Wingate, N.C.---The South Atlantic Conference member schools gathered on a crisp autumn Saturday morning to decide the 2010 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference cross country championships. With the addition of Anderson University to the conference this season, the SAC includes 10 institutions for the first time in its history. AU would make an immediate impact on the balance of power within the conference XC programs.
 
Men's 8K

The men’s conference championship was decided first. Mars Hill took its 14th consecutive team title, finishing with 51 points. Lenoir-Rhyne edged out Anderson for second place as the Bears compiled 70 points to the Trojans’ 73 points. Wingate finished fourth as a team with 86 points. Catawba came in fifth with 182 points and the Indians were followed by Lincoln Memorial (187 points), Brevard (193 points), Tusculum (211 points), Carson-Newman (215 points) and Newberry (219 points).

Tusculum College’s Simon Hozapfel won his second consecutive individual conference title, running Wingate’s 8K course with a TC school record time of 25:04. Hozapfel also doubled by securing the SAC Scholar-Athlete Award for men’s cross country for the second straight year.

Hozapfel was followed across the finish line by the Mars Hill trio of Justin Gragg (second overall, 25:28), Trey McCain (third, 25:36) and Aaron Thomas (fourth, 25:58). Lenoir-Rhyne’s Jakob Maidens edged out Wingate’s Steve Hammond for fifth overall, with both runners finishing with a time of 26:01. Hammond was the top freshman finisher; he was named Freshman of the Year during the awards ceremony following the race. The top seven runners were named to first team All-SAC. L-R runner Tyler Mooney rounded out the group by finishing in 26:04.

Wingate and Anderson each placed two runners on the All-SAC second team list. Binyam Ateka Belachew came across the line eighth overall in 26:15 and Andrew Smith placed 12th overall in 26:28 for the Bulldogs. The Trojans of AU were led by Nigel Reynolds in ninth place (26:16) and Kyle Koby in 13th place (26:30). The All-SAC second team honorees were rounded out by Catawba’s Christian Crifasi (10th overall, 26:20), LMU’s Derrick Lindsay (11th, 26:23), and Mars Hill’s Eric Blackburn (14th, 26:31).

James Lawson placed fourth for Wingate and 26th overall, finishing in 27:18. R.J. Voetsch finished fifth for the Bulldogs and 35th overall in 27:49. He was followed closely by Ryan Burris (37th overall, 27:53). Hillary Maiyo rounded out the top seven for Wingate, as the sophomore came across 43rd overall with a time of 28:37.

Anderson’s arrival at its first SAC cross country championship seemed to immediately raise the level of competition. At the 2009 SAC championship meet in Newton, N.C., only two male runners finished the 8K championship race at Southside Park, a course comprised of fairly flat terrain, in less than 26:30. Twelve male runners would accomplish that feat on Saturday morning at Wingate’s cross country facility, a course that contains more hills and tougher terrain.

Women's 5K

The women’s championship got underway at 10:15 a.m. Anderson would capture the team championship, finishing with 47 points. Lenoir-Rhyne, 2009 women’s XC champs, followed in second place with 53 points. Wingate tallied 81 points to finish in third place, followed by Mars Hill (120 points), Carson-Newman (127 points) and Catawba (151 points) in the four through six positions. The field was rounded out by Lincoln Memorial (181 points), Brevard (194 points), Tusculum (255 points) and Newberry (281 points).

After Whitney Bishoff of Anderson and Kate Griewisch of Lenoir-Rhyne shared SAC Runner of the Week honors during the regular season, Bishoff edged Griewisch in a tight race to take the individual title with a 5K course time of 18:10. Griewisch, who won her second consecutive SAC Scholar-Athlete Award, finished with a time of 18:12. Anderson freshman Lydia Davis finished third overall in 19:27 to take Freshman of the Year and All-SAC first team honors. The first team was rounded out by Cassie Adamson of Mars Hill (fourth overall, 19:30), Angela Canale of Brevard (fifth,19:31), Keeley Wood of Wingate (sixth, 19:45) and Amanda Barnes of Lenoir-Rhyne (seventh, 20:16).

The All-SAC second team awards were handed out to runners finishing in eighth through fourteenth positions. Anderson’s Emily Eckroth and Madeline Fitts finished back-to-back in eighth and ninth positions (20:23 and 20:24), respectively. L-R junior Tiffany Payne came across tenth overall in 20:28. Wingate’s Alicia Harbold finished her SAC championship competition by garnering All-SAC honors for her 11th-place finish as the senior completed the course in 20:32. The All-SAC second team honorees are rounded out by LMU’s Fiona Reinecke (12th overall, 20:36) and Catawba runners Olivia Myers (13th, 20:44) and Peyton Thompson (14th, 20:48).

For Wingate, freshman Brianna Stevens finished third on the team and 17th overall in 20:57. Macy Adkins (23rd overall, 21:13), Lindsey Lippencott (24th, 21:19) and Melanie Wollenberg (25th, 21:21) came across the line in order for the ‘Dogs. Wingate’s top seven was completed when Taylor Varnadoe finished 37th overall with a time of 22:18.

The top five freshmen in each race were named to the 2010 All-Freshman team. On the men’s side, Steve Hammond, Binyam Ateka Belachew, Kyle Koby and Anderson’s Park Edwards and Will Belue were named to the team. After the women’s race, Lydia Davis, Angela Canale, Keeley Wood, Madeline Fitts and Olivia Myers were named to the All-Freshman team.

(Wingate University senior Daniel Smith contributed this article. Smith is a Parks and Recreation major from Oakboro, N.C.)

Men's Results (PDF)
Men's Results (HTML)
Women's Results (PDF)
Women's Results (HTML)