October 08, 2005 - CofC Cross Country Finishes 9th and 10th at Disney Invt.

ORLANDO, F.L. - The College of Charleston's men's and women's cross country teams finished 9th and 10th, repsectively, at the 10th Annual Walt Disney World Cross Country Invitational in Orlando on Saturday.

The men's race consisted of 30 teams was an 8K event, while the women saw 33 teams run a 5K course.

Max Gustaitis led the Cougars finishing 25th with a time of 26:42.35. The women's top finisher was Katie Hedley who ran a time of 19:34.21 (35th).

The Cougars will compete at the Winthrop Invitational on Saturday, October 15th.

October 11, 2005 - Bulldog Cross Country Posts Great Outing at the Disney Invitational

ORLANDO, F.L.?The Citadel men’s cross country team took seventh out of 37 teams while the women posted an 11^th place finish out of a field of 33 teams at the Disney Invitational over the weekend.  Junior Will Wilson led the Bulldogs taking the number nine spot out of 264 runners with a time of 26:10.  The women’s program continues to show improvement as they recorded personal best times.

“A few years ago the women would have finished near the bottom of a field this large,” commented Huddleston.  “Brian Johnson has done an awesome job of seeking out female distance runners that are very competitive and successful both academically and in a military school environment.”

Freshman Megan Jenkins continues to lead the Bulldogs as she ran a very aggressive race and maintained a top ten spot for the first half of the contest but fell to 32^nd to finish with a time of 19:38.  Freshman Erin Ritter recorded a personal best 19:41 and took 36^th place, giving the Bulldogs a pretty good one-two punch with two runners under 20 minutes.  Ritter’s time is the seventh fastest in Citadel history for women’s cross country. 

Freshman Sarah Strickland also posted a personal best time of 20:03, 40 seconds faster than her time at The Citadel Invitational.  Strickland’s race moved her into the top ten at The Citadel, putting her in the number nine spot on the list.

“Strickland had the best race of her life and tried so hard to break 20 minutes,” remarked Huddleston.  “She ran so well yet she was disappointed that she just missed 19 minutes.”

Rounding out the top five for the women were juniors Laura Hewston and Amanda Rawl, helping the Bulldogs to an eleventh place finish. 

“We are getting better each week,” said Huddleston.  “I feel like there is still room for improvement, but we are working very hard and are on pace to reach some of our personal and team goals for the year.”

For the men, junior Matt Holmes was number two runner behind Wilson as he ran a solid race finishing 32^nd.  Junior Charles Kutz shaved 40 seconds off his personal record as he recorded a time of 27:09.  Sophomore Robert Isaac, who did not run cross country last year, beat his best time by a minute running a 28:03.  Isaac is running in the number five position for The Citadel this year. 

“Wilson had a great race and ran a 30 second personal best time on a course that was very wet with ankle deep mud in places,” commented head coach Jody Huddleston.  “With a few weeks to go before the conference championships, Wilson is racing and looking very good at this point of the season.

Next up, the Bulldogs will travel to Rock Hill, SC this Saturday, October 15 to compete in a meet hosted by Winthrop University.  The men will run a 6K while the women will participate in a 4K.

October 8, 2005 - Wommack first, Mayne third at Auburn Invitational

AUBURN, Ala. -- Chattanooga distance runner Shannon Wommack won her third consecutive race of the cross country season with a win at the Auburn Invitational 5K run at Indian Pines Golf Course Saturday morning and senior Ian Mayne placed third to pace the Mocs.

“Ian and Shannon both had outstanding races,” UTC Head Coach Bill Gautier said. “Ian ran an awesome race and Shannon probably set a course record.”

Wommack led the field with a time of 16:20.57 to lead the Lady Mocs to an eighth place finish out of 23 teams. It was the fastest time on record with Auburn. The Conyers, Ga., senior posted her third win of the season beating out defending course champion, All-American Angela Homan of Auburn who finished fourth overall. Homan’s 2004 race time was 17:26.12.

Chattanooga senior Ellen Davis was 14th with a time of

17:35.09 and UTC’s third runner to cross the line, Katie Williams finished at 18:18.33. The Lady Mocs were without Jamie Dinkins for Saturday’s race.

Samford took first in the women’s race with 86 points followed by Lamar of Beaumont, Texas with

99 points. The Lady Mocs scored 215 points, one behind Kennesaw State. Host Auburn was 14th just behind LSU.

The men also placed eighth in a field of 25 teams.

Senior Ian Mayne continues to excel on the course placing third behind a pair of South Alabama runners at 23:52.15. It was Mayne’s third top five finish this season.

The Mocs were without senior Colin Sullivan for today’s race. Sophomore Jeff Taylor was the second Chattanooga finisher with a time of 24:44.26 and sophomore transfer Michael Mentz was 46th at 25:13.17.

Auburn won the men’s 8K race with 99 points ahead of New Mexico in second and Georgia State in third. The Mocs tied Jacksonville State for eighth with 242 points ahead of South Florida and Western Kentucky.

Both teams will return home to host the annual Front Runner Invitational at UTC’s home course on Moccasin Bend next Saturday as they gear up for the Southern Conference championships on Oct. 30.

October 8, 2005 - Paladins Place Third at Furman Cross Country Invitational

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The Furman men’s cross country team placed third and the Lady Paladins finished fifth at the 33rd Annual Furman Cross Country Invitational Saturday morning at the Furman University Golf Course.

Jacob Korrir of Eastern Kentucky finished first in a field of 173 runners and 23 teams with a time of 24:49 to give the Colonels team honors in the College Open men’s 8K event.  Senior Tyler Johnson of Furman placed second in 26:14 while EKU’s Cornelius Kipkurui grabbed third place in 26:20.

Following Eastern Kentucky in the team standings were Virginia Intermont, Furman, Coastal Carolina and East Tennessee State.

Campbell University edged Eastern Kentucky and Clemson in the women’s 5K event on the strength of three runners in the top four.  Alicia Valtin took first place in 18:20.  Allison Kreutzer of Clayton State finished second in 18:58, followed by Campbell’s Jill Stapleton and Tara Dressler.

Page Bridges, with a time of 19:49, led Furman’s fifth place squad.

Hoover High School from Hoover, Ala., grabbed first in the 58-team varsity boys 5K field.  Todd Smalling of Science Hill High garnered individual honors in 16:02 ahead of Aaron Kindt of Boone High School and Michael Winston of Parkview High School.

Hoover made it a sweep of the varsity high school races with a first place finish in the varsity girls 5K.  Nicole and Kimberly Muldowney finished seventh and eighth, respectively, to lead the Hoover squad.  Jackie Drouin of Collins Hill High School claimed first place in the varsity girl’s race with a time of 18:51.

Parkview High School of Lilburn, Ga., swept honors in the junior varsity boy’s race.  Josh Pinson of Parkview grabbed first and teammates Brett Richardson, J.J. Van Tonder and Brian Detweiler made it a sweep of the top four spots as Parkview topped Science Hill High.

Allison Reubert of Brookwood completed the junior varsity girls 5K race in

21:48 to take the top individual spot.  Science Hill (68 points) edged Mauldin (68 points) on the strength of a 28th place finish by its sixth runner to garner team honors.

Furman’s cross country teams return to action next weekend at the Winthrop Invitational in Rock Hill, S.C.