Saturday, October 29
Nashville, Tenn.
10:00 a.m.
University of North Florida
at
Atlantic Sun Conference Championship
Women's XC Takes Second at A-Sun Championship, Men Grab Fifth
10/29/2011 4:08:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
Complete Women's Results
Complete Men's Results
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The University of North Florida country teams each placed in the top five at the Atlantic Sun Cross Country Championships on Saturday morning. The women's team took runner-up honors, while the men's team finished fifth.
In the women's race, junior Shelby Kittrell (18:01.80) was the highest-finishing Osprey, finishing eighth out of 78 runners, followed closely by senior Erin Nixon (18:05.60) and junior Meggie Emons (18:09.50) in ninth and 10th, respectively. Junior Ecaterina Gheorghiu (18:22.40) was next for UNF in 18th, while freshman Elle Baker (18:41.60) wrapped up the scoring in 22nd.
Seniors Kayla Conrad (19:16.50) and Brooke Baumann (19:17.10) finished 33rd and 34th, respectively, ahead of sophomore Allison Spiegel (19:30.00) in 43rd and freshman Alyssa Brandt (20:09.90) in 52nd.
Lipscomb, running in their hometown, took home their first-ever A-Sun Championship, scoring 53 points to beat out UNF's 69 and third-place Belmont's 91. Senior Jemeli Sang of USC Upstate grabbed medalist honors with a time of 17:20.90.
“Obviously, the girls are a little disappointed with today, but we will absolutely bounce back from this a stronger team,” Head Coach Mark VanAlstyne said. “We knew Lipscomb was a very improved team and they ran a fantastic race on their home course.”
The men's race proved to be a much tighter competition, with the top five teams all within 25 points of each other.
Senior Mike Strasser (25:21.90) led the way for UNF, finishing seventh in the field of 79 competitors, while senior Cameron Dickerson (25:40.61) made a late charge to grab ninth. Junior James Post (25:55.60) was next in 15th place. Sophomores Chris Haynes (26:21.96) and Constantine Fotopoulos (26:25.16) grabbed 31st and 32nd, respectively, to finish out the Ospreys' scoring.
Senior Josh Brown (26:55.06) grabbed 41st for UNF, beating out junior Gilbert Vazquez (27:12.37) in 49th, freshman Fransua Estrada (27:43.61) in 60th and sophomore Sean White (28:40.52) in 68th.
USC Upstate posted a score of 69 to edge out Kennesaw State, the two-time defending champions, by ten points. Belmont came in third with 84, just besting Lipscomb's 90 and UNF's 94. Upstate's Gilbert Kemboi won his second-straight individual title with a time of 24:27.01, the fourth-fastest time in A-Sun history.
“We knew there were five teams that could all win it, we just came up on the wrong end of those five,” Van Alstyne said. “It's a tough result, but it just goes to show how deep and talented the Atlantic Sun Conference is these days.”
Both teams will be back in action on Saturday, Nov. 12, when they travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala. for the NCAA South Region Championships.
Complete Men's Results
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The University of North Florida country teams each placed in the top five at the Atlantic Sun Cross Country Championships on Saturday morning. The women's team took runner-up honors, while the men's team finished fifth.
In the women's race, junior Shelby Kittrell (18:01.80) was the highest-finishing Osprey, finishing eighth out of 78 runners, followed closely by senior Erin Nixon (18:05.60) and junior Meggie Emons (18:09.50) in ninth and 10th, respectively. Junior Ecaterina Gheorghiu (18:22.40) was next for UNF in 18th, while freshman Elle Baker (18:41.60) wrapped up the scoring in 22nd.
Seniors Kayla Conrad (19:16.50) and Brooke Baumann (19:17.10) finished 33rd and 34th, respectively, ahead of sophomore Allison Spiegel (19:30.00) in 43rd and freshman Alyssa Brandt (20:09.90) in 52nd.
Lipscomb, running in their hometown, took home their first-ever A-Sun Championship, scoring 53 points to beat out UNF's 69 and third-place Belmont's 91. Senior Jemeli Sang of USC Upstate grabbed medalist honors with a time of 17:20.90.
“Obviously, the girls are a little disappointed with today, but we will absolutely bounce back from this a stronger team,” Head Coach Mark VanAlstyne said. “We knew Lipscomb was a very improved team and they ran a fantastic race on their home course.”
The men's race proved to be a much tighter competition, with the top five teams all within 25 points of each other.
Senior Mike Strasser (25:21.90) led the way for UNF, finishing seventh in the field of 79 competitors, while senior Cameron Dickerson (25:40.61) made a late charge to grab ninth. Junior James Post (25:55.60) was next in 15th place. Sophomores Chris Haynes (26:21.96) and Constantine Fotopoulos (26:25.16) grabbed 31st and 32nd, respectively, to finish out the Ospreys' scoring.
Senior Josh Brown (26:55.06) grabbed 41st for UNF, beating out junior Gilbert Vazquez (27:12.37) in 49th, freshman Fransua Estrada (27:43.61) in 60th and sophomore Sean White (28:40.52) in 68th.
USC Upstate posted a score of 69 to edge out Kennesaw State, the two-time defending champions, by ten points. Belmont came in third with 84, just besting Lipscomb's 90 and UNF's 94. Upstate's Gilbert Kemboi won his second-straight individual title with a time of 24:27.01, the fourth-fastest time in A-Sun history.
“We knew there were five teams that could all win it, we just came up on the wrong end of those five,” Van Alstyne said. “It's a tough result, but it just goes to show how deep and talented the Atlantic Sun Conference is these days.”
Both teams will be back in action on Saturday, Nov. 12, when they travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala. for the NCAA South Region Championships.
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