October 25, 2008

Complete Results
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BELMONT, N.C.—Senior Mitch Cooper (Virginia Beach, Va.) won the individual title earning Conference Carolinas Runner of the Year honors leading the St. Andrews Presbyterian College men’s cross country team to the 2008 Conference Carolinas Championships team title on Saturday morning.

Senior Mitch Cooper (pictured) is the 2008 Conference Carolinas men's cross country Runner of the Year after winning Saturday's race.

Three Knights claimed First Team All-Conference honors as St. Andrews won its second Conference Carolinas team title in four years. First year head coach Jim Walters was selected the 2008 Conference Carolinas Coach of the Year after guiding SAPC to its fourth victory this season.

“Our men ran well,” said Walters. “We are just coming back from several injuries, so I was pleased with the results. With the training still remaining, along with the confidence from this meet, the men will be ready to race again at the NCAA regional meet.”

Cooper won the men’s 8k race with the only sub-27 minute time on the newly created trail at Belmont Abbey. Cooper blazed the trails finishing in 26:51.0 in winning his second Conference Carolinas Runner of the Year title (2006 & 2008). Cooper will go down in history as one of the all-time best runners in league history after winning numerous awards in his four-year collegiate career at St. Andrews including a four time First Team All-Conference honoree, the 2005 CVAC Freshman of the Year, and a four time conference Runner of the Week.

St. Andrews, currently ranked No. 6 in the Southeast Region, won the team title with 43 points. The Knights held off No. 7 regionally ranked Lees-McRae College by five points and No. 8 ranked Erskine College by 35 points.

Junior Pedro Tapia Jr. (Sanford, N.C.) and sophomore Doug Holt (Toms River, N.J.) both added clutch top-5 finishes for St. Andrews earning First Team All-Conference accolades. Tapia finished ahead of a pack of five runners that were all within seven seconds of each other to take third place honors with a time of 27:29.1. Holt was also in the group of speedy runners, holding on for fifth place at 27:33.1. Tapia, the 2006 CVAC Freshman of the Year, is a three-time All-Conference selection earning first team honors in 2006 and 2008 and second team credit in 2007. Holt moved up from Honorable mention respect in 2007 to First Team honors in 2008.

Sophomore James Walls (Bear Creek, N.C.) was one spot away from earning All-Conference attention finishing 16th overall with a time of 28:44.0. Classmate Josh Pickett (Asheville, N.C.) was two spots behind Walls in 18th place out of 81 entrants to round out the Knights scoring runners. Pickett finished the 8k endurance race in 28:51.4.

St. Andrews had a total of 10 runners in the meet with sophomore Tommy Wilson (Salisbury, N.C.) and senior Patrick Hogan (Denton, N.C.) both finishing in the upper half of the field. Wilson took 33rd in 30:48.0 and Hogan was 37th in 31:16.5. Other Knights harriers finishes included junior Brad McKee (Kings Mountain, N.C.) crossing the finish line in 32:01.4; junior James Lloyd (Lusby, Md.) posting a time of 32:03.8; and sophomore Jon Lecker (Minneola, Fla.) concluding in 33:32.6.

St. Andrews will next race in the 2008 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional hosted by Wingate University on Saturday, November 8. The men’s 10k race is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. More information located at www.crosscountryregionals.com.

NOTE: Picture provided by Julie Thompson