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Caeli Taylor (photo by Russell Kramer)
Caeli Taylor (photo by Russell Kramer)
Posted: Oct 29, 2022

Payne, Taylor Lead as Bulldogs Finish Third at SCAC Championships

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GEORGETOWN, Texas -- Senior Mackenzie Payne (Celina/Frisco Heritage) led the Texas Lutheran women's cross country team to a third-place finish at the 2022 SCAC Championships on Saturday, Oct. 29 in Georgetown, Texas.

The women finished with a score of 95. Colorado College was the top team on both the men's and women's side with 31 and 15 points respectively.

Payne was the first Bulldog to cross the finish line in 36th place with a time of 224:41.90 with junior Caeli Taylor (Tilden/McMullen County) following eight seconds behind to finish 37th. Sophomore Gianna Kennedy (El Paso/El Paso) followed Taylor in the finish shoot taking the 35th spot with a time of 25:26.50. LeeAnndrea Canas (Corpus Christi/West Oso) (43rd, 25:58.70) and Aaliyah Leal (Ingleside/Aransas Pass) (45th, 26:10.90) rounded out the top five for the Bulldogs on Saturday.

Coach Holland's comments: I am proud of how the women ran! Our leadership up front paid off with Mackenzie, Caeli and not too far behind Gianna (Alissa in results) leading the way. Then the freshmen! Wow! They were really up for this race! LeeAnndrea, Aaliyah and Emma E all ran very strong! Junior 400 hurdle runner up from conference last year, Brenna, was in the mix for our top 7. We have had teams sneak up on us the past 4 years at the championships for that third place spot, and we really wanted it this year. The ladies were TOUGH! Even outside of the top 7, we had a solid group not too far behind them. Our "zipper" and Blake lap hill workouts helped prepare us for this course. Confidence on the uphills and downhills showed.

Mackenzie and Caeli will both represent TLU at the NCAA West Regional Championships in 2 weeks."
 
 
Mackenzie Payne and Caeli Taylor will continue their seasons individually representing Texas Lutheran women's cross country at the Division-III NCAA West Regional for the second consecutive season as they travel to Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington, on November 12. For all updates on Texas Lutheran Cross Country, follow @tluxctf on Instagram as well as all official TLU Athletics accounts.