St. Andrews men's runners starts season with a fourth place finish

September 8, 2007

Men's 8K results
Photo Gallery

SPARTANBURG, S.C.—St. Andrews Presbyterian College had three of the top 15 NCAA Division II finishers to post a fourth place finish out of 17 schools in the men’s collegiate 8K race at the 2007 Eye Opener Cross Country Meet at the Roger Milliken Research Park on Saturday morning.

Junior Mitch Cooper (Virginia Beach, Va.) led the Knights with a top-10 finish out of 177 runners. Cooper, the reigning conference Runner of the Year, was the fourth fastest D-II runner with a blazing time of 26:26 and under a minute away from the individual race champion.

St. Andrews scored just 38 points out of first place in fourth position with a very young roster that gained valuable experience in the first race of 2007. The Knights competed with a roster that includes three freshman and no seniors in their top seven runners.

Pedro Tapia Jr. (Sanford, N.C.) had a top-20 result overall to start his sophomore season. Tapia’s 5-mile time of 27:15 was also good for a top-10 finish out of Division II entrants.

In his first collegiate race, Doug Holt (Toms River, N.J.) was the fastest Conference Carolinas freshman harrier in the competition. Holt crossed the finish line in 28th place with a speed of 27:35. Classmate Josh Pickett (Asheville, N.C.) was the next Knight to stop the clock in 55th place at 28:37.

Junior Perry Morris (Austin, Texas) rounded out St. Andrews top-five scoring runners at 29:22.

Sophomore James Lloyd (Lusby, Md.) and freshman Tommy Wilson (Salisbury, Md.) had solid performances in their first races of the year finishing just five seconds apart with times of 29:33 and 29:38, respectively. Sophomore Brad McKee (Kings Mountain, N.C.) followed at 30:20 and senior Patrick Hogan (Denton, N.C.) concluded the Knights running at 32:50.

St. Andrews will next compete in the 2007 Wingate University Invitational on Saturday, September 15. The men’s 10,000-kilometer race begins at 10:00 a.m.

SAPC Individual Results
9. Mitch Cooper (26:26)
20. Pedro Tapia Jr. (27:15)
28. Doug Holt (27:35)
55. Josh Pickett (28:37)
74. Perry Morris (29:22)
78. James Lloyd (29:33)
79. Tommy Wilson (29:38)
88. Brad McKee (30:20)
131. Patrick Hogan (32:50)