Catamount Men and Women Win Western Carolina Invitational
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - The Catamount men's and women's cross country teams both took first place in the Western Carolina Invitational on Friday, Sept. 3. The women ran a two-mile race while the men competed in a 5K event.
"Overall, I thought they did a pretty good job," said head coach Danny Williamson on his squad's performance in the season-opening event. "We tried to really focus on a few things that we had been working on practice and that is being a team. We don't need a number one runner - we need a team of runners. Right now, we have two young teams, but I think we have a chance to be pretty good if we continue to get better every week."
On the women's side, Morgan Turner led the entire race and paced the Catamounts with a first-place finish in a time of 11:36.40. Mara Smith took fifth (12:02.30) while Olivia Jacobs finished seventh (12:09.80). Jordan Gaddy took 10th in a time of 12:22.40.
Kaylan Lance (18th - 12:56.20), Leslie Raymond (19th - 12:57.20), Jocelyn Keen (21st - 13:13.10), Deanna Butler (22nd - 13:16.50), Hayley Tomlinson (24th - 13:18.60) and Alyse Childress (26th - 13:29.60) rounded out the Catamount runners.
Josey Weaver jumped out to the front of the pack early and never trailed during the men's race, winning the event in a time of 15:35.70. Nolan Clark placed sixth in a time of 16:00.10 while teammates Jake Swimmer (9th - 16:13.00) and Chase Fisher (10th - 16:15.80) completed the top-10.
Tyler Dunn (13th - 16:21.20), Garret West (15th - 16:24.70), Stephon Roach (17th - 16:30.10) and Drew Tucker (22nd - 16:44.00) rounded out the WCU runners.
The Catamounts are back in action on Sept. 18 at the Winthrop Invitational in Rock Hills, S.C.
Appalachian State's Women's Cross Country Has Strong Opening Meet
BOONE, N.C. - Women's cross country opened its season Friday hosting the Covered Bridge Open at the Don Kennedy Trail in Boone.
Appalachian State University placed third in the meet for the second consecutive year scoring 72 points. North Carolina captured this year's crown with 49 points and North Carolina came in second with 57.
The Mountaineers were led by last season's Southern Conference champion Brittney Caudle, who placed thrid overall with a time of 17:58.64. Junior Amy Neilson crossed the finishline in sixth place with a time of 18:20.57. Junior Hannah Orders and senior Dani Reese rounded out the top 20 for the meet placing 16th and 20th respectively.
The Apps have next weekend off and return to action Friday, September 17 for the Mountaineer Open in Boone.
Elon Concludes Action at Covered Bridge Open
BOONE, N.C. - The Elon University men's and women's cross country teams kicked off the 2010 season this evening in Boone, N.C. at the Covered Bridge Open, with the men placing sixth overall with 150 points and the women taking seventh overall with 192 points.
Senior Justin Gianni was the first Phoenix runner to cross the finish line at 20:09, finishing 11th overall for Elon. Gianni was followed by sophomore Sean Magee (20:24.84), freshman Ben Perron (20:39.24), freshman Nick Schneider (20:43.48) and senior Matt Richardson (20:59.46). The North Carolina Tar Heels captured the team title on the men's side with 41 points, followed by High Point (75 points), Appalachian State (80 points), Wake Forest (113 points), Davidson (119 points), Elon, Shorter (194 points), Florida State (215 points), East Carolina (252 points), East Tennessee (285 points), King (285 points) and North Carolina Club (310 points).
The Phoenix women placed seventh overall with 192 points, followed by Davidson (202), Shorter (225) and King (281). The Tar Heels from North Carolina captured the team title with 49 points, followed by Wake Forest (52), Appalachian State (72), East Carolina (113), Florida State (134) and High Point (141).
Senior Emily Fournier was the first Phoenix harrier to cross the finish line, finishing 23rd overall with a time of 19:04.41.
True freshman Allyson Oram ran well in her first collegiate race, taking 30th overall with a time of 19:13.64. Not far behind, fellow true freshman Amanda Parker placed 43rd for the Phoenix, finishing with a time of 19:25.11.
Sophomore Emily Tryon took 51st with a time of 19:38.03, followed by freshman Jackie Madden and sophomore Christine Pacewicz, who placed 54th and 55th, respectively.
The Elon men's and women's cross country teams are back in action on Saturday, Sept. 18, for the Elon Invitational.
Georgia Southern's Curry Breaks Into All-Time Top 10 with 5K Time
FORT JACKSON, S.C. - Sophomore Sara Curry posted the 10th-best time in Georgia Southern cross country history for the 5K with a time of 19:25.31 at the Gamecock Invitational. Curry led the Eagles with a 17th-place finish at the meet as the they took fourth place overall at the event held at Hilton Field at Fort Jackson, S.C., this evening.
Brittani Martin led a pack of Georgia Southern runners in the top 40 with a 35th-place finish (21:19.04) with Kassi Lee at 37th (21:22.29) and Heather McAllister taking 38th (21:24.07). Junior Azura Robillard posted a time of 21:38.60 and Amanda Ventre ran a time of 22:08.90.
The Georgia Southern Cross Country team races next at the Clemson Invitational, on Friday, September 17th. The Clemson Invitational, one of the first home meets held by the Tigers in several years, will be contested at Musser Farms, a peach orchard and fruit tree research center near the Clemson campus.
For more information on the Georgia Southern Cross Country team, visit GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/crosscountry, follow the Eagles at facebook.com/GSAthletics or receive scores at twitter.com/gsscores.
Spartans Claim First, Second at Guilford Cross Country Carnival
GREENSBORO, N.C. UNCGs Michelle Chewens took top individual honors to help lead the women's team to a first place finish and the men's team came in second place on Saturday to open its 2010 season at the Guilford College Cross Country Carnival.
The meet today was a chance for some of the women who have been dealing with small injury issues to really just get a workout effort in against some competition, head coach Linh Nguyen said about the women's team. I was very happy with the way things went overall. There wasn't as much competition as I had hoped but the women did a good job of working together and getting in some quality today.
Chewens completed the five-kilometer course in 19:59, just seven seconds in front of teammate Jade Farlow in the 47-runner field. Jenna Paley also finished in the top five with a time of 20:39.
Teammates Anna Grimes and Shannon Hall rounded out the Spartans team with a sixth and seventh-place finish, respectively.
Freshman Kenny Hinman paced the men's team as he earned runner-up honors with a time of 15:56. Fellow freshman Tyron Alston also had a nice finish with a time of 16:22 to finish in fourth and Ben Vasquez turned in a fifth-place finish in 16:24.
This was a good low-key meet for our freshmen to get some college experience and for us to see what kind of shape they are in, said Nguyen of the men's team. Kenny and Tyron ran really well and both bettered their PR's from high school. I would have liked to have seen better results from our upperclassmen in the race but it's early and we still have a long season ahead.
Taylor Day and Ryan Solomon had seventh and 10th place finishes for UNCG as well.
The Spartans will return to competition on Sept. 18 at the Elon Invitational.
Furman's Men Cross Country Wins Eye Opener Meet; Women Take Third Place
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- The Furman cross country teams opened the 2010 season Saturday at the Eye Opener Meet in Spartanburg, S.C. The Paladins won the men's meet with a score of 40 points, while the women's team scored 105 points for a third place finish.
Senior Charles McGoogan led the Paladins, finishing the 8K course in 25:46 for a fourth-place finish. Furman juniors Lee Gilmer, Chris Caldwell, and John Miller finished back-to-back to back in the top then, with Gilmer placing seventh (25:53), Caldwell eighth (26:03), and Miller ninth (26:05). Sophomore Wilkerson Given placed 12th with a time of 26:14, while freshman Tyler Greathouse placed 25th with a time of 26:42 and fellow rookie Jack Klecker placed 37th (27:11).
On the women's 5K course, senior Jenna Callahan led the Paladins with a time of 18:59 and a 14th-place finish. Junior Rebecca Shelton also turned in a top-20 finish, placing 17th in 19:13. Junior Chloe Kowalski turned in a time of 19:22 for 22nd place, and freshman Catherine Burton was 25th after finishing the course in 19:24. Freshman Julia Means rounded out the Paladin scorers, placing 27th with a time of 19:26. Junior Charlotte Coggins placed 34th (19:50) and rookie Erika Shaver was 39th with a time of 20:02.
Both teams will compete on Sept. 18 at the Winthrop Invitational in Rock Hill, S.C.
College of Charleston Women Fifth, Men Sixth in First Meet
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The College of Charleston men's and women's cross country teams started the 2010 season showing improvement from last year as the women's squad finished fifth and the men sixth at the Eye Opener at USC Upstate on Saturday morning.
Freshman Dena O'Brien was the top finisher on either side coming in fourth-place with a 5k time of 18:09. O'Brien, a native of Pelham, Ala. Improved on her previous best by more than a minute and was only seven seconds behind the first-place finisher.
On the men's side junior Chris Bailey led the team with a tenth-place finish and an improvement on his career best with a time of 26:07 in the 8k race.
O'Brien wasn't the only freshman to shine at the meet, as fellow newcomer Andrew Nelson crossed the finished line in 13th place, only nine seconds behind Bailey.
Cougar Head Coach Amy Seago said she was very encouraged by the results of the meet.
"Overall I was very pleased with our first meet," Seago said. "We are definitely ahead of where we were last year on both sides. Place wise might not look like it, but as far as overall averages and top five it was a good meet."
Following O'Brien for CofC was sophomore Grace Loba in 19:17 and 19th place overall. Seago said Loba had a good race, especially considering she had not run cross country in over a year.
Rounding out the top-five for the women were freshman Danielle Hobbs in 42th place, sophomore Tierney Willard in 44st place and senior Kristen Jenkins in 56th.
After Bailey and Nelson was junior Alexander Hill in 33rd place, freshman Jeff Crain in 51st place and sophomore Manning Miller in 59th.
The Cougars take a break from competition next weekend and resume action Sept. 18 in a meet at Winthrop which will feature many Southern Conference opponents.
Wofford Cross Country Teams Finish in Top Ten At Eye Opener
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- The Wofford men's and women's and cross country teams opened their season at the Eye Opener Invitational at Milliken Research Parked hosted by USC Upstate Saturday morning with both Terrier programs finishing in the top ten.
The women's team took sixth place out of 22 teams and the men's team finished in 10th out of 21 teams.
On the women's side, sophomore Andrea Kelsey paced the Terriers with an 18:58 in 12th place and freshman Sam Hughes ran a 19:09 and finished 16th. Sophomore Kim Stauffer ran a 19:46, freshman Katie Kessler finished with a 19:53 and senior Caitlin Dobb ran a 20:57 to round out the top for for the Terriers. Stauffer's time was a new personal best in the 5k distance.
UNC-Charlotte won the event with Upstate and Campbell taking the top three spots.
Sophomore Trey Parker ran a 26:30 and finished in 17th place on the men's side. Parker was the lone terrier in the top 20 of the race for the Terriers. Junior Mavrick Harris turned in a personal best with a time of 27:49, sophomore Russell Baker turned in a 28:28:46, freshman Matt Menard ran a 29:18 and freshman Chase Wolfe ran a 29:34 to complete the Wofford top five in the 8k race.