Romeoville, IL - The Saints XC teams return home with some great experience and exposure to the nations best Division II teams.
SMU made their way through the meet placing overall 11th in the women's 6k and overall, 27th in the men's 8k.
The Lewis Crossover was a new way for the Saints to really gear up for the upcoming GNAC Championships in the coming weeks. This meet was a way for SMU to meet some national ranked and regionally ranked teams. With the exposure that competing against these teams created for the Saints, this what Coach Matt Lowe had to say about the Illinois meet, "We're very pleased with how the weekend turned out. With the quick turnaround of traveling, the time adjustment, getting into our hotel rooms late Friday evening, waking up early the next morning, and racing against some of the nation's best Division II teams is a lot to ask from any team. Both teams did well in coping with the amount of stress that comes with it. I believe our women's team went out there and made a statement that our school exists, too, and they belong to compete against the best. Our men's team is still young, but they went out there to show they have much potential to grow as collegiate athletes."
SMU women's team placed 11th overall out of 34 teams which had 317 runners in total. The 6k runners included Cassidy Walchak-Sloan with a time of 21:40 which is her seasons best, she finished 17th. The next Saint to finish was Elke Wijkmans, finishing 38th with a time of 22:14, this being her personal best. The following two Saints who came in for SMU were Alisha Saucedo (22:27) and Sara Sabra (22:38). The finishers who brought SMU home were Kya Ramirez (24:22), a season best, and Naomi Hartley (25:20).
SMU men's team placed overall 27th out of 32 teams in the 8k race. The race stood out for SMU runners with notable individual performances. The first finisher for SMU was Isaac Cortes with a time of 25:30, his seasons best. The next Saint in was Kainalu Pagente with a time of 25:55. The next three runners in for SMU were Eli Dale (26:10), which was his seasons best, Michael Harwell (26:30) with a seasons best, and Jaskaran Dhatt (27:32), his personal best. The final three runners that brought SMU to a finish were Noe Ortega (27:58), a personal best, Timmy Higgins (28:00), another personal best, and finally Aric Jacklin (28:22), his personal best as well. The men's team had an incredible amount of individual success during this meet.
The Saints will take some time to prepare for the GNAC Championships that will be held on October 21, 2023 at Alaska Anchorage.
