Saturday, October 21, 2006

SAINTS FINISH THIRD, LADY SAINTS SIXTH IN PBC CHAMPIONSHIPS
Schmitz named All-Conference with fifth-place finish

Smiths Station, AL - The North Georgia College & State University men's cross country team picked the right part of the season to run their best race, finishing third at the Peach Belt Conference Championships here Saturday morning.

The Saints finished with 85 points, trailing only eventual champion Columbus State University with 27 points and Georgia College & State University with 43 points.

Sophomore Alan Schmitz paced the Saints, finishing fifth with a time of 26:56.17. With his finish, Schmitz was named to the All-Peach Belt Conference, which is based upon finish. Josh Kerzie and David Beall finished 15th and 16th, respectively. Kerzie crossed with a time of 28:03.20, while Beall was just 15 seconds behind his teammate with a time of 28:18.32.

Senior Tommy Stapleton ran a time of 29:39.40 to finish 23rd in the final race of the season. The time and finish were the best for Stapleton in an 8K race this season. Freshman Tyler Jordan finished in 26th place with a time of 29:48.56. Senior Robert Murray finished in 30th place with a time of 30:25.06. Bernie Richardson finished 34th with a time of 34:24.30 to round out the runners for the Saints.

Schmitz, Kerzie, Beall, Stapleton, Jordan and Murray all recorded their fastest 8K times of the season in the Peach Belt Conference championships.

Meanwhile, the North Georgia College & State University women's cross country team finished sixth in the conference race with 157 total points.

Freshman Emmy Lawalin paced the Lady Saints with a 16th place finish, finishing with a time of 19:46.11. Fellow freshman Liz Dunn finished 20th with a time of 19:57.53.

Hannah Dugger finished 33rd, less than a second ahead of teammate Beatrice Nelligan. Dugger finished with a time of 20:52.36, while Nelligan came in at 34rd, with a time of 20:53.02.

Morgan Maynard finished 56th (22:30.37), Candace Chumley finished 59th (22:35.54) and Clare Madrid finished 60th (22:48.50) to round out the Lady Saints' runners.

"We ran exceptionally well today," head coach Amanda Harris said. "It looks really good for next year, we have a lot of talent. I see huge performace gains for next season."

Complete Men's Results | Complete Women's Results

-NGCSU-

Return to Cross Country