Elon Men, Women win Elon Invitational

ELON, N.C. – The Elon cross country programs swept the field Saturday morning as the women’s and men’s programs took home team titles in the fourth annual Elon Invitational meet at the Elon Cross Country Course. The women scored 20 overall points while the men hung on to beat UNCG.

It is the first time since 2008 that both programs won at the same event, the last time coming at the Hagan Stone Classic. For the women it is the second straight win of the season after coming off a victory at the Demon Deacon Quad in the season-opening meet at Wake Forest.

The men won for the second time at the home invitational, the last coming in 2009 when the event was created.

Sophomore Haylee Dawe was the first runner to cross the line for the women with a time of 18:18 and in second place overall. The maroon and gold captured the 2-9 positions of the race.

Tereza Novotna and Elyse Bierut were next for the women in third and fourth respectively with shared time of 18:23. Seven seconds off pace was Allyson Oram in fifth followed by Kaitlin Snapp (sixth, 18:52) and Emily Tryon (seventh, 18:55).

Senior Chrissy Pacewicz came in ninth place with a time of 19:03 while junior Erin MacBeth followed clocked in at 19:08.

UNCG’s Chelsea Sumney won individualist honors with a time of 17:44, only the third time in the course’s history that a runner broke the 18-minute mark. Sumney also ran a time of 17:46 as an unattached runner in last year’s meet.

The men’s Luis Vargas was the first to cross the line for the Phoenix in second overall at a time of 25:37. Vargas competed in last year’s race, but had to drop out because of injury.

Ari Rothschild was the next to finish for Elon in fourth place and a time of 26:24. Adam Bernstein and Connor Mercurio followed in the fifth and sixth positions with times of 26:47 and 26:51 respectively.

Senior Ranley Gousse rounded out the top-10 performances for the men crossing the line in ninth with a time of 26:56.

Elon defeated UNCG by three points for the team title while Spartans’ Abraham Kemboi took home the individual title with a time 25:29.

Elon returns to the course in couple weeks on Sept. 28 at the Charlotte Invitational in Charlotte, N.C.

Appalachian State Women Win, Men Second at Winthrop Invitational

ROCK HILL, S.C. - Appalachian State University women’s cross country team defeated the entire field at the adidas/Winthrop Invitational this afternoon.
The Moutaineers finished with 58 points, while Liberty came in right behind with 70 points and Coastal Carolina came in third with 168 points.

Senior Amanda Hamilton led the Apps for the second straight meet, finishing second overall with a season-best 18:10.26, while Allison Cook finished third overall and second for Appalachian, running a 18:13.57.

Kaitlyn Cagle came in third for the Apps, with a tenth place overall finish, and Justine Stocks rounded out the scoring with a 17th overall finish.

Appalachian State will be back in action on Friday, Sept. 28 when they travel to the 49er Invite in Charlotte, N.C. The meet is scheduled to start at 4 p.m

ROCK HILL, S.C. - Appalachian State University men’s cross country team came in second for the second straight meet at the adidas/Winthrop Invitational.

The Mountaineers were led by senior Sean Soderman, who finished in sixth overall with a 24:48.79, while Michael Lilley came in with a 12th overall finish, running a 25:12.70.

Alex Taylor, Mitch McLeod and Josh Cox rounded out the scoring for Appalachian as they all finished within seconds of one another.

The Apps finished right behind Louisville who had 44 points, while Appalachian finished the afternoon with 72 points and Liberty came in third with 89 points.

Appalachian State will be back in action on Friday, Sept. 28 when they travel to Charlotte, N.C. for the 49er Invite. The meet is scheduled to start at 4 p.m.

Wofford Women Fourth, Men 17^th at Winthrop Invitational

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Wofford cross country teams completed the Winthrop Invitational as the women finished in fourth place and the men took 17th Saturday morning.

The women’s team placed all five runners who place counted in the top 50 out of 251 runners and 205 runners that scored for teams on the course.

Alissa Williams paced the women’s team with a 24th place finish and a time of 18:51.61, while Sam Hughes finished four spots behind in 28th place with a time of 18:55.29.  Alyssa Burkert followed in 37th place with a time of 19:04.65, and Nicole Klasnic was a place behind in 38th with a time of 19:06.39.  Katie Kessler was the final Terrier runner with a 47th place finish with a time of 19:18.26.

The Terriers finished with 169 points, just one point out of third place Coastal Carolina.  Wofford finished ahead of four of five Southern Conference opponents in the meet -- Davidson (201), Western Carolina (244), College of Charleston (279) and Georgia Southern (691).

On the men’s side, Alex Michaels finished in 84th with a time of 27:21.97, while Russell Baker took 110th with a time of 28:02.94.  Daniel Phillips followed with a time of 28:41.12 in 130th, while Ryan Doyle was a place behind in 131st with a time of 28:44.09.  Justin Whitaker was the final Terrier runner with a time of 28:48.80 in 133rd.

Wofford will compete in its next meet on September 29 at the UNC Asheville Invitational.

College of Charleston Women 12th, Men 14th in Winthrop Invitational

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Competing against 30 schools in the women’s race and 26 schools in the men’s race the College of Charleston men’s and women’s cross country teams finished 12th and 14th respectively in the Winthrop Invitational Saturday.

Sophomore Hayley McMahon was the top individual finisher for the Cougars as she ran 18:44.33 in the 5K race and finished 15th.

On the men’s side sophomore Adam Seften finished 36th in 26:04.77 for the 8K race to lead the men’s team.

After racing three consecutive weekends to open the season the Cougars will have next weekend off and travel to Charlotte, N.C. the following weekend (Sept. 28) for the Charlotte Invitational.

Western Carolina Men Fourth, Women 9^th at Winthrop Invitational

Western Carolina cross country placed fourth on the men’s side with the women’s team finishing ninth overall in the 2012 adidas/Winthrop Invitational Saturday in Rock Hill, S.C., at the Winthrop Farm. The Catamounts picked up three top-20 finishes for the men with the women notching two. The men ran an 8K with the women running a 5K.

The WCU men finished fourth overall with Louisville, Appalachian State and Liberty finishing ahead of the Catamounts. Western averaged 25:39.84 for the 8K.

Individually for the men, Josey Weaver led the way overall for Western Carolina with his seventh-place, 24:51.53. The time is Weaver’s fastest 8000m time of his career. The two-time All-SoCon performer has led the Catamounts in each of WCU’s races this season.

The next Catamount to finish was sophomore Travis Alfaro. Alfaro placed tenth, finishing in 25:09.69. Senior Chase Fisher also finished in the top 20, placing sixteenth with a time of 25:26.71. Both times were personal bests.

Seniors Nolan Clark (26:04.39) and Garrett West (26:46.88) finished 35th and 63rd, respectively. Perry Cabean (27:52.61), Ryan Johnson (28:27.48), Michael Cornwell (28:33.59) and Cooper Wurst (28:37.39) – the Catamounts four freshmen – finished 105th, 125th, 127th and 129th in Saturday’s meet.

On the women’s side, senior Mara Smith (18:30.64) and sophomore Jocelyn Keen (18:39.54) led the Catamount women with their finishes of 13th and 15th. Smith bested her top career time in the 5K by 13 seconds as Jocelyn Keen also scored a personal best by beating her previous by nearly a minute and a half.

Aleshia Reese (19:20.89), Kaitlyn Shetler (19:58.72) and Hayley Tomlinson placed in the top 100 with their finishes in 50th, 86th and 99th.

The top three overall team finishers in the race were Appalachian State, Liberty and Coastal Carolina. The Catamount women averaged 19:20.29 in the 5K.

The Catamount cross country team returns to action in Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 28 in the Charlotte Cross Country Invitational.

Davidson Women Sixth at Winthrop Invitational

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Erin Osment was the squad’s top finisher as the Davidson women’s cross country team placed sixth at the Asics Winthrop Invitational on Saturday morning at Winthrop Farm.

The ‘Cats combined for an average time of 19:11.11 for 201 points.  SoCon foe Appalachian State won the event with an average time of 18:31.20 for 58 points, with Liberty in second (18:38.98, 70 points). Coastal Carolina took third (19:04.08, 168), Wofford was fourth (19:03.05, 169) and UNC Ashville rounded out the top five (19:03.59, 180). Davidson finished ahead of SoCon opponents Western Carolina (ninth), College of Charleston (12th) and Georgia Southern (25th). Thirty total teams competed in the event.

Osment crossed the line 27th of 251 competitors with a time of 18:53.99. Teammate Manya Swick was close behind in 32nd place. She clocked in with a time of 18:59.66.

Freshman Brigid Behrens finished in a time of 19:17.17 for 46th place, while Natalie Atabek and Olivia Menden crossed the line back-to-back in 52nd and 53rd place, respectively. Atabek ran a 19:22.94 with Menden on her heels at 19:22.75. Grace Carr was not far behind, taking 55th with a time of 19:23.54.

Mary Dumbrowski ran a 19:40.40 to cross the line 69th overall. Anna Armstead also competed for the ‘Cats, clocking in at 20:02.80 for 91st place while Lauren Carter followed in a time of 20:23.75.

Sophia Smith ran a 20:50.77 and Maggie Rickard completed the course in 21:14.54 to round things out for the ‘Cats.

The Wildcats will stick close to home for their next meet, heading to Charlotte for the Charlotte Invitational on Sept. 28. The Charlotte 49ers will host the event at McAlpine Park.

UNCG Men, Women Finish Second at Elon Invitational

Elon, N.C. – Junior Abraham Kemboi placed first in the men's 8,000-meter race at the Elon Invitational while senior Chelsea Sumney took home the top spot in the women's 5,000-meter race Saturday morning to lead both the UNCG cross country programs to second place team finishes in the event.

Kemboi won the men's race in a time of 25:29, claiming his first individual title of his UNCG career, surpassing his previous top finish of fourth last year at the same event. Sophomore Dylan Belles placed third in the race with a career-best 8,000-meter time of 26:02, surpassing his previous mark by 1:03.

Sumney placed first in the women's race with a time of 17:44, also claiming her first individual title of her career. She posted a fifth place finish last year at the Southern Conference championships. Junior Kelly Montague placed ninth as the second Spartan to cross the line, clocking a time of 19:18.

The men's program finished the event second in team scoring with 29 points, trailing Elon which posted a score of 26 in the top five finishers. Taylor Day (26:54), Joshua Crawford (26:54) and Eric Williams (26:58) all placed in the top-10 in the seventh, eighth and 10th spots, respectively. Brandon Cain (28:08) and Tyron Alston (28:09) placed 13th and 14th, respectively, while John Elwood (29:11) placed 19th for UNCG.

The women's program also finished the event second, tallying 43 points in the top five places to finish behind host Elon, who won the team portion with 20 points. Katlyn Ayers (19:40) placed 11th, while Lydia Saina (20:15), Emilee Hensel (20:16) and Shannon Hall (20:26) placed 11th, 12th and 13th, respectively. Freshman Meredith Hicks (21:07) finished in 15th place for the Spartans.

The Blue and Gold will return to competition Sept. 29 with two events. The team will run at either the Greater Louisville Classic in Louisville, Ky., or the Greensboro Cross Country Invitational.

Georgia Southern Women Finish 25^th at Winthrop Invitational

ROCK HILL, S.C. – The Georgia Southern cross country team tested itself against a loaded field at the Winthrop Invitational Saturday morning and placed 25th.

Sara Curry ran the 5k course in 19:40.72 to lead the Eagles, while Jami Joyner finished with a time of 21:35.40, and Lindsay Mullican posted a time of 21:39.07.

Asea Mayfield ran the race in 22:02.66, and Amanda Ventre finished in 24:29.09. Kristiana Towns finished in 24:35.05.

Appalachian State won the race, and Southern Conference schools Wofford (4th), Davidson (6th) and Western Carolina (10th) were in the top-10.