Lady Mocs Claim SoCon Cross Country Title; Kirwa First in Men's Race

 SPARTANBURG, S.C. --- The Chattanooga women’s cross country team placed all five scoring runners in the Top 20 to edge Samford for the 2008 Southern Conference Cross Country title Saturday morning at Milliken Park in Spartanburg, S.C. Sophomore Emmanuel Kirwa claimed the title in the men’s race as the Mocs finished second.

 

The Lady Mocs held off the conference newcomer, 62-60 to take the team title for the third straight year. Leading the way for the Lady Mocs was sophomore Tara Gietema, who finished fifth in the 5K with a time of 18:04.47 and represented UTC on the All-Conference First Team.

 

“I thought it was going to be this tough. It was a competitive race and it was exciting,” UTC Head Coach Bill Gautier said. “I knew there were two or three teams who could win it and I knew that we were one of those teams. Tara did a great job. She was fourth most of the race and held on.”

 

The women’s race was initially declared a tie between Chattanooga and Samford, but Gautier protested the placement of sophomore Jordyn Radke. After watching the video of the finish, race officials realigned the runners placing Radke 16^th and the Lady Mocs were declared the champions by a two point margin over the Bulldogs.

 

Furman was third with 77 points, Appalachian State was fourth with 93 points and Davidson, who finished second last year, was fifth with 127 points. Elon was sixth followed by Western Carolina and UNC Greensboro. College of Charleston was ninth, The Citadel tied with Georgia Southern for 10^th and Wofford rounded out the field in 12^th place.

 

Senior Katie Williams placed ninth in the race for Chattanooga with a time of 18:22.38 and classmate Sabrina Lefort was 11^th at 18:30.76. Both were named to the All-Conference Second Team. Senior Emily Wood rounded out the scoring for Chattanooga in 19^th place with a time of 18:43.81.

 

“Our seniors really stepped up,” Gautier said. “They showed leadership and maturity and led us to this win. The seniors came through and did what they needed to do today.”

 

Gautier was named the women’s SoCon Coach of the Year for the third straight year and eighth time since arriving at Chattanooga.

 

Furman’s Megan Lordi was the overall winner in the women’s race in a time of 17:22.03 followed by App State’s Meghan Gaffney at 17:37.96. Samford’s Hillary Neal was third overall with a time of 17:41.20.

 

In the men’s race, sophomore transfer Emmanuel Kirwa outdistanced the field to win the 8-kilometer event in a time of 24:35.18. Teammate sophomore Chris Berry was third overall in a time of 24:46.98.

 

“Emmanuel dropped the other runners with about a half mile to go,” Gautier said. “We could have gone one-two in the men’s race, but Chris got out-leaned at the finish line.”

 

Berry, the SoCon Freshman of the Year in 2007, placed third overall, just behind Appalachian State’s Asmeron Desta, as the men finished 17 points behind the Mountaineers who won the title for the third consecutive year.

 

“I thought we had a chance for a while there,” Gautier said. “Emmanuel ran like I knew he was capable of running. I’m so happy he’s in Chattanooga. Chris did a great job, too. I thought we were going to have the top two spots.”

 

Joshue Vasquez was the third finisher for the Mocs in 12^th place with a time of 25:28.83 and was named the league’s Freshman of the Year. He is the second straight Chattanooga runner to earn the honor and fourth all-time. His finish also placed him on the All-Conference Second Team. Vasquez and teammate Matt Baltimore were both named to the All-Freshman Team.

 

The Mountaineers won the race with 40 points to Chattanooga’s 57. Furman was third with 70 points followed by Samford’s 124 while UNC Greensboro placed fifth with 126. Elon was sixth followed by Western Carolina and Davidson while College of Charleston was ninth with The Citadel in 10^th and Wofford in 11^thplace to round out the list.

 

David Moore and Kevin Huwe rounded out the scoring for the Mocs finishing 20^th and 21^st respectively. Moore finished the race in a time of 25:51.54 with Huwe right behind at 25:56.77.

 

This marks the 11^th time in 12 years that the Mocs have placed first or second in the championships and Kirwa is the ninth runner to claim Runner of the Year in that time.

 

Up next for Chattanooga is the NCAA South Region race to be run Saturday, Nov. 15 in at the Lambert Acres Golf Club in Maryville, Tenn.

 

Team Scores – Men

1. Appalachian State      40

2. Chattanooga              57

3. Furman                     70

4. Samford                    124

5. UNC Greensboro        126

6. Elon                          132

7. Western Carolina       197

8. Davidson                   198

9. Coll. of Charleston      275

10. The Citadel              286

11. Wofford                    342

 

Team Scores – Women

1. Chattanooga              60

2. Samford                    62

3. Furman                     77

4. Appalachian State      93

5. Davidson                   127

6. Elon                          150

7. Western Carolina       158

8. UNC Greensboro        203

9. Colle. of Charleston    216

10. The Citadel              317

10. Georgia Southern     317

12. Wofford                    384

 

All-SoCon First Team – Men

1. Emmanuel Kirwa – So. – Chattanooga

2. Asmeron Desta – Sr. – Appalachian State

3. Chris Berry – So. – Chattanooga

4. Patrick Morgan – Sr. – Furman

5. Phil Mitchell – Jr. – Appalachian State

6. Cameron Bean – Sr. – Samford

7. Alex Plasencia – Sr. – Furman

 

All-SoCon First Team – Women

1. Megan Lordi – Jr. – Furman

2. Meghan Gaffney – Gr. – Appalachian State

3. Hillary Neal – So. – Samford

4. Sherrika Jordan – Jr. – UNC Greensboro 

5. Tara Gietema – So. – Chattanooga

6. Andrea Seccafien – Fr. – Samford

7. Emily Fourier – So. – Elon

 

All-SoCon Second Team – Men

8. Charlie McGoogan – So. – Furman

9. Ryan O’Keefe – Sr. – Appalachian State

10. Josh Houser – Jr. – Appalachian State

11. Lance Harden – Sr. – Davidson

12. Joshue Vasquez – Fr. – Chattanooga

13. Jermaine Coore – Fr. – UNC Greensboro

14. Alec Meyer – Jr. – Appalachian State

 

All-SoCon Second Team – Women

8. Caroline Sanker – Sr. – Davidson

9. Katie Williams – Sr. – Chattanooga

10. Chloe Kowalski – Fr. – Furman 

11. Sabrina LeFort – Sr. – Chattanooga

12. Brittany Johnson – Jr. – Furman

13. Hannah Parks – Sr. – Appalachian State

14. Deanna Zidar – Fr. – Samford

 

All-SoCon Freshman Team – Men

12. Joshue Vasquez – Chattanooga

13. Jermaine Coore – UNC Greensboro

15. Sean Soderman – Appalachian State

17. Zachary Flickinger – Furman

18. Joey Thompson – UNC Greensboro

29. Matt Baltimore – Chattanooga

32. Josey Weaver – Western Carolina

 

All-SoCon Freshman Team – Women

6.   Andrea Seccafien – Samford

10. Chloe Kowalski – Furman 

14. Deanna Zidar – Samford

23. Melanie Reyer – Elon

24. Cori Christensen – Samford

26. Erin Barker – Furman           

32. Meredith White – Chattanooga

 

Coach of the Year – Men

Mike Curcio – Appalachian State

 

Coach of the Year – Women

Bill Gautier – Chattanooga

 

Runner of the Year – Men

Emmanuel Kirwa – Chattanooga 

 

Runner of the Year – Women

Megan Lordi – Furman

 

Freshman of the Year – Men

Joshue Vasquez – Chattanooga

 

Freshman of the Year – Women

Andrea Seccafien – Samford