CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The Chattanooga women’s cross country team edged Auburn by four points on a humid Friday afternoon to claim the 2008 PowerAde title. The Auburn men swept the top four spots to cruise to a top place finish past Alabama.
The Lady Mocs placed all five scoring runners in the top 10 for a team score of 34 points and Auburn was second with 38 points. Kennesaw State placed third with 64 points andJacksonville State was fourth with 113 team points. West Georgia was sixth followed by Tennessee State.
Auburn placed three runners in the top 10 led by Hollie Knight’s top place finish in a time of 10:56 over the two-mile course. The Tigers’ Laurel Pritchard was third with a time of 11:29 and Amber Riley was sixth at 11:22.
Chattanooga was paced by sophomore Tara Gietema in second with a time of 11:22. Senior Sabrina Lefort was fifth overall at 11:36 while sophomore Jordyn Radke (11:54), senior Katie Williams (12:10) and sophomore Meredith White (12:13) were eighth, ninth and 10th respectively.
Kennesaw State’s Mackenzie Howe was fourth in a time of 11:31 and rounding out the top 10 was Jacksonville State’s Lesley Binning at 11:48.
In the men’s race, Auburn swept the top four spots to win the PowerAde title with 18 points. The next closest score was 66 by Alabama followed by Kennesaw State’s 91 andChattanooga’s 119. West Georgia was fifth overall followed by Jacksonville State and Mercer.
Elkanah Kibet outpaced the field with a time of 14:49 in the 5-kilometer race. Teammate Girma Mecheso was five seconds behind. The Tigers’ Scott Novack was third with a time of 15:22 followed by Julian Matthews at 15:31. Auburn’s fifth scoring runner was Jeff Sanders who finished eighth in the scoring in a time of 16:02.
Chattanooga finished fourth overall and was paced by sophomore transfer Emmanuel Kirwa in fifth place with a time of 15:40. Senior Kevin Huwe was second for the Mocs in 16thplace at 16:23 with sophomore Matt Balitmore finished in the 20 spot for UTC. Andy Highlander and Blake Ketron rounded out the scoring for Chattanooga.
Alabama’s Zac Edwards was sixth overall at 15:45. Kennesaw State’s Scott Burley (15:57) and Piotr Witzack (16:03) were seventh and ninth respectively to round out the top 10 place finishers.
TEAM SCORING
Women
1. Chattanooga 34 – 2, 5, 8, 9, 10 (14)
Tara Gietema, Sabrina Lefort, Jordyn Radke, Katie Williams, Meredith White, Emily Wood
2. Auburn 38 – 1, 3, 6, 12, 16
3. Kennesaw State 64 – 4, 11, 13, 17, 19 (25) (26)
4. Jacksonville State 113 – 7, 18, 20, 28, 40 (41)
5. West Georgia 118 – 15, 21, 23, 29, 30 (32) (34)
6. Mercer 140 – 22, 24, 27, 31, 36 (39) (42)
7. Tennessee State 186 – 33, 35, 37, 38, 43 (44) (45)
Men
1. Auburn 18 – 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 (11) (17)
2. Alabama 66 – 6, 10, 13, 14, 23 (29) (38)
3. Kennesaw State 91 – 7, 9, 18, 26, 31 (32) (42)
4. Chattanooga 104 – 5, 16, 20, 28, 35 (36)
Emmanuel Kirwa, Kevin Huwe, Matt Baltimore, Andy Highlander, Blake Ketron, Michael
Danehy
5. West Georgia 119 – 19, 21, 22, 24, 33 (40) (46)
6. Jacksonville State 133 – 12, 15, 27, 34, 45 (47) (48)
7. Mercer 172 – 25, 30, 37, 39, 41 (43) (44)
