Davidson Men Finish Sixth at Greater Louisville Classic
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Senior Lance Harden set a new Davidson record for an 8000-meter men's cross country course en route to leading the team to a sixth place finish against an elite group of 38 teams and 334 individual runners at the Greater Louisville Cross Country Classic in E. P. "Tom" Sawyer Park on Saturday.
Harden placed 25th overall in 24 minutes, 43.42 seconds. Sophomore Ryan Hopkins was not far behind, placing 31st overall in 24:49.83.
"This was one of the best performances ever for Davidson men's cross country," said head coach Gary Andrew. "I am very proud of their effort today. However, we realize that this is just one step in the process of preparing for the SoCon Championship and NCAA Regional meets."
Ranked 14th in the southeast by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association, Davidson bested the likes of Eastern Kentucky (No. 9 Southeast), Purdue (No. 13 Great Lakes) and conference foe Elon. Louisville (No. 8 Southeast) placed first overall with 68 points and was followed by Kentucky (No. 11 Southeast) with 153 points, Tennessee (No. 4 South) with 188 points, Central Michigan (No. 14 Great Lakes) with 205 points, and Middle Tennessee State (No. 9 South) with 251 points.
Harden and Hopkins led a scoring group that totaled 259 points. Senior Tom Divinnie returned to action with a 44th place finish in 25:05.87. Classmate Thad Sieracki was 86th in 25:38.00 and sophomore Ian Tupper was 95th in 25:43.77.
Senior Peter Bruton (25:49.09) and junior Charlie Schmitt (26:19.55) followed to place amongst Davidson's top-seven finishers.
Additionally from the South region, Davidson beat Mississippi State (No. 7), Belmont (No. 11), Eastern Tennessee (No. 13) and Ole Miss (No. 14).
Stephen Sambu of Rend Lake College placed first individually in 23:33.22.
Davidson will next compete in the Blue Ridge Mountain Open hosted by Appalachian State on Friday, Oct. 16. The meet will be the final tune-up before the Southern Conference Championships hosted by Elon on Saturday, Oct. 31.
Davidson Women Place 11th at Greater Louisville Classic
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Davidson Wildcat women's cross country team finished 11th out of 38 teams in a deep, competitive field at the Greater Louisville Cross Country Classic Saturday morning at the E.P. Sawyer State Park.
The Wildcats were once again led by freshman Natalie Atabek, who placed a team-best 48th with a time of 18:32.02.
Atabek paced the Wildcats, but it was the team's tight pack that kept them in the hunt. Juniors Lauren Childs (18:43.10), Danielle Ruggieri (18:46.26) and Heather Conarroe ran together and finished 61st, 65th and 69th, respectively.
Sophomore Jane Gay finished 121st with a time of 19:21.44 to round out the scoring for the Wildcats, who collected 360 points as a team.
"We ran really strong today!," head coach Jen Straub said. "At a very competitive meet, our goal was to finish in the top 11th and thanks to smart running, we were able to do that! We are a very young team, but I am very pleased with our progress to this point. We are definitely moving in the right direction and running well right now!"
With all five runners in the top 30, Purdue took the team title with just 88 points. Kentucky (130), Louisville (141), Missouri (173) and Western Kentucky (173) rounded out the top five. SoCon foe Elon finished 15th as a team with 430 points.
Western Kentucky's Janet Jesang was the individual champion with a time of 16:47.97.
The Wildcat women will return to action Oct. 17 at the USC Upstate Invitational in Spartanburg, S.C.
Elon Women Finish 15th at Greater Louisville Classic
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Junior Emily Fournier led the Elon women's cross country team to a 15th-place finish out of a strong field of 34 teams at the Louisville Classic in Louisville, Ky. Fournier was the only top-50 performer for the Phoenix, posting a time of 18:31, the eighth-best mark in school history. She now owns five of Elon's top-10 times in the 5K.
Caitlin Beeler recorded a time of 18:40 to finish 61st for Elon. Freshman Jacqueline Alnes finished 104th with a time of 19:13.28, followed by Allyson Costa in 114th place and a time of 19:17.
Morgan Denecke clocked a 19:19 to finish 118th. Sullivan Parkes and Courtney Whalen rounded out the Elon top seven with times of 19:39 and 19:43, respectively.
Also competing for the Phoenix were Catherine Rossi (19:52), Emily Tryon (20:00) and Christine Pacewicz (20:08).
Elon will travel to Boone, N.C., for the Blue Ridge Open on Friday, October 16.
Elon Men Place 26th at Greater Louisville Classic
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Elon junior Justin Gianni clocked a school-record time of 25:39 for a 90th-place finish at the Louisville Classic in Louisville, Ky., to lead the Phoenix men's cross country team to a 26th overall team finish. In all, 38 teams competed at the Louisville Classic, including squads from Louisville, Kentucky, Tennesseee and Middle Tennessee State. Gianni's time bested the previous Elon record of 25:41 that was set last season at the Winthrop Invitational and marks his second top-10 time.
"Justin had a great race and executed the race plan well," head coach Christine Engel said. "I was really pleased that he was able to lead the team today and break the school record in the process."
Matt Richardson was the second Elon finisher with a time of 25:48, a season best for the junior, and finish of 106th. Sophomore Will Schefer finished 140th after running a 26:05, followed by Connor Mercurio with a time of 26:33.
David Wells finished the race with a personal best time of 26:56 and Ranley Gousse crossed the line at 26:57. Clay Sankey rounded out the top-seven Elon finishers with a time of 27:02.
Also running for the Phoenix was Conor O'Brien (27:04), Lucas Walters (27:18) and Andrew Hawkey (27:21).
Elon will travel to Boone, N.C., for the Blue Ridge Open on Friday, October 16.