Men's Cross Country Finishes Fourth at SoCon Championships
8/24/2007 4:15:05 PM | Men's Cross Country
Gavin McFarlin - Assistant SID
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. –– The Davidson women's and men's cross country teams placed a combined four runners in the top-10 at the Southern Conference Cross Country Championships with the women's team racing to a third place finish and men matching last year's finish by coming in fourth place on Saturday, Oct. 28 at Moccasin Bend Course.
Taking home the team title on the women's side this year was the Chattanooga Lady Mocs, earning their fifth overall championship. For the men, Appalachian State earned its 10th title overall.
Juniors Brenna Burns (Weaverville, N.C.) and Megal Atias (Maccabin-Reut, Israel) along with sophomore Caroline Sanker (Rocky River, Ohio) finished in the top-10 for the women's team, while sophomore Lance Harden (Apex, N.C.) earned a top-five top on the men's side. All four of the runners also earned All-SoCon honors for finishing in the top-10.
Burns led the women's team with a new school record time of 17:39.33 in the 5K race, breaking the school mark she set last year at the SoCon Championships. She finished third overall, one spot below what she finished in last year's championships. Following closely behind Burns was Atias (17:50.22) and Sanker (18:02.18) with seventh and 10th place finishes, respectively. Both times for the Atias and Sanker were career-best times.
"We knew it was going to be a three-team race today and the girls responsed brilliantly I thought," said head coach Jen Straub, who in her seven years of coaching at Davidson, has coached now nine All-SoCon runners after three of her runners earned the honors this year. "I'm very pleased with the teams effort today and getting three All-SoCon runners for the second straight year is a great testament to how hard these girls work."
Giving the Wildcats six runners in the top-20 was junior Annie O'Donnell (Wilmington, N.C.), and sophomores Lucy Rogers (Raleigh, N.C.) and Emily King (Honolulu, Hawaii), who finished 15th-20th place.
For the men, Harden was four seconds off his best time of the year as the sophomore earned a third place finish with a time of 25:24.39. Overall Davidson, placed four runners in the top-30 and just missed having two more as sophomores Alex Hoyt (Salem, Va.) and Thad Sieracki (Davis, Calif.) finished 31st and 32nd, respectively.
"Lance had a great run for us today and has been one of our top guys all year," said head coach Gary Andrews. "I'm also pretty pleased with the way the guys as a whole ran as we really didn't have one of the most consistent regular-seasons, but the guys stepped up today, and matching last year's finish is a very nice accomplishment."
Junior Sam Morris (Seattle, Wash.) was second on the team with a time of 26:12.75, good for 21st place. Morris' time was almost six seconds better than his time at last year's championships. Following Morris was two seniors in Alex Varner (San Rafael, Calif.) and Douglas Noreen (Apex, N.C.), who came in with 24th and 28th place finishes for the Wildcats. Noreen's time of 26:43.88 was a season-best for him and topped his time of a year ago at the championships by 14 seconds.
Davidson's fourth place finish is the third time in the past six years it has done so.
Both squads will now prepare for a trip to the NCAA Regional Championships to be held in Louisville, Ky. on Nov. 11.
Top Wildcat Finishers (Women's 5K)
17:39.33 Brenna Burns (3rd)
17:50.22 Megal Atias (7th)
18:02.18 Caroline Sanker (10th)
18:14.77 Lucy Rogers (15th)
18:17.79 Annie O'Donnell (18th)
18:32.91 Emily King (20th)
19:28.28 Allison Ruhe (47th)
20:15.23 Lisa Klein (62nd)
20:43.27 Christy Tucker (71st)
Top Wildcat Finishers (Men's 8K)
25:24.39 Lance Harden (3rd)
26:12.75 Sam Morris (21st)
26:25.85 Alex Varner (24th)
26:43.88 Douglas Noreen (28th)
26:46.04 Alex Hoyt (31st)
26:54.66 Thad Sieracki (32nd)
28:12.44 Blake Evitt (59th)
28:26.09 John Doehring (63rd)
28:42.99 Chet Howland (68th)
Taking home the team title on the women's side this year was the Chattanooga Lady Mocs, earning their fifth overall championship. For the men, Appalachian State earned its 10th title overall.
Juniors Brenna Burns (Weaverville, N.C.) and Megal Atias (Maccabin-Reut, Israel) along with sophomore Caroline Sanker (Rocky River, Ohio) finished in the top-10 for the women's team, while sophomore Lance Harden (Apex, N.C.) earned a top-five top on the men's side. All four of the runners also earned All-SoCon honors for finishing in the top-10.
Burns led the women's team with a new school record time of 17:39.33 in the 5K race, breaking the school mark she set last year at the SoCon Championships. She finished third overall, one spot below what she finished in last year's championships. Following closely behind Burns was Atias (17:50.22) and Sanker (18:02.18) with seventh and 10th place finishes, respectively. Both times for the Atias and Sanker were career-best times.
"We knew it was going to be a three-team race today and the girls responsed brilliantly I thought," said head coach Jen Straub, who in her seven years of coaching at Davidson, has coached now nine All-SoCon runners after three of her runners earned the honors this year. "I'm very pleased with the teams effort today and getting three All-SoCon runners for the second straight year is a great testament to how hard these girls work."
Giving the Wildcats six runners in the top-20 was junior Annie O'Donnell (Wilmington, N.C.), and sophomores Lucy Rogers (Raleigh, N.C.) and Emily King (Honolulu, Hawaii), who finished 15th-20th place.
For the men, Harden was four seconds off his best time of the year as the sophomore earned a third place finish with a time of 25:24.39. Overall Davidson, placed four runners in the top-30 and just missed having two more as sophomores Alex Hoyt (Salem, Va.) and Thad Sieracki (Davis, Calif.) finished 31st and 32nd, respectively.
"Lance had a great run for us today and has been one of our top guys all year," said head coach Gary Andrews. "I'm also pretty pleased with the way the guys as a whole ran as we really didn't have one of the most consistent regular-seasons, but the guys stepped up today, and matching last year's finish is a very nice accomplishment."
Junior Sam Morris (Seattle, Wash.) was second on the team with a time of 26:12.75, good for 21st place. Morris' time was almost six seconds better than his time at last year's championships. Following Morris was two seniors in Alex Varner (San Rafael, Calif.) and Douglas Noreen (Apex, N.C.), who came in with 24th and 28th place finishes for the Wildcats. Noreen's time of 26:43.88 was a season-best for him and topped his time of a year ago at the championships by 14 seconds.
Davidson's fourth place finish is the third time in the past six years it has done so.
Both squads will now prepare for a trip to the NCAA Regional Championships to be held in Louisville, Ky. on Nov. 11.
Top Wildcat Finishers (Women's 5K)
17:39.33 Brenna Burns (3rd)
17:50.22 Megal Atias (7th)
18:02.18 Caroline Sanker (10th)
18:14.77 Lucy Rogers (15th)
18:17.79 Annie O'Donnell (18th)
18:32.91 Emily King (20th)
19:28.28 Allison Ruhe (47th)
20:15.23 Lisa Klein (62nd)
20:43.27 Christy Tucker (71st)
Top Wildcat Finishers (Men's 8K)
25:24.39 Lance Harden (3rd)
26:12.75 Sam Morris (21st)
26:25.85 Alex Varner (24th)
26:43.88 Douglas Noreen (28th)
26:46.04 Alex Hoyt (31st)
26:54.66 Thad Sieracki (32nd)
28:12.44 Blake Evitt (59th)
28:26.09 John Doehring (63rd)
28:42.99 Chet Howland (68th)
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