Appalachian State Women Take First Place at Mountaineer Open
BOONE, N.C. - Hosting its second home meet of the 2009 campaign, Appalachian State University women's cross country was quite impressive, notching a first place finish out of 10 competitive squads, finishing with 49 points. The Apps placed 11 points ahead of their next nearest competitor, Clemson who grabbed the second place finish, while UNC Wilmington, Milligan and Queens University all took the third through fifth place spots.
It was all freshman Brittney Caudle for the Black and Gold, who took home a first place finish overall with a strong time of 17:53.25. It was the Maryland native's best finish of the 2009 season thus far, as she placed third in ASU's Covered Bridge Open on September 4. Caudle crushed her previous best time of 18:13.
Freshman Trinity Foreman posted a standout performance as well, coming in seventh overall with a time of 19:15.64, while juniors Amy Neilson and Dani Reese earned the 12th and 13th place spots.
Stephanie Chapman and freshman Sarah Williamson rounded the top-25 as the two came in 20th and 21st overall.
ASU looks to continue with its strong start, as the Apps head to the ever-challening Paul Short Run in Bethlehem, Pa. on Friday October 7.
Appalachian State Men Place Third at Mountaineer Open
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University men's cross country posted a strong effort Friday evening in their second home meet of the season, hosting the Mountaineer Open at the Don Kennedy Trails at State Farm. Big Ten power Ohio State notched a first place finish overall, scoring 27 points, while Queens University earned the runner-up spot, and the Mountaineers took home third place.
Senior Phil Mitchell led the way for the Black and Gold, coming in third overall with a time of 19:59.90. Mitchell came in behind Michael Crouch of Queens and Jeff See of Ohio State.
Sophomore standout Sean Soderman was the next finisher for the Mountaineers, placing 11th with a time of 20:35.33, while teammate Alec Meyer wasn't too far behind, grabbing 13th place.
Bud Galloway and Josh Houser capped off the top-25 with 19th and 25th place finishes.
Appalachian takes a two week break, before returning to action Friday October 2, as the squad travels to Bethlehem, Pa. to compete at the Paul Short Run.
The Citadel Men Place Second at Coastal Carolina Invitational
CONWAY, S.C. - The Citadel men's cross country team had nine that participated in the Coastal Carolina Invitational on Friday in Conway, S.C. with team finishing second overall with an average time of 21:08.22 and 58 points.
All nine Bulldogs finished in the top 25 with freshman Austin Waldrop leading the way finishing ninth with a time of 20:45.00. Kevin Flood followed placing 10th with a time of 21:00.07 and freshman Josh Taylor recorded a time of 21:05.95 for 11th place. P.J. Wasilchak finished the race 12th posting a time of 21:10.42. Clayton Thornton finished the course in 16th place with a time of 21:39.61 and Zach Yereb recorded a time of 21:41.60 to finish 17th. Coming in at 18th, senior Zach Johnson tallied a time of 21:52.87 and Alex Anderson posted a time of 21.56.60 for 22nd place. Then Chad Lange followed finishing 23rd with a time of 21:57.30.
The Bulldog men's and women's cross country teams will be back in action next weekend when they host the 29th Annual Will Wilson Citadel Invitational at James Island County Park on Saturday, Sept. 26. For more information on Bulldog Cross Country, visit the official website of The Citadel Athletics at www.CitadelSports.com.
Samford Women Finish Fifth, Men 13th at Crimson Classic
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University cross country teams held their own against some tough competition Friday evening at Crimson Classic. The women placed fifth while the men finished 13th.
"We just got that race in before the rain so the heat and humidity was awful," Samford head coach Rod Tiffin said. "We looked a little tired today but that is understandable with the way everyone has been training."
The women finished fifth overall, just behind Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee and Georgia Tech. Fellow Southern Conference foe Chattanooga finished just behind Samford followed by Kennesaw State, LSU, Belmont and Alabama State to round out the top ten. Jackson State finished 11th followed by North Alabama, Huntingdon, Alabama A&M and Stillman.
The Bulldog women were led by Andrea Seccafien and Cori Christensen who finished 22nd and 24th, respectively. Ina Ables followed in 27th place to round out the top three for Samford. Jessica Van Ausdall finished 36th followed by Hillary Neal and Lauren D'Alessio in 40th and 43rd, respectively. Holly Benson took 64th while Alli Keithan placed 70th.
The men finished 13th overall, led by Blaise Carie for the second week in a row. Carie finished 66th overall, followed by Will Denton and Patrick Ollinger who rounded out the top three runners for the Bulldogs. Chas Keithan, Scott Cope and Sam Shaughnessy finished in a pack for third, fourth and fifth in terms of Bulldog runners.
No. 10 Alabama took the title followed by Tennessee and No. 13 Auburn. Belmont and Georgia Tech rounded out the top five while East Tennessee State, Kennesaw State, Chattanooga, Mississippi Valley State and Alabama State rounding out the top 10. LSU and Troy finished just ahead of Samford while North Alabama, Huntingdon and Stillman followed.
"For the most part, our women had a good day," Tiffin said. "To beat Chattanooga, one of our conference rivals, is always good. We will need to get better over the next couple of weeks to have a great finish at conference. Luckily for us, we have several weeks to get ourselves ready. Our men seemed to have a good race but I know we were tired and just need to keep improving each week."
Next up for the Bulldog distance crew is the Ole Miss Invitational next Saturday, Sept. 26, in Oxford, Miss. Samford will then have just one more meet on Oct. 17 before running in the Southern Conference Championships on Oct. 31.
UTC Men Take Eighth, Women 11th at Crimson Classic
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - With ever-darkening skies and thunder rumbling in the distance, juniors Anneli Uys and Emmanuel Kirwa led the Running Mocs to a pair of top 10 finishes at the 21st Annual Crimson Classic hosted by the University of Alabama at the Harry Pritchett Race Course.
Kirwa led the Mocs to an eighth place finish out of 16 teams and finished eighth for the Mocs over the 8000 meter course with a time of 25:26.70.
Freshman Kyle McLarty was 17th for UTC with a time of 25:59.80.
"Emmanuel and Kyle ran great for us," UTC Head Coach Bill Gautier said. "We needed that. Kyle's in line to compete for (SoCon) Freshman of the Year.
"If Chris Berry doesn't redshirt and David Moore and Kevin Huwe can get well, we should be in good shape."
Alabama's David Tyson won the 8K with a time of 24:50.90 leading three Tide finishers in the top four. Auburn's Ben Cheruiyot was second almost four seconds behind Tyson.
Alabama won the event with a score of 34 points placing four runners in the top six and all five scoring runners in the top 20. Tennessee was second with 55 points with the top five runners in the top 15. Auburn (76) was third followed by Georgia Tech (153) and Belmont (156).
The Mocs finished with a score of 197 ahead of LSU (284), Troy (318) and SoCon foe Samford with 322 points in 13th place.
In the women's race, Uys moved up in the pack to secure an 11th place finish out of 15 teams. She led the Lady Mocs to a sixth place finish with a time of 18:05.20 in the 5K event. Heather Stuive grabbed a top-20 finish for the Lady Mocs. The freshman placed 18th in the scoring with a time of 18:42.70
"The women were awesome," Gautier said. "The freshmen are everything and more than I expected. We're still missing our No. 1 returner, Tara Gietema.
"Shelley is still nursing her hip injury from the first race. If she ran her normal race, we could have been fourth."
Kennesaw State's Mackenzie Howe, who won UTC's PowerAde Opener last week, took first in the race in a time of 17:13.40. Alabama's women won the event placing all seven runners in the top 20 for a score of 43. Auburn was second with 75 points and three in the top 10.
Tennessee (88), Georgia Tech (115) and Southern Conference foe Samford (137) were ahead of the Lady Mocs with 153 points. Kennesaw State (164) and LSU (167) finished just behind UTC.
The Mocs and other teams from the region had the chance to preview the course for the upcoming NCAA South Region Meet to be hosted by the Tide on Nov. 14.
The Mocs will be back in action Saturday, Oct. 3 at the University of Louisville Invitational in Louisville, Ky.