JBU teams finish third at SAC meet

n Freshman Allika Pearson and sophomore Ben Martin earned spots in the NAIA National Meet.

Randy Roth/Special to the Herald-Leader John Brown freshman Allika Pearson, right, of Siloam Springs, finished eighth overall at the Sooner Athletic Conference Meet on Saturday at Woodson Park in Oklahoma City. Pearson earned a spot in the NAIA National Meet on Nov. 16 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Randy Roth/Special to the Herald-Leader John Brown freshman Allika Pearson, right, of Siloam Springs, finished eighth overall at the Sooner Athletic Conference Meet on Saturday at Woodson Park in Oklahoma City. Pearson earned a spot in the NAIA National Meet on Nov. 16 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The John Brown University women's cross country team posted its best time since 2014, and freshman Allika Pearson ran to a spot at the NAIA National Championships as the Golden Eagles clinched third place at the 2018 Sooner Athletic Conference Meet on Saturday morning at Woodson Park.

Pearson couldn't have picked a better time to submit a new personal collegiate-best mark (19 minutes, 26 seconds) and finished the 5,000-meter event in eighth place overall. Her finish guaranteed a spot on the All-Sooner Athletic Conference Team (top 15 times) and a slot at the NAIA national meet on Nov. 16 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The freshman's effort set a new program record -- the highest individual finish at the SAC Championships in program history -- as Pearson joined Valerie Kliewer and Melissa Roth, both in 2010, as the only All-Conference selections in program history.

Senior Reagan Roth closed out her collegiate career by posting her second-best time of the season (20:27) to earn 20th place. Sophomore Sarah Larson (20:31) crossed the finish line just four seconds later to nab 22nd. It was her second-best time of the season as well.

Freshman Emilie Asbeck scored for the sixth time this year, landing in 25th place (21:16) and senior Kylie Tucker closed her career out in 26th (21:25), her best time of the season.

As a team, John Brown posted its best time at the SAC championships since 2014 (1:40:51), by handing in a combined effort of 1:43:05, eclipsed only by its team time at the Missouri Southern State Stampede on Sept. 15. Lydia Mato claimed the medalist honors and helped Oklahoma City claim another conference title as five of the top 10 finishes were from the Stars.

Men

Sophomore Ben Martin and senior Jacob Benjamin both earned All-Sooner Athletic Conference honors and the John Brown University men's cross country team closed out the season with a third place finish in the men's race.

Martin led the Golden Eagles with an eighth place finish (26:46), good enough to earn him a spot at the NAIA national meet on Nov. 16 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Joining Martin on the All-Conference list was Benjamin, who crossed the finish line in 13th place (21:16). Senior Josh Uzelac closed his career by finishing just 13 seconds later in 16th place (27:25). Martin, Benjamin and Uzelac scored in all six meets this season for John Brown.

Senior Michael Games scored and submitted his best time in his last collegiate race to finish 18th (27:27) and sophomore John Unruh's time of 28:13 earned him 24th overall.

John Brown (2:17:03) landed its second-best team time of the season, but it was Oklahoma City who won the meet, led by medalist Oscar Kipkoros (25:03).

Sports on 11/07/2018