September 5, 2008

Complete Results
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LUMBERTON, N.C.—Senior Mitch Cooper (Virginia Beach, Va.) and junior Pedro Tapia Jr. (Sanford, N.C.) finished first and second, respectively, to lead the St. Andrews Presbyterian College men’s cross country team to the team title at the 57th annual UNC Pembroke Invitational at Luther Britt Park on Friday evening.

The Knights were a late entry in the UNCP Invite after the Seahawk Invitational hosted by UNC Wilmington was postponed due to the inclement weather forecast caused by Tropical Storm Hanna. SAPC last competed in the UNC Pembroke in 2005, also winning the team title that year.

Cooper won the individual title finishing the unique four-mile distance race at Luther Britt Park Course with a smoking time of 21:02.41. Tapia was just five seconds behind Cooper with a blazing time of 21:07.63, as the Knights harriers swept the top-two individual medals. Cooper has now won three individual titles while wearing a Royal Blue and White uniform including the 2006 Wingate Invite and the 2006 CVAC Championships.

“I was glad the rain held off for the men’s race,” said Cooper. “It was a good race all-in-all, with Pedro [Tapia] and I working off each other and winning the meet.”

The Knights, ranked No. 5 in the Southeast Region, dominated the seven team field winning the UNCP Invite with 39 points. NC Central finished second with 65 points and NCAA Division I Winston Salem State University followed in third with 75 points. SAPC finished ahead of Southeast Region rivals UNC Pembroke, Coker College, and Mount Olive College.

“It was nice to have our top-five in the top-15 but we still have a lot of hard work ahead of us,” commented Cooper.

The St. Andrews men’s team victory was the first coaching win for first year head coach Jim Walters.

A trio of sophomore Knights followed Cooper and Tapia to complete the team scoring for St. Andrews. James Walls (Bear Creek, N.C.) posted a top-10 finish in his first collegiate race. Walls crossed the finish line in 22:33.27 for a ninth place result. Classmates Doug Holt (Toms River, N.J.) and Josh Pickett (Asheville, N.C.) finished 12th and 15th, respectively, with speeds of 22:58.88 and 23:12.24.

St. Andrews concluded the meet with seven total runners finishing in the top-20 out of 51 entrants. Junior Brad McKee (Kings Mountain, N.C.) took 18th place with a time of 24:04.36 while sophomore Tommy Wilson (Salisbury, N.C.) was next in 19th place at 24:17.53.

A total of 11 Knights competed in the event. Other results included junior James Lloyd (Lusby, Md.) crossing the finish line in 25:08.20 and senior Patrick Hogan (Denton, N.C.) clocking in at 25:43.35. In their first ever race for SAPC, sophomore Jon Lecker (Minneola, Fla.) took 25:56.17 and senior John Coppolo (Saranac Lake, N.Y.) concluded at 27:53.40.

St. Andrews next competes in the Limestone Invitational in Gaffney, S.C. on Saturday, September 20 at 8:30 a.m.