Spartanburg, SC --- Mitch Cooper of St. Andrews Presbyterian College ran a 26:07 to claim his first CVAC Cross Country Championship this morning at Milliken Corporate Park in Spartanburg, SC.  Anderson University edged out St. Andrews for the team title. 

 

Despite having four of the top six runners, St. Andrews was unable to claim first place in the event.  Anderson University scored 56 points to beat the Knights by 5 points.  The Trojans’ Nate Parson led the way for Anderson with a second place finish.  The top five runners for the Trojans finished in the top 16.

 

David Green of Coker completed the 8K race in 26:21, four seconds behind Parson.  The St. Andrews trio of Tim Bourke, Pedro Tapia, and Ryan Janes finished fourth, fifth, and sixth respectively.  The top six runners eclipsed the 27 minute mark.

 

Race winner Mitch Cooper said, “The course was a little wet, but the loops of the course made it easy for the coaches to get around.  That was a big help for me.”  Cooper, who was three seconds shy of his personal best, also added, “The faster you run, the sooner you get done.”  Cooper was able to run 9 seconds faster then his closet opponent. 

 

“Mitch is the type of kid who will lay it on the line and get it done.  He ran very well today,” said St. Andrews coach Gary Aycock of his sophomore leader.

 

Coker College finished seven points behind St. Andrews.  Lees-McRae College claimed fourth place with 87 points.  The top five was rounded out by Queens College who was 23 points behind the Bobcats.  Limestone, Erskine, and Pfeiffer finished sixth, seventh, and eighth respectively.  Belmont Abbey and Mount Olive completed the 10 team field.

 

“The CVAC is becoming a very strong conference,” mentioned Coach Aycock.  “Teams that were at the bottom and middle of the conference in the pre-season, ran very well this year.  It is a very promising future for the conference and the Southeast region.”

 

2006 CVAC Men Cross Country All-Conference Awards

1st Team

Mitch Cooper – St. Andrews

Nate Parson – Anderson

David Green – Coker

Tim Bourke – St. Andrews

Pedro Tapia – St. Andrews

 

2nd Team

Ryan Janes – St. Andrews

Chris Holstein – Lees-McRae

Nathan Hanson – Coker

Jorn Gjul – Queens

Brent Clausing – Limestone

 

Honorable Mention

Jason Bryan – Anderson

Jeremy Hunsaker – Anderson

Philipe Araujo – Queens

Josh Blanc – Lees-McRae

Ethan Schaffner – Anderson

 

Freshman of the Year

Pedro Tapia – St. Andrews

 

Coach of the Year

Randy Greer – Anderson

 

Runner of the Year

Mitch Cooper – St. Andrews

 

CVAC Men’s Results:

Cross Country Championship

   Event 2  Men 8k Run CC

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    Name                    Year School                Avg Mile     Finals  Points

==================================================================================

  1 Cooper, Mitch             SO St. Andrews             5:15.4   26:07.67    1

  2 Parsons, Nate             SO Anderson                5:17.2   26:16.82    2

  3 Green, David              SR Coker                   5:18.1   26:21.06    3

  4 Bourke, Tim               SR St. Andrews             5:20.5   26:33.11    4

  5 Tapia, Pedro              FR St. Andrews             5:20.7   26:34.18    5

  6 Janes, Ryan               FR St. Andrews             5:25.0   26:55.22    6

  7 Holstein, Chris           FR Lees-McRae              5:27.1   27:05.98    7

  8 Hanson, Nathan            SR Coker                   5:27.3   27:06.87    8

  9 Gjul, Jorn                FR Queens                  5:29.2   27:16.21    9

 10 Clausing, Brent           JR Limestone               5:29.4   27:17.47   10

 11 Bryan, Jason              JR Anderson                5:29.8   27:19.32   11

 12 Hunsaker, Jeremy          SO Anderson                5:30.6   27:23.06   12

 13 Araujo, Philipe           JR Queens                  5:30.8   27:24.04   13

 14 Blanc, Josh               SO Lees-McRae              5:31.4   27:27.37   14

 15 Schaffner, Ethan          JR Anderson                5:31.8   27:29.02   15

 16 Jordan, Alex              FR Anderson                5:32.4   27:31.92   16

 17 Bernal, Jon               FR Lees-McRae              5:33.5   27:37.62   17

 18 Carroll, Tyler            SR Coker                   5:33.7   27:38.59   18

 19 Green, Adam               SO Coker                   5:33.9   27:39.79   19

 20 Githinji, Samuel          FR Coker                   5:34.2   27:41.02   20

 21 Groblewski, Adam          FR Erskin                  5:34.5   27:42.65   21

 22 Winner, Cory              JR Barton                  5:34.7   27:43.54

 23 Boyers, Chris             JR Queens                  5:35.6   27:48.11   22

 24 Sell, John                SR Erskin                  5:37.3   27:56.32   23

 25 Haitema, Ransom           SO Barton                  5:38.4   28:01.87

 26 Beaman, Cody              FR Lees-McRae              5:38.8   28:04.04   24

 27 Chavira, Jose             FR Lees-McRae              5:39.8   28:09.08   25

 28 Tyndall, Matt             SO Pfeiffer                5:40.1   28:10.21   26

 29 Montangna, Dino           JR Limestone               5:40.3   28:11.25   27

 30 McKeone, Zach             FR Limestone               5:40.7   28:13.60   28

 31 Sell, Joe                 FR Erskin                  5:41.7   28:18.51   29

 32 Beytagh, Logan            JR Belmont Abbey           5:43.2   28:25.97   30

 33 Atkinson, Matt            JR Anderson                5:44.6   28:32.72   31