week ago and regaining some runners from injury. The men's squad proceeded to reel off new personal best times from the first seven finishers, while junior Bethelhem Manzano Jimeno placed top-10 overall in the women's race to earn all-conference honors.

The men's 8K opened the day where sophomore Jack Lowe led the way for Jax State once again. His new PR finishing time of 24:59.5 goes down as the eighth-fastest 8K time in program history, and is the first time a Gamecock completed an 8K race in under 25 minutes since David Nilsson clocked a 24:44 in 2009. Lowe was followed almost immediately by Jax State's other scorers, with all five ranging just 16 positions apart. Rodrigo Fraga crossed the line at 25:05, while Steele Joiner (25:10), Mason McMahon (25:40) and Tanner Rice (25:54) rounded out the top five all three with their first sub-26 minute times. Behind the top five, even Kyle Boyd (26:31) and Kaden Harris (26:36) posted their best marks of the season.

Coach Provence feels like getting out to a good position early made the difference for both teams as the course became tough and hilly down the stretch in the final two kilometers.

"Great day to be a Gamecock," exclaimed Provence following the meets. "Both teams competed very well. We have prepared for the course all season and I thought we did a great job of running it to the best of our ability. We knew we were capable of having a day like today and it was exciting to see it happen in postseason competition."

"For the men, I'm most excited about our 1-5 split. Today was the best we have had all season and was a big reason for our success as a team."

The sixth-place finish for the men matched the highest team finish in a conference championship since the Gamecock also scored sixth at the 2011 Ohio Valley Conference meet. It had been just as long on the women's side as well, with the ladies' sixth-place marking the best championship finish since the team was fourth in the OVC in 2011.

Jimeno paced the Gamecocks in the 6K event recording a 22:05.8 time for eighth overall in the field. With her strong individual time, Jimeno earned CUSA Second Team honors for the 2023 championship. She was followed by Lindsay Fletcher (23:35) and Sierra Wainer (24:42) each in the top 40. Anna Strickland and Juliana Ballew rounded out the top five to cement the Gamecocks spot ahead of Sam Houston, Western Kentucky and Louisiana Tech.

"The women ran as tough as I have seen all season. Similar to the guys, they ran well as a whole. Beti had a fantastic day and anchored the group in eighth place, very proud of her all-conference run today. Lindsay moved up the whole race, especially the second loop, she was able to move in fron of Sam Houston's lead group which was huge for the team standings. Sierra also had a great race, she put herself in position early and was able to fight through the final 2K. Juliana's progress this season has been remarkable and instrumental in the progress of the team. She essentially closed our 4-5 gap."

Jax State's first championship individual honor since 2011! Way to go, Beti‼️🏅 https://t.co/xcr90nMKcc
— Jax State XC/TF (@JaxStateXCTF) October 28, 2023