The Omnibus

'Cats start season strong

McElhaney orchestrates sweep in his head coaching debut

Erik Johnson

Issue date: 9/14/07 Section: Sports

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SBU couldn't hold a late 3rd quarter lead against NCAA Divsion I opponent Southeast Missouri State in a 38-17 loss. Nick Smart and the SBU Bearcat football team will try to bounce back from two stright road losses with a win at Emporia State Saturday in Emporia, Kan.

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Corey McElhaney could not have asked for much more in his first meet as the head cross country coach at Southwest Baptist University.
"It was fun," said McElhaney. "I was really impressed with the support I had from parents, family and athletes. We had around 50 people there cheering us on, students included, and we really appreciate that."
The women's team got the season started with a bang by edging out the University of Central Missouri (who was picked ahead of SBU in the MIAA Preseason Coaches' Poll) by seven points to win the University of Central Missouri Mule Run.
After the women's performance, the men toed the line and matched their counterparts with a first-place finish of their own (six points ahead of Missouri Baptist).
In the women's race, the Bearcats were led by the strong performance of returning All-MIAA runner, sophomore Courtney Ayers.
Ayers completed the four-kilometer course (2.5 miles) in 15 minutes, 14.5 seconds, which was good enough for second place overall.
Trailing Ayers for the Lady 'Cats was freshman Kelsi Chowning, who placed sixth in her first collegiate meet (15:41.9).
Chowning's race drew some praise from her coach: "Some of the freshmen, like Kelsi Chowning, really were ahead of where we expected them to be this early. They did a great job."
Rounding out the SBU contingent in the top-10 was sophomore Chelsea Strahm with an eighth-place finish (15:48.6). Behind Strahm was senior Alyssa Maggart (15:59.8) who finished in 15th place. After Maggart is where things got a little interesting.
When Maggart finished, UCM only had two runners who had crossed the finish line while SBU had four. Keeping in mind that only the top five runners from each team count towards their team's score, SBU seemed to be in great shape.

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