CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Chattanooga women’s cross country team, led by senior Kathleen Turchin, claimed top honors Saturday morning at the Southern Conference Championships on the Western Carolina campus is Cullowhee, N.C. The Mocs, led by senior Michael Mentz, finished second behind Appalachian State. UTC head coach Bill Gautier was named the league Women’s Coach of the Year for the sixth time.
“We had some people really come through,” Gautier said. “Kathleen is a very talented runner and we knew if we could get her to the line, she’d have a great chance to win it.”
Turchin, a cross country All-American, claimed SoCon Runner of the Year honors finishing first on the 5K course in a personal best time of 17:30.35. The Sugar Hill, Ga., native finished seven seconds ahead of Davidson’s Caroline Sanker and nearly half a minute up on Appalachian State’s Jennifer Povick at 17:59.84. UTC junior Katie Williams was the second Lady Mocs’ finisher at sixth in a time of 18:19.88 while Shelley Taylor (sophomore) and Jordan Radke (freshman) finished 10th and 11th respectively. Freshman Tara Gietma rounded out the scoring for Chattanooga at 16th with a time of 18:40.65.
“I was really impressed with Katie Williams and Shelley Taylor stepped up and made All-Conference,” Gautier said. “Jordyn (Radke) and Tara (Gietma) really stepped up.”
The women’s team finished first with a score of 44 followed by Davidson at 53 and Furman with 83 points.
On the men’s side, freshman Chris Berry claimed the league’s Freshman of the Year honors with a fourth place finish in his first-ever league championships with a time of 25:19.66 over the 6K course. He finished just behind Mentz at 25:18.86, who was third behind Appalachian State’s Brian Deal and Furman’s Patrick Morgan. David Moore was Chattanooga’s third finisher at 25:54.09 in the 14th spot, while Tim Clark was 17th (26:01.40) and Blake Ketron was 21st in a time of 26:16.95.
“Appalachian State is really tough and we’re down right now,” Gautier said. “The guys did really well and three freshman finished in our top five.”
Appalachian State repeated as the men’s champions with eight runners in the top 11 spots for 27 points. Deal was named the SoCon men’s Runner of the Year while Furman’s Jenna Callahan was the women’s Freshman of the Year. The Mocs placed second with 56 points and Furman’s 86 was good for third.
“We excited right now and we’re going to enjoy this for the next couple of weeks,” Gautier said.
The NCAA South Region meet will be hosted by the University of Floriday Saturday, Nov. 10 in Gainesville.
All-Conference:
Men
Michael Mentz
Chris Berry – Freshman of the Year
Women
Kathleen Turchin – Runner of the Year
Katie Williams
Shelley Taylor
Anne C. Wehunt
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Women's Sports Information Director
McKenzie Arena, Room 132
615 McCallie Ave, Dept. 3503
Chattanooga, TN 37403
(423) 425-4618
(423) 425-4610 - fax