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.
Impressive Season Opening Meet for Appalachian State Men's Cross Country
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University men's cross country kicked off its season off with a third place finish at the Covered Bridge Open in Boone.
Junior Sean Soderman led the pack for the Apps placing sixth in a time of 19:54.90. Last season, Soderman earned all-Southern Conference honors after placing sixth overall at the conference meet.
Will Raby was the next Mountaineer to finish the 6,400 meter race placing 15th. Senior Brandon Hudgins followed Raby closely and finished almost two seconds later to capture 17th respectively.
Sophomore Alex Taylor caps off the top 20 earning 20th out of the 119 runners.
North Carolina grasped first place in the team standings with a point total of 41. High Point edged out Appalachian by five points for second place by scoring 75.
The Balck and Gold take a week off and then race again in Boone Friday, September 17 at the Mountaineer Open.
Davidson Men Finish Fifth at Covered Bridge Open
BOONE, N.C. - Junior Ryan Hopkins placed third overall to lead the Davidson men's cross country team to a fifth-place finish in the season opening Covered Bridge Open, hosted by Appalachian State.
Hopkins completed the 6400m course in 19 minutes, 44.59 seconds, finishing behind Evan Watchempino of North Carolina (19:38.14) and Patrick Crawford of High Point (19:42.66).
Sophomore Demetrios Pagonis and senior Charlie Schmitt both earned top-20 finishes, placing 14th (20:13.19) and 19th (20:17.26), respectively. Sophomore Wes Reynolds placed 29th in 20:37.28, while classmate Vincent Weir placed 61st in 21:06.20 to round out the scoring group.
Davidson finished six points shy of fourth-place Wake Forest with 119 points. North Carolina earned a convincing win with 41 points, and was followed by High Point (75 points) and Appalachian State (80). SoCon foe Elon took sixth with 150 points.
Davidson alum Tom Divinnie placed eighth for Wake Forest, where he is now a graduate student.
The Wildcats will return to action when they travel to the Clemson Invitational Sept. 17.
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.
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.