posted November 1, 2009
UTC junior Emmanuel Kirwa claimed his second straight Southern Conference cross country title Saturday morning at the league championships on the Elon campus in Elon, N.C., and led the Mocs to a fourth place finish. The Lady Mocs placed sixth overall with junior Anneli Uys placing third.
Emmanuel did great, Mocs Head Coach Bill Gautier said. We expected that Emmanuel would win. Weve been planning all year for this race.
Kirwa finished the 8-kilometer course in a time of 25:00.38, three seconds faster than UNC Greensboros Mike Koech. UTCs Josh Vasquez was the mens second place finisher in 16th place with a time of 25:53.99 and freshman Kyle McLarty was 29th overall with a time of 26:30.54.
McLarty and fellow freshman Mark Cole, who placed 33rd with a time of 26:38.97, were both named to the SoCon All-Freshman team. Cole was the Mocs fifth scoring runner just behind senior David Moore who was 32nd with a time of 26:36.63.
Josh ran a good race and our two freshmen PRd, Gautier said. I had hoped wed get second or third, but Im very happy for Emmanuel.
Kirwa is the 11th Chattanooga runner to be named SoCon Runner of the Year in the last 14 years.
In the womens race, junior Anneli Uys led the three-time defending Lady Mocs to a sixth place finish in the 5-kilometer race placing third with a time of 18:11.62 behind SoCon Runner and Freshman of the Year Brittney Caudle of Appalachian State and Furmans Chloe Kowalski.
Anneli did well and made all conference along with freshman Heather Stuive, Gautier said. Four of our scoring runners this year, including Anneli, were not on the team last year.
The Lady Mocs were without last years all-conference performer Tara Gietema and all-freshman Meredith White.
Stuive was the Lady Mocs second place finisher placing sixth overall earning her a spot on the All-Conference and All-Freshmen teams. Freshman Kathryn Stuart was 27th for the Lady Mocs with a time of 19:22.65 and classmate Mary Cumbee was 33rd with a time of 19:28.04.
After so many years at the top, you get one of those years where you have to regroup, Gautier said. Well try to redeem ourselves in two weeks at region.
Both teams will return to action at the NCAA South Region meet hosted by the University of Alabama on Saturday, November 14.
Appalachian State repeated as the league champs and Samford, in its second year in the conference, posted a narrow one-point win. The Davidson men were second followed by UNC Greensboro. The Elon women finished second while Appalachian States women took third.
Team Scores Men
1. Appalachian State 44
2. Davidson 82
3. UNC Greensboro 83
4. Chattanooga 109
5. Elon 134
6. Furman 146
7. Western Carolina 158
8. College of Charleston 203
9. The Citadel 218
10. Samford 261
11. Wofford 276
Team Scores Women
1. Samford 74
2. Elon 75
3. Appalachian State 83
4. Furman 93
5. Davidson 110
6. Chattanooga 134
7. UNC Greensboro 138
8. Western Carolina 168
9. College of Charleston 254
10. Wofford 289
11. Georgia Southern 319
12. The Citadel 357
All-SoCon First Team Men
1. Emmanuel Kirwa Junior Chattanooga
2. Mike Koech Sophomore UNC Greensboro
3. Lance Harden Senior Davidson
4. Phil Mitchell Senior Appalachian State
5. Joey Thompson Sophomore UNC Greensboro
6. Sean Soderman Sophomore Appalachian State
7. Alec Meyer Senior Appalachian State
All-SoCon First Team Women
1. Brittney Caudle Freshman Appalachian State
2. Chloe Kowalski Sophomore Furman
3. Anneli Uys Junior Chattanooga
4. Hillary Neal Junior Samford
5. Ina Ables Junior Samford
6. Heather Stuive Freshman Chattanooga
7. Caitlin Beeler Senior Elon
All-SoCon Second Team Men
8. Ryan Hopkins Sophomore Davidson
9. Charlie McGoogan Junior Furman
10. Josh Houser Senior Appalachian State
11. Matthew Richardson Junior Elon
12. Josey Weaver Sophomore Western Carolina
13. Stephen Hammond Senior Western Carolina
14. Andy Clyne Junior UNC Greensboro
All-SoCon Second Team Women
8. Sherrika Jordan Senior UNC Greensboro
9. Natalie Atabek Freshman Davidson
10. Emily Fournier Junior Elon
11. Brittany Johnson Senior Furman
12. Danielle Ruggieri Junior Davidson
13. Katie Booker Senior Appalachian State
14. Heather Conarroe Junior Davidson
All-SoCon Freshman Team Men
18. Trey Parker Wofford
19. Burk Staub Appalachian State
21. Nolan Clark Western Carolina
23. Brian Graves Appalachian State
29. Kyle McLarty Chattanooga
30. Demetrios Pagonis Davidson
33. Mark Cole Chattanooga
All-SoCon Freshman Team Women
1. Brittney Caudle Appalachian State
6. Heather Stuive Chattanooga
9. Natalie Atabek Davidson
15. Morgan Denecke Elon
22. Sullivan Parkes Elon
23. Trinity Foreman Appalachian State
24. Mara Smith Western Carolina
Coach of the Year Men
Mike Curcio Appalachian State
Coach of the Year Women
Rod Tiffin Samford
Runner of the Year Men
Emmanuel Kirwa Chattanooga
Runner of the Year Women
Brittney Caudle Appalachian State
Freshman of the Year Men
Trey Parker Wofford
Freshman of the Year Women
Brittney Caudle Appalachian State
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