SAC Cross Country Teams Compete In NCAA Championship
JOPLIN, MO - The Mars Hill College men's cross country team finished 23rd, while the Wingate University women's team finished 24th at the NCAA national championships on Saturday at Missouri Southern State University.
Mars Hill's Dustin Whitlow (Ashburn, VA) led Mars Hill in 65th place in the 10K event with a time of 32:35.6. That time was the third fastest 10K time in Mars Hill school history.
Following Whitlow was Winston Curry (Roanoke, VA) in 106th place, Kit Powell (Antigo, WI) in 144th place, Trey McCain (Leesville, SC) in 147th place, William Mikolajczak (Triangle, VA) in 149th place, Justin Baker (Raleigh, NC) in 151st place and Aaron Thomas (Seminole, FL) in 162nd place.
The Wingate University women were making their second team appearance at the championship meet.
The Bulldog women's team placed 24th overall on the 6K cross country course. South Atlantic Conference Freshman of the Year Andrea Criscio (Westfield, Mass.) was the first to finish for the Bulldogs with a time of 24:31. Criscio placed 164th overall in the competition. Freshman Alicia Harbold (Ephrata, Pa.) and senior Laura Berry (Raleigh, N.C.) finished 174th and 175th with times of 24:54 and 24:57, respectively.
Wingate junior Ashley Hubbard (Piney Flats, Tenn.) completed the course with a time of 25:09, good enough for 178th overall. Bulldog junior Lindsey Roycraft (Tamarac, Fla.) was Wingate's final runner to earn points, as she placed 182nd overall with a time of 25:29.
Bulldog junior Amber Hines (Little Mountain, S.C.) valiantly battled to place 187th with a time of 26:00. Wingate sophomore Jen Bossi (Bristol, Conn.) clocked a time of 26:54 to place 188th. All total, 189 runners completed the women's 6K course at the NCAA Division II national championship meet.
On the men's side, Wingate's Jayce Watson (Millersport, Ohio) finished 67th (out of 187 runners) in the 10K race with a time of 32:18. Representing the Bulldogs as the 2007 South Atlantic Conference Runner of the Year, Watson was making his second appearance as an individual at nationals.
For the second year in a row, Watson placed second in the Southeast Regional race to earn his spot at nationals. He is a three-time All-SAC and All-Southeast Region performer.
In the women's race, SAC Runner of the Year Aubrey Morris from Carson-Newman finished 95th with a time of 22:51.6. Lenoir-Rhyne's Genna Eisenmann finished 150th overall with a time of 24:00.9.