NEW ORLEANS – Alex Speer became the first ever Texas A&M University-Commerce cross country runner to notch all-Southland Conference honors with a 12^th place finish at the SLC Championships on Friday morning at Lake Oaks Park.
 
In the new-look Southland with 12 squads on both sides, the Lion men finished fifth, which is the highest finish for the team since joining the conference, while the women took 10^th.

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MEN (Full Results HERE)
Speer (Robinson) paced the Lions with a time of 25:33.05, finishing 12^th, which is the highest finish for a Lion at a conference championships race since 2020. He is the first Lion to earn all-conference honors since 2021.  
 
Josh Shanahan (Noosaville, Australia) followed with a time of 26:25.36 for 24^th, and Casey Novelo (Bedford – Trinity) in 26^th with a time of 26:29.25.
 
Jeremiah Garcia (Northwest Eaton) clocked in at 26:52.48 for fourth on the team and 34^th overall, while Noah Fernandez (San Antonio Central Catholic) was 60^th with a time of 28:10.81.
 
To close out the Lion contingent, Yosef Abdulrazeq (Mansfield Legacy) was 63^rd with a time of 28:22.87, Tristen Sabin (Frisco – Independence) was 70^th with a time of 28:50.48, Abel Solorio (Cumberland Academy) was 78^th with a time of 30:02.88, and Abdisa Ali (McKinney North) clocked in at 30:10.39 for 79^th. Nicholas Deutsch (Frisco) did not finish the race.
 
Stephen F. Austin's Elkana Kipruto won the conference championship with a time of 24:28.90, while UIW brought home the team title by 30 points with a total of 29 points. UIW went 3-5-6-7-8 for the second SLC crown in three years.
 
MEN'S TEAM RESULTS

Place	Team	Points
1	UIW	29
2	Stephen F. Austin	59
3	Houston Christian	116
4	A&M-Corpus Christi	125
5	A&M-COMMERCE	143
6	Lamar	146
7	McNeese	183
8	New Orleans	192
9	UTRGV	219
10	Nicholls	311
11	Southeastern	327
12	Northwestern State	367

 
WOMEN (Full Results HERE)
The Lions were led by Anete Randma (Tallinn, Estonia) who took 24^th in the race with a time of 22:43.80, followed by Haleigh Risner (Winnsboro) in 44^th with a time of 23:44.40, and Mareva Heck (Marseilles, France) in 61^st place with a time of 24:59.85.
 
Rounding out the Lions, Riley Roberts (Bullard) ran a time of 25:36.92 for 70^th and Oriana Gee (Cy-Lakes) took 81^st with a time of 27:24.07.
 
Lamar repeated as the conference champion with a team score of 43, while A&M-Corpus Christi's Elizabeth Khatevi is the conference champion with a time of 20:30.98, beating out Lamar's Nia Clatworthy, who took second with a time of 20:35.47.
 
WOMEN'S TEAM RESULTS

Place	Team	Points
1	Lamar	43
2	A&M-Corpus Christi	59
3	Houston Christian	110
4	New Orleans	113
5	UIW	131
6	UTRGV	148
7	Stephen F. Austin	164
8	McNeese	178
9	Nicholls	237
10	A&M-COMMERCE	259
11	Southeastern	342
12	Northwestern State	363

 
Friday's conference championships concluded the 2024 season for the Lion cross country teams.