Appalachian State Men Place 13th Out of 42 Teams at Paul Short Run
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Appalachian State men's cross country placed 13th of 42 teams at the Paul Short Run Friday, one of the nation's largest cross country meets.
Indiana University was the overall winner, placing four runners in the top eight. They were followed by Iona, with three runners in the top-10 and North Carolina State which had the overall winner, Ryan Hill.
Senior Phil Mitchell paced the Mountaineers with a time of 23:56, 16 seconds behind Ryan Hill and good for 14th overall. Sophomore Sean Soderman was the next highest finisher for the Apps, placing 54th with a time of 24:38. Other finishers for Appalachian include senior Alec Meyer (24:54, 94th overall), freshman Brian Graves ( 25:22, 157th overall), and freshman Burk Staub (25:26, 167th overall).
The Mountaineers will be back in action October 16th, when they host the Blue Ridge Open at the Don Kennedy Trail in Boone.
Appalachian State Women Finish 24th Out of 40 Teams at Paul Short Run
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Appalachian State women's cross country placed 24th of 40 teams at the Paul Short Run Friday, one of the nation's largest cross country meets.
West Virginia University was the overall winner, placing four runners in the top-20. They were followed by the University of Guelph which was led by Lindsay Carson who placed second overall, and Indiana University who placed three runners in the top-20.
Freshman Brittney Caudle paced the Mountaineers with a time of 20:27, 29 seconds behind overall winner Neely Spence of Shippensburg University and good for 11th overall. Freshman Trinity Foreman was the next highest finisher for the Apps, placing 122nd with a time of 22:09. Other finishers for Appalachian include junior Amy Neilson (22:25, 151st overall), sophomore Stephanie Chapman ( 22:32, 161st overall), junior Dani Reese (22:32, 162nd overall), junior Stephanie Payne (22:46, 192nd overall), and freshman Sarah Williamson (22:52, 201st overall).
The Mountaineers will be back in action October 16th, when they host the Blue Ridge Open at the Don Kennedy Trail in Boone.
Chattanooga Claims Men's and Women's Titles at Tennessee Tech Invitational
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Junior Anneli Uys claimed the title at the Tennessee Tech Invitational and junior Emmanuel Kirwa placed second in the men's race as the Mocs and Lady Mocs claimed the team titles Friday afternoon at the Southern Hills Golf Course.
The Lady Mocs won the race with a score of 28 followed by Murray State with 35 points. Jacksonville State was third (74) followed by host Tennessee Tech (85) in fourth.
All five of the Lady Mocs scoring runners placed in the top 10 to earn the win led by Uys' (Somerville, Australia) top time of 18:41.36. Freshman Heather Stuive (Ontario, Canada) placed third for Chattanooga with a time of 19:01.74. Freshmen Kathryn Stuart (Brentwood, Tenn.) and Mary Cumbee (Brentwood, Tenn.) placed sixth and eighth respectively. Junior Lauren Anderson rounded out the scoring with a 10th place finish running the course in a time of 20:25.05. Junior Meredith White was 16th overall.
In the men's race, the Mocs placed all five scoring runners in the top 10 as well. Kirwa (Kapsabet, Kenya) was second overall with a time of 25:44.54 finishing behind Jacksonville State's David Nilsson who claimed the men's individual title in the 8K race.
Sophomore Josh Vasquez (Kingsport, Tenn.) placed third overall with a time of 26:25.54 followed immediately by freshman Kyle McLarty (Collierville, Tenn.) at 26:28.23. Senior David Moore (Sarnia, Ontario) returned to the course and finished eighth in scoring followed by freshman Mark Cole (McKenzie, Tenn.) in the ninth position. Senior Blake Ketron placed 19th for the Mocs.
The Mocs won the race with 26 points followed by the host Golden Eagles (53). Jacksonville State was third with 60 points and North Alabama was fourth with 98 points.
The Mocs will host the Front Runner Invitational Saturday, Oct. 17 at the Moccasin Bend Race course. Admission is free and results will be available at GoMocs.com.
UNC Greensboro Men Place Third, Women Eighth, at Charlotte Invitational
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Joey Thompson, Mike Koech and Andy Clyne each broke the previous school record in the 8k as the UNC Greensboro men's team finished third and the women's team came in eighth at the Charlotte Invitational on Friday afternoon.
Thompson led the trio of runners as they all finished in the top seven. Thompson ran a 24:56.7 to finish in fourth place and became the first UNCG runner in school history to finish in less than 25 minutes. His time broke the previous school record by over 15 seconds.
Koech was right on Thompson's heels as he came in fifth place with a time of 24:57.1, just .4 seconds behind Thompson. Clyne also would've broken the previous school record of 25:12 with his seventh place finish after running a 25:10.9.
On the women's side, Kerry Hartman ran an 18:40.6 to finish in 26th place, which is the 13th best time in school history. Sherrika Jordan was just seven seconds behind as she came in 30th with a time of 18:47.3.
UNCG returns to action in two weeks as the Spartans travel to Boone, N.C. to compete in the Blue Ridge Open on Friday Oct. 16, at 4 p.m.
College of Charleston Men Finish Fourth, Women Seventh, at Charlotte Invitational
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The College of Charleston men's cross country team placed fourth, while the women's squad captured a seventh place finish in the Charlotte Invitational Cross Country meet on Friday.
"The team ran very well," said coach Amy Seago. "Erin Stoddard (Mauldin, S.C.), Kristen Wolfe (Midlothian, Va.), Callen Powers (Chesapeake, Va.), Alyssa D'Orazio (Haddonfield, N.J.), Molly Kempton (Island Heights, N.J.), and Kristin Jenkins (Cheyenne, Wyo.) all had season bests."
Trevor Sprague (Dunwoody, Ga.) led Charleston's men in the 8K event finishing in 18th place with a school-record time of 25:42.2. Christian Bailey (Charlotte, N.C.) finished 30th with a time of 26:10.5.
The women were paced by Erin Stoddard who placed 24th in the 5K event with a time of 18:35.6. Kristen Wolfe placed 29th with a time of 18:44.0.
The Cougars return to action on Oct. 16th when they take part in the Covered Bridge Inviational in Boone, N.C.
Western Carolina Women Take Fifth, Men Sixth, at Charlotte Invitational
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Western Carolina men and women's cross country teams finished in the top half of the 23 team field of the Charlotte Cross Country Invitational as the women placed fifth in 5K and the men sixth in the 8K on Friday afternoon.
Junior Jordan Gaddy led the way with the top finish for the women, while Stephen Hammond earned his first top finish for the men this season. Overall, eight WCU athletes set records in the school's all-time performance chart.
The women finished fifth in a field of 23 teams, the largest WCU has participated in this season. The Catamounts tallied an average of 18:52.44 for a total of 179 points. Jordan Gaddy led the way for WCU with a mark of 18:30.3 for a 23rd place finish. Lindsay Groce (36th) and Mara Smith (39th) followed behind with times of 18:51.8 and 18:53.8.
Olivia Jacobs (42, 19:00.9) and Morgan Turner (49, 19:05.4) also finished inside the top-50 of the 209 participant field. Senior Danielle Shaurette completed a time of 19:06.6 for 51st in the field.
All six top finishers placed their names in the WCU record books in the 5K. Gaddy's mark of 18:30 tied Megan Issacs' performance in the 2008 Greater Louisville Classic for the ninth best WCU performance all-time. Both Groce and Smith tied performances for 17th and 18th in the all-time record chart. Jacobs, Turner and Shaurette also tallied times inside the top-30.
Freshmen Leslie Raymond (63, 19:20.5), Adrian Cooke (67, 19:31.8) and Christelle Vereb (126, 20:33.7) rounded out the WCU field in Friday's meet.
The Western Carolina men placed sixth out of 21 teams after finishing with an average time of 26:13.14 for a total of 164 points.
Three Catamounts finished inside the top-20 as senior Stephen Hammond earned his third consecutive top-10 finish. Hammond paced the 8K course with a time of 25:18.3 for ninth place in the 197-man meet. The mark was the 15th best finish ever by a Catamount runner in the 8K event.
Sophomore Josey Weaver earned another top-15 finish with a time of 25:31.4 (14th), which was ranked 19th in the WCU record books. Freshman Nolan Clark etched his name in the books with a personal best 25:37.6 for 17th overall in the field.
Drew Tucker (73, 27:13.3), Chase Fisher (82, 27:25.1) and Garrett West (87, 27:31.4) quickly followed pursuit, finishing in the top half of the field. Freshman Jake Swimmer rounded out the points for Western Carolina with a mark of 27:51.0.
Tyler Dunn (120, 28:24.9), Jake Clawson (131, 28:49.8), Stephon Roach (141, 29:23.5) and Chris Justice (146, 29:33.4) rounded out the field for the men.
Western Carolina will wrap up the regular season on Friday, Oct. 16 at the Blue Ridge Open hosted by Appalachian State University. The meet will begin at 3:00 p.m. in Boone, N.C.
Wofford Women Finish 12th, Men 20th, at Charlotte Invitational
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Wofford men's and women's cross country teams competed in the Charlotte Invitational on Friday, with the women's team taking 12th place overall and the men's team nabbing 20th place.
The Wofford women were led by freshman Niki Klasnic, who ran the course in a season-best time of 18:49.20 to finish 32nd individually out of 209 participants. Klasnic also set a new freshman record for the 5K.
Four Terriers set personal bests in the race: sophomore Caroline Burdette came in with a time of 20:14.50, senior Laura Trent recorded a time of 20:21.70, senior Kari Harris finished with a time of 20:43.80, and junior Caitlin Dodd came in with a 20:49.30 mark. Freshmen Emily Gothberg, Shelby Harris, Andrea Kelsey, and Kim Stauffer also recorded season best times.
The Terrier women finished 12th out of 23 teams, finishing ahead of Southern Conference rival Georgia Southern.
Georgia Southern Women Place 15th at Charlotte Invitational
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Sara Curry (Lawrenceville, Ga.), Morgan Jefferson (Villa Rica, Ga.), Brittani Martin (Alpharetta, Ga.), Heather McAllister (Cartersville, Ga.) and Azura Robillard (Altamonte Springs, Fla.) set personal bests to lead the Georgia Southern cross country team to a 15th place finish in the Charlotte Invitational.
"We ran great today, and the team looked good. We still have a lot of work to do, but I am happy about our improvement over the last week. We raced today and looked even more like a team," said head coach Natalie Smith.
Laura Fuller (Cartersville, Ga.) paced the Eagles with a season best time of 19:41.20. Fuller has finished first for the Eagles in the last three meets.
Kassi Lee (Elberton, Ga.) was the second Eagle to cross the line and finished 90th. Lee also set a new season best time (19:57.40).
Robillard finished right behind Lee with a new personal best time of 19:58.50. Robillard bettered her previous best time of 20:33.12 from the Gamecock Invitational.
Jefferson placed 99th and set a personal best time of 20:09.20. Jefferson shaved nearly two minutes off her Citadel Invitational time of 21:47.49.
McAllister improved on her previous time for the second straight week and set a new personal best time of 20:11.10.
Martin finished 108th and shattered her personal best time of 20:34.41 from 2008 with a time of 20:16.50.
Curry has improved on her previous time in every meet this season and did so again this week. Curry recorded a new personal time of 20:19.20.
Shauntel Jennings (Stone Mountain, Ga.) wrapped up the Charlotte Invitational with a time of 21:07.30.
The Eagles return to action at the Asics Winthrop Fall Classic Saturday, October 17th.
Davidson Runners Compete at Charlotte Invitational
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Senior Blake Evitt led select members of the Davidson men's cross country team in the Charlotte Invitational in McAlpine Park on Friday afternoon.
Evitt completed the 8K course in 27 minutes, 41.3 seconds to place 92nd. Freshman Will Mitchell followed in 27:53.8. Senior Daniel Bush (28:11.3) and Ehsan Akbari (28:33.5) rounded out the group.
Senior Lance Harden will look to lead the 'Cats, ranked 14th in the Southeast, against their strongest competition this season on Saturday when Davidson competes in the Greater Louisville Cross Country Classic in Louisville, Ky.