Mars Hill Men’s Cross Country Team Advances To National Championship With Third-Place Finish At Southeast Region Meet
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Justin Gragg posted the fastest time in South Atlantic Conference history, and the Mars Hill men's cross country team placed placed third in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional 10k at McAlpine Park. The team advances to the National Championship meet for the second consecutive season.
Gragg finished sixth overall in a time of 31:11.5.
Trey McCain placed second on the team and 13th overall. His time in the meet was 32:09.2, which ranks as the third fastest time in conference history.
Aaron Thomas rounded out the top three Mars Hill finishers. He came in 26th overall in a time of 32:53.6.
Queens and Columbus State finished as the top two teams in the region and also advance to the National Championshop meet.
The men's 10-kilometer race saw 164 runners on 25 different teams compete.
The Lions will compete for the top spot in the nation on December 4 in Louisville, Ky.
Tusculum College senior Simon Holzapfel capped his distinguished cross country career with a 10th-place finish.
Holzapfel crossed the line in a time of 31:35.3 over the 10-kilometer course to capture first-team All-Region honors for the third straight year.
Despite his 10th-place finish, Holzapfel will not qualify for the NCAA Division II Championships as fourth-place finisher Pardon Ndhlovu of UNC Pembroke and eighth-place finisher Fidelis Mutiso of Clayton State snagged the two individual qualifying berths to nationals. The remaining top 10 finishers all earned automatic berths to nationals by being members of one of the three qualifying teams - regional champion Queens University of Charlotte, runner-up Columbus State and third-place Mars Hill.
Sophomore Ryan Badertscher (Marion, Ohio) finished in 104th place in the field of 164 runners with a time of 36:13.2, while in the women's 6-kilometer race Pioneer sophomore Jenny Grant (Franklin, Tenn.) took 151st out of 188 entrants with a time of 27:45.8.
Holzapfel (Nuremburg, Germany) won his second consecutive South Atlantic Conference individual championship last month, and is the first Tusculum male runner to be recognized as All-Region. He was victorious in each of the first six races in which he competed this season, and finished his career with 16 wins. Most impressively, Holzapfel closed his career with a streak of 21 consecutive top-10 finishes, a run that spanned three seasons.
Lenoir-Rhyne University finished seventh out of 25 teams and was led by junior Jakob Maidens (Lebanon, Va.). Maidens ran the 10K course in 33:06 and placed 27th overall while sophomore Zack Queen (Gastonia, N.C.) finished 32nd with a 33:19.
The Wingate University men's cross country team finished 13th overall in the team standings with 346 points. The Bulldogs were paced by sophomore Andrew Smith, who finished 47th overall by completing the course in 33:52. Freshmen Binyam Belachew (55th overall, 34:09.9) and Steve Hammond (63rd overall, 34:20.4) were next for Wingate.
Freshman Max Courtney came in fourth on the team and 89th overall in 35:42.5. Wingate junior Ryan Burris rounded out the scoring for the Bulldogs by finishing fifth on the team and 99th overall in 36:07.4. Freshman James Lawson (103rd overall, 36:12.4) came across the line next to give Wingate four freshmen in its top six. Graduate student R.J. Voestch completed his Wingate career by finishing 140th overall in 39:02.2.
The Catawba men placed 18th. Sophomore Christian Crifasi (Ramseur, NC/E. Randolph HS) had the best finish for a Catawba runner as he came across the line 39th in the men's 10k. He clocked in with a time of 33:37, which is the second-fastest time in school history. Sophomore Justin Smith's (Greensboro, NC/Ragsdale HS) time of 34:28 ranks as the fifth-best as he finished 67th.
The Lincoln Memorial University men's cross country team finished 19th. Junior Derrick Lindsay paced the Railsplitters with a 36th place finish as he crossed the finish line in a time of 33:28.4, while redshirt-sophomore Reid Ailey turned in a time of 36:22.8 to finish 109th. Shane Curtsinger (36:30.6) finished 114th, David Maldonado (37:49.6) was 130th, Winston Kelley (41:26.5) was 154th and Aaron Morris (44:44.7) was 162nd. Justin Patel rounded out the Railsplitter harriers with his 50:48.4 time, placing him at 164th.
Carson-Newman turned in a 20th place finish. Senior Jonathan Madden (Franklin, Tenn.) paced the Eagles with a 72nd place finish as he crossed the finish line in a time of 34:45, while freshman Tyler Moore (Arab, Ala.) turned in a time of 35:19.7 to finish 79th.