Southwestern College Collegian

Issue date: 11/3/05 Section: Campus Life

Media Credit: Brandon Hessing Four Southwestern runners out-run a competitor from Tabor in Saturday's KCAC Championship Cross Country meet. The Builders dominate the meet, taking the top four spots, and winning their 26th straight KCAC title.

Media Credit: Brandon Hessing Three Lady Builders hold off a Bethany runner. Southwestern's women won their race in convincing fashion, beating Sterling by 45 points.

The fact that the Southwestern men's cross country team won the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference championship Saturday may not raise many eyes. After all, the Builders were tabbed as the team to beat in the KCAC throughout the season. The fact that both the Moundbuilder men and women dominated the meet, the second home meet of the season for Southwestern, however, is what came as a surprise to many. Southwestern's Jazz Carreon, Andrae Harper, Andrew Cherry, and Dan Joiner were the first four to finish the race, respectively. Dallas Leonard finished seventh, taking the final scoring spot for the Builders, who finished with 17 points. Ottawa was the next team in the mix, 51 points behind SC.

"Our men were expected to win," said Jim Helmer, head coach. "Our goal was to have a perfect meet and take the top five spots, but I'm not going to complain about scoring 17 points."

The championship marks the 26th straight KCAC championship for the Moundbuilder men.

"We know that all streaks will come to an end sooner or later," Helmer said. "We're going to enjoy it, but we're going to keep racing as well."

The lady Builders, meanwhile, used five top-10 finishes to run their way to their own KCAC title. Freshman Ericka Franklin won the women's race by nearly 22 seconds. Another freshman, Kate Topham, finished fourth for Southwestern, followed by junior Brae Johnson, one of the team's captains. Audry Anderson and Lauren Pearson finished seventh and eighth, respectively, rounding out Southwestern's scoring. The Builders finished with 23 points, defeating Sterling's Warriors by 45 points. Courtney Ross missed the top 10 by just over .5 second, finishing in 11th place.

"It would have been nice for Courtney to finish one spot higher so we would have six runners in the top 10," Helmer said.

With an abundance of underclassmen on both squads, Helmer is optimistic for the future.

"Things look good for us in the future," Helmer said. "We had five freshmen girls in the top 15 and we only have one senior on the men's team. We're in good shape."

One of Helmer's only complaints was the weather at Saturday's meet.

"It would have been nice if it wasn't so windy, that hurt our times, but even with the wind this was still our best meet of the season," Helmer said.

The next challenge for the Builder harriers is the NAIA Region IV meet this Saturday in McPherson.

Region IV is comprised of the KCAC and the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference, which includes teams from Missouri, Oklahoma and Nebraska as well as two other schools (Central Christian College and Newman University) from Kansas. In all, 14 teams will compete.

"This will be our national qualifying meet," Helmer said. "Only the winning teams qualify automatically for nationals. The top five finishers on non-winning teams also qualify for nationals."

Helmer is optimistic.

"At this point nobody in our region has beat our guys," Helmer said. "Park College [from Kansas City, Mo.] has the second best team in the field, but we'll still have to run a great race to make sure we qualify."

The women will face a challenge in that same Park College team.

"Park has some class runners. Our girls will have to race really well and get a little lucky to win, but I know they'll compete the best they can. Even if they don't win, I still think we could have several qualify for nationals."

Those who qualify for nationals will be rewarded with a trip to Louisville, Ky. The NAIA Cross Country championships will be held Nov. 19 at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville.

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