SMC Men Post Top 25 At XC Nationals
SPARTANBURG, SC -- While the men's team claimed a Top 25 finish Saturday in the NJCAA Division I Cross Country national championships, the SMC women's team posted their best finish ever in the event.
The SMC teams hosted the 2010 Championships at Milliken Research Park on Saturday, in which more than 600 runners from more than 50 institutions in 15 states participated.
The SMC Lady Pioneers team finished the race in 10th place out of 38 teams, seven better than their finish in the 2009 nationals held at Illinois Central College.
Sophomore Hannah Chaney (Brunswick HS / Brunswick, OH) who has led the No. 9 Lady Pioneers all season, finished at 19th with a time of 18:55 in the women's 5K.
Our women had our best finish in the history of the sport here at SMC, which dates back to 1994. Still, we weren't hitting on all cylinders today and we know we're capable of more. One of our goals this year was to at least finish in the top 10 in the nation. so we're pretty happy about that," says SMC head cross country coach Mike Foley.
SMC came away from the race with two new female U.S. Citizen All Americans – Chaney and freshman Teal McLean (Westover HS / Fayetteville, NC), who both finished in the Top 25 of U.S. born female runners. They join former Lady Pioneers Becca Prichard (Class of 2008) and Rosa Young (Class of 2010) in winning a team total of six All-American honors in the past four years.
The men's team fell from a No. 20 finish last year in Illinois to a No. 22 finish out of 36 teams this year at Milliken, with one of the teams top runners out on an injury.
'The guys had a serious injury to our No. 3 guy on Thursday, which hurt our chances. While finishing 22nd in the nation is nothing to be upset about, we all know we were capable of much, much better," Foley states.
Men's team top runner Kiki DeHondt (Pendleton HS / Anderson, SC) finished at 70th, with a 5K time of 26:51. DeHondt has led the No. 17 Pioneers all season.
"I thought I could have done a little bit better, but at the same time, injury prevailing, it was good enough for me. As a team, we did really good. I'm working to get up for half marathon next week to around an hour and 12 minutes as opposed to my hour and 18 minutes last year," says DeHondt.
The SMC teams' last event of the season will be the 2010 NJCAA Half Marathon National Championship in Shawnee Mission, KS next Saturday, Nov. 20. The men's and women's teams placed 9th and 5th, respectively, last year at the Half Marathon in Overland Park, KS.
Foley adds, "We're looking forward to the half marathon national championship in Overland Park next week. Our goals are to have even better performances for both teams there."
Spartanburg Methodist College has 14 intercollegiate teams that compete in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association, which includes colleges in the Carolinas, Virginia and West Virginia.
The College is in its 100th year of providing quality education to students in a Christian environment. More than 90 percent of SMC graduates continue their education at other institutions of higher learning.
For more information contact SMC cross country coach Mike Foley at (864) 325-5957; Brian Fulkerson, director of public information, at (864) 266-3181; or athletic director Mark Perdue at (864) 266-3191.
