September 2 , 2011
By: Philip Ratchford, Sports Information
Full Men's Results
Mount Olive, NC— The St. Andrews Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams proved they could hold their own in their first race of the season as they both took second place, falling short to the Trojans of Mount Olive College.
James Walls, a senior from Bear Creek, NC, led the Knights’ charge for the men’s team. Walls finished third in the race of 29, with a strong time of 16:05.50, missing second place by a very small margin. James Maloney (Scranton, PA), a senior at Mount Olive College, completed the race in 16:03.90 minutes, crossing the finish line only 1.60 seconds before Walls. Paul Hoffman (Lakeview, NY), one of the Trojans other senior runners, easily claimed first place with an impressive time of 15:58.12.
St. Andrews freshman Dagmawi Abebe (Gaithersburg, MD) missed a top ten finish in his first collegiate race by .50 seconds, making him the 11 th to cross the line. The remaining three Knights placed close together: Patrick Ochoa (Derwood, MD) - 16 th (17:58.20), Tyler Beaver (Hillsborough, NC) – 19 th (18:43.80), and Brandon Watson (Benson, NC) – 21 st (18:56.60).
The women’s team also proved their determination as they grabbed a top ten finish and boasted all five placements in the top 18. SA senior Anna Egeln (Ponte Vedra Beach, FL) grabbed the last slot in the top ten finishers for the women; following nine Trojans from Mount Olive. Both Mount Olive squads landed in the second spot on the Conference Carolinas preseason poll. The women of Mount Olive lived up to this prediction as they easily took the first nine finishes of the race. Chelsea Long (Eugene, OR) secured a first place finish with a time of 18:31.80, with the closest runner, Amber Thompson (Radford, VA) finishing over one minute later at 19:43.60. Coutrney Siefert (Erlanger, KY) rounded out the Trojans’ top three finishers when she clocked a 20:07.50.
Freshman Hanna Hinrichsmeyer (Sueltzal, Germany) earned St. Andrews an 11 th place spot with a finish of 23:08.50, following teammate Egeln. Sara Hackney (Como, NC) crossed at 23:45.20 taking 14 th in her first collegiate appearance, while sophomore Karlee Arnold (Columbia City, IN) claimed 17 th (24:15.10) in front of freshman Francoise Douala (Baltimore, MD) who posted a time of 24:17.70 that gave her 18 th in the race of 24 contenders.
The Knights head to the coast next Friday, September 9 for a matchup against several D-I and D-II competitors at The University of North Carolina at Wilmington. The Knights will toe the line for the starting gun to fire at 4:00 P.M.
-GO KNIGHTS-
