Andrew Adds Seven to the Men's Track & Field and Cross Country Teams
7/17/2006 10:38:01 AM | Men's Track & Field
DAVIDSON, N.C. — Davidson College head men's cross country and track and field coach Gary Andrew recently announced the addition of seven student-athletes in the class of 2010. Joining the Wildcats this fall will be Peter Bruton, Daniel Bush, David DesPrez, Blake Evitt, Tom Divinnie, Chet Howland and Quinn Patton.
“We're excited to welcome these athletes to our cross country and track and field teams,” stated coach Andrew, who was the 2006 Co-Coach of the Year in the Southern Conference for the outdoor track season. “Each has the potential to become major contributors to our efforts to move-up the SoCon ranks.”
Peter Bruton from Bronxville, N.Y. capped his prep career at Bronxville High with his second trip to the New York State Championships where he competed in the 800-meter. At his county championships, Bruton finished third overall in the 800-meter, earning all-county honors while recording a personal best of 1:57.6. He also was league champion in both the 1600-meter and 800-meter events, recording a personal best of 4:33.4 in his winning effort. Indoors, Bruton ran 2:37 for 1000-meter and in cross country was an all-league runner.
“Peter is a tall, lanky runner who has really come into his own the past few months. He is just starting to scratch his potential,” stated Andrew.
Daniel Bush, a Bryan Scholar runner-up this year, hails from Jacksonville, Fla., and attended Stanton College Prep. As a high school junior, Bush recorded personal best times of 1:57, 4:24 and 16:45 in the 800-meter, 1600-meter and 5K for cross country, respectively. Despite struggling with injuries throughout his senior year—which severely limited his racing—Bush won his conference championships in the 1600-meter and was the 800-meter runner-up. Academically, Bush was a National Merit Finalist.
“Daniel is now 100 percent healthy and is having a very good summer of training. He's excited about competing at the collegiate level and we believe that he will be an impact runner at Davidson” added Andrew.
Joining Davidson's throwing ranks will be John DesPrez, who comes to Davidson from South Natick, Mass. DesPrez threw the javelin for the Belmont Hill School and never placed less than second at any of the dual, tri or four-way meets he competed in this spring with his best throw being 148'.
“John has the tools to develop into a very good javelin thrower and eventually challenge our school record,'' said Andrew. “Over the next four years we expect John to become one of the Southern Conference's top javelin throwers.”
Teaming with Bush as the squads other Bryan finalist is Brentwood, Tenn., native, Tom Divinnie. Divinnie enters Davidson after an impressive high school career at Brentwood, which included a 12th place finish at the 2005 Foot Locker South Regional Cross Country Championships, just two places out of qualifying for the Foot Locker Nationals. During that race he recorded a 5K personal best time of 15:19. This past indoor track season, Divinnie finished 14th in the two-mile at the Nike Indoor Nationals. He also competed during the outdoor track & field season and won the Great Eight Invitational in the 3200-meter race with a personal best time of 9:13.14. At the Tennessee AAA outdoor track championships this spring, Divinnie finished second in the 3200-meter and later that day, finished third in the 1600-meter. In addition to his athletic endeavors, Divinnie has served as the vice-president of the National Honor Society and was a National Merit Commended Student as well as a AP Scholar with Honor.
“Tom has experience competing at the highest level and should have no difficulty making the transition to collegiate competition. He will have a major impact upon our distance program, the SoCon and beyond,” said Andrew.
Blake Evitt spent most of the previous 11 months in St. Brieuc, France, where he attend school at St. Charles La Providence. While in France, Evitt participated in the French Private Catholic Schools' National Championships (UGSEL) and placed second in the indoor 1000-meter (2:41) and won the 1500-meter run at the outdoor championships in a time of 4:13. Evitt is a native of Somerville, Mass., and attended Somerville High School.
“Blake is just beginning to realize his potential,'' said Andrew. “He comes from a low-mileage background and has much room for improvement. It will be interesting to see how far he goes.”
Chet Howland comes to Davidson from Asheville High School in Asheville, N.C. One of the top runners at the AAA level as a junior when he was a state runner-up in the 3200-meter, Howland saw his promising senior track season cut short after he suffered a high ankle injury in an incident at the finish line at his outdoor conference championships. Despite the injury, Howland still finished third in the 1600-meter race. Howland enters Davidson with personal best times from his junior year of 4:29 in 1600-meter and 9:44 for 3200-meter, and a 5K best of 16:31 in cross country. During his senior cross country season, Howland earned all-conference honors and placed 15th at the State AAA Championships. In addition to his athletic achievements, Howland was Asheville High's Wendy's Heisman Nominee and a National AP Scholar. Howland is also a recipient of a Davidson Alumni Scholarship.
“I believe that Chet is a bit of a sleeper. He's definitely not over-trained and has much potential,” said Andrew.
A middle distance runner from Birmingham, Ala., Quinn Patton rounds out the class of 2010. He enters Davidson with a personal best time of 1:59.5 in the 800-meter. As a member of the Mountain Brook High School 4x800-meter team, he helped his team set a new state indoor record at the state championships. He also ran a 1:57 split on the Mountain Brook relay team which finished second at the state outdoor championships and earned a 5K cross country best of 17:00 during his prep career.
“John has a strong upside in that he has not done much distance training. As we increase his aerobic base, this should put him in a position to really drop his times,” quoted Andrew.
