October 11, 2008

Complete Results
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ANDERSON, S.C.—Senior Mitch Cooper (Virginia Beach, Va.) win his third individual title this season winning the men’s 8k race at the Anderson University Invitational leading the St. Andrews Presbyterian College cross country team to a third place finish.

Senior Mitch Cooper (pictured) won the 2008 Anderson Invitational with a season-best time of 25:55.4 on Saturday.

Cooper finished ahead of 48 other runners to win his third first place trophy of his senior season. Cooper also won the UNC Pembroke Invitational and Belmont Abbey Invitational individual titles.

Cooper sped across the 8k finish line with the only sub-26 time in the field. Cooper’s time of 25:55.4 was a season-best as he finished ahead of the pack.

Two other Knights provided top-10 finishes for St. Andrews including junior Pedro Tapia Jr. (Sanford, N.C.) in fourth and sophomore Doug Holt (Toms River, N.J.) in 10th. Tapia posted a season-best time of 26:34.5 while Holt traversed the course in 27:29.2.

The Knights gutted out a third place finish out of seven teams even though they have been battling against injuries and illness. SAPC, ranked No. 5 in the Southeast Region, picked up four wins on the morning against regional foes Anderson University, Coker College, UNC Pembroke, and Newberry College.

Sophomore Josh Pickett (Asheville, N.C.) was in the upper half of the field taking 23rd overall stopping the clock in 29:23.4. Junior James Lloyd (Lusby, Md.) capped the Knights scoring in 28th with a time of 29:57.3.

The Knights men’s team also saw four other harriers compete at Anderson, as senior Patrick Hogan (Denton, N.C.), sophomore James Walls (Bear Creek, N.C.), and junior Brad McKee (Kings Mountain, N.C.) took 30th (30:23.2), 31st (30:23.2), and 32nd overall (30:36.4), respectively. Sophomore Tommy Wilson (Salisbury, N.C.) concluded competition in 34th (30:38.5).

St. Andrews will take this week off as they prepare for the 2008 Conference Carolinas Championships hosted by Belmont Abbey College on Saturday, October 25. The gun for the men’s 8k race is scheduled to go off at 9:45 a.m. The Knights will look to improve on their fourth place finish in the league championships from a year ago.

NOTE: Picture provided by Julie Thompson