Carson-Newman Women’s Cross Country Claims Second, Men Fifth at SAC Championship

Women's Results
Men's Results

NEWTON, N.C. – The Carson-Newman women’s cross country team finished second at the 2009 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Cross Country Championship on Saturday morning at Southside Park.

The Lady Eagles finished the day with 47 points and had five runners garner All-SAC honors.

“Today was all about having our best performances and we accomplished everything we set out to do, short of the women winning,” C-N head coach Whitney Lee said. “I’m so proud of how we represented Carson-Newman College today.”

Lady Eagle freshman Meredith Nix (Walhalla, S.C.) led the way by finishing third with a time of 20:22.15. Nix’s finish earned her SAC Freshman of the Year honors.

“Meredith ran a great race,” Lee said. “She made some key moves in the race to get up to that 3rd position.”

Freshman Brooke Earhart (Dickson, Tenn.) placed seventh with a time of 20:55.66 to earn first team All-SAC honors. Melissa Ford (Richmond, Va.) crossed the finish line in 11th place with a time of 21:11.49 and Catelyn Dake (Knoxville, Tenn.) finished 12th with a time of 21:17.43 to earn second team All-SAC honors. Cara Hawkins (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) also garnered second team honors by claiming 14th with a time of 21:36.94.

Lenoir-Rhyne won the women’s meet behind a first-place finish from sophomore Kate Griewisch with a time of 18:27, which was one minute and 48 seconds better than second-place finisher Sofia Lopez Mimendi from Lincoln Memorial University.

Joining Griewisch and Mimendi on the All-SAC first team Catawba College’s Maleah Cole and Lenoir-Rhyne’s Tiffany Payne and Alyssa Lowe.

The All-SAC second team included Wingate University’s Brittany Vish and Alicia Harbold, Lenoir-Rhyne’s Liz Chaffee and Lincoln Memorial’s Fiona Reinecke.

Joining Nix on the 2009 South Atlantic Conference All-Freshman Team were Earhart, Chaffee, Lincoln Memorial’s Ashley Robbins and Wingate’s Melanie Wollenberg.

Lenoir-Rhyne’s Jason Stewart was named South Atlantic Conference Coach Of The Year for the second year in a row while Griewisch was the 2009 South Atlantic Conference Women’s Cross Country Scholar-Athlete Of The Year.

In the men’s event, the Eagles claimed fifth place behind an 18th place finish by Jonathan Madden (Franklin, Tenn.), who completed the course in a time of 28:14.85.

“We did it on the efforts of four season-best performances,” Lee said. “I couldn’t be more excited for the way our men have progressed this year and for what they did today. I’m especially thrilled to see continued improvement in our SAC result year by year.”

Kody Pierson (Middleton, Ohio) grabbed 28th with a time of 28:59.88, while Kent Pierson (Middleton, Ohio) (29:46.21) and Wyatt Miles (Long Island, Va.) (29:48.78) finished 35th and 36th, respectively. Justin Browning (Madisonville, Tenn.) grabbed 49th with a time of 31:47.14.

“Kody, Kent, Wyatt and Justin all had season-best performances,” Lee said. “It was truly gratifying to have the guys see all the training prove itself and to meet the expectations of the pre-season SAC poll that predicted us 5th.”

Mars Hill won its 13th straight league championship. The Lions had three of the top four runners overall and has now won every conference championship dating back to 1997.

Tusculum College’s Simon Holzapfel claimed the individual title after running the 8K course in 25:53.

Joining Holzapfel on the All-SAC first team were Mars Hill’s Kit Powell, Justin Gragg, and Trey McCain, Lenoir-Rhyne University’s Tyler Mooney, Catawba College’s Christian Crifasi and Mars Hill’s Aaron Thomas.

The All-SAC second team consists of Wingate University’s Tesfom Mehari, Lenoir-Rhyne’s Jakob Maidens, Wingate’s Doug Coats, Mars Hill’s Eric Blackburn, Wingate’s David Sanctis, Lenoir-Rhyne’s Ryan Patrick and Brevard College’s Matt Crowe.

Crifasi was named the 2009 SAC Men’s Cross Country Freshman Runner of the Year after a sixth-place finish. He was joined on the All-Freshman team by Blackburn, Ryan, Crowe and Lenoir-Rhyne’s Zack Queen.

Mike Owens of Mars Hill was named the 2009 SAC Men’s Cross Country Coach Of The Year. He wins the award for the 14th consecutive year. Holzapfel was selected the South Atlantic Conference Men’s Cross Country Scholar-Athlete Of The Year for 2009.