Mars Hill men, women sweep Food Lion SAC Cross Country championships
BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. - The Mars Hill College men's cross country team placed five runners in the top 13 to win the 2006 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Championship Saturday at Black Mountain Recreation Park, while the Mars Hill women's team placed three runners in the top 10 to win the women's championship.
For the Lions, it was their 10th consecutive championship. The Mars Hill women won their 8th conference title in the past 10 years.
Mars Hill senior Jon Stoehr put on a dominating performance, winning the men's race with a time of 26.33.79 with a margin of nearly 17 seconds to earn Runner of the Year honors.
Stoehr was followed by Wingate University's Jayce Watson,
teammate Dave Jaeger and Lenoir-Rhyne's Brad Popple, who was the
top freshman finisher and named SAC Freshman of the Year.
Ted Johnson of Lincoln Memorial University was fifth, followed by Jon Sharp of Lenoir-Rhyne and Tusculum's Winton Curry round out the top seven, earning first-team All-Conference honors.
Mars Hill finished the race with 38 points, while Lenoir-Rhyne was second with 59. Lincoln Memorial finished with 74 points, edging out Wingate with 76 points.
Earning men's All-Conference second team honors were: Matthew Elliott, Presbyterian; Jeremy Donahue, Lincoln Memorial; Tyler Wilkinson, Mars Hill; William Mikolajczak, Mars Hill; Mark Paulson, Lincoln Memorial; Elliott Austin, Mars Hill; and Tyler Mooney, Lenoir-Rhyne.
Joining Popple on the All-Freshman team were Curry, Mooney, Jack Masters, Wingate; and Jefferson Waugh, Lenoir-Rhyne.
Mars Hill head coach Mike Owens was named Men's Coach of the
Year, winning the award for the 11th year in a row.
Wingate's Amber Hines won the women's race to earn Runner of the Year honors with a time of 19:39.0, 10 seconds ahead of Carson-Newman's Aubrey Morris. Lenoir-Rhyne's Genna Eisenmann was third, followed by Mars Hill's Kate Prichard and Keely Hollahan. Lincoln Memorial's Cherie Kern and Carson-Newman's VanEssa Gibson rounded out the All-Conference first team.
Earning All-Conference second team honors were: Ashley McCauley, Mars Hill; Rori Godsey, Catawba; Emily Burke, Lincoln Memorial; Ashley Hubbard, Wingate; Alex Frary, Tusculum; Maleah Cole, Catawba; and Helena Sokolova, Lincoln Memorial.
Frary was the top freshman finisher and was named Freshman of the Year. Also named to the All-Freshman team were: Cole, Mary Kathryn Preble, Lenoir-Rhyne; Jennifer Ely, Lincoln Memorial and Taylor Hansen, Newberry.
Carson-Newman head coach Whitney Lee was named Women's Coach of the Year, winning the award for the second year in a row.
Mars Hill picked up 53 points to claim the women's title, ahead of Lincoln Memorial with 67 points. Wingate University was third with 94 points, with Carson-Newman finishing fourth with 110 points.
Men
First Team
Jon Stoehr, Mars Hill
Jayce Watson, Wingate
Dave Jaeger, Mars Hill
Brad Popple, Lenoir-Rhyne
Ted Johnson, Lincoln Memorial
Jon Sharp, Lenor-Rhyne
Winston Curry, Tusculum
Second Team
Matthew Elliott, Presbyterian
Jeremy Donahue, Lincoln Memorial
Tyler Wilkinson, Mars Hill
William Mikolajczak, Mars Hill
Mark Paulson, Lincoln Memorial
Elliott Austin, Mars Hill
Tyler Mooney, Lenoir-Rhyne
Men's SAC All-Freshman Team
Brad Popple, Lenoir-Rhyne
Winston Curry, Tusculum
Tyler Mooney, Lenoir-Rhyne
Jack Masters, Wingate
Jefferson Waugh, Lenoir-Rhyne
SAC Men's Runner of the Year: Jon Stoehr, Mars
Hill
SAC Men's Freshman Runner of the Year: Brad
Popple, Lenoir-Rhyne
SAC Men's Cross Country Scholar Athlete: Jon
Stoehr, Mars Hill
SAC Men's Coach of the Year: Mike Owens, Mars
Hill
Women
First Team
Amber Hines, Wingate
Aubrey Morris, Carson-Newman
Genna Eisenmann, Lenoir-Rhyne
Kate Prichard, Mars Hill
Keely Hollahan, Mars Hill
Cherie Kern, Lincoln Memorial
VanEssa Gibson, Carson-Newman
Second Team
Ashley McCauley, Mars Hill
Rori Godsey, Catawba
Emily Burke, Lincoln Memorial
Ashley Hubbard, Wingate
Alex Frary, Tusculum
Maleah Cole, Catawba
Helena Sokolova, Lincoln Memorial
SAC Women's All-Freshman Team
Alex Frary, Tusculum
Maleah Cole, Catawba
Mary Kathryn Preble, Wingate
Jennifer Ely, Lincoln Memorial
Taylor Hansen, Newberry
SAC Women's Runner of the Year: Amber Hines,
Wingate
SAC Women's Freshman Runner of the Year: Alex
Frary, Tusculum
SAC Women's Scholar Athlete: Kate Prichard, Mars
Hill
SAC Women's Coach of the Year: Whitney Lee,
Carson-Newman