Pioneers prepare for NJCAA Nationals after tenth Region X Title

The men's cross country team split up this past weekend, with six of the top men running a half marathon (13.1 miles) in Greenville (results at: www.go-greenevents.com/Results) where they placed: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9 in a field of 1,286 finishers.  

Meanwhile, the rest of the Pioneer men were at the Heritage Park Open where our top four guys ran new PRs.

2 16:35.75 – John Raborn, male, (Spartanburg Methodist College)

4 17:07.20 – Erik Surfus, male, (Spartanburg Methodist College)

14 18:00.42 – Thomas Hendricks, male, (Spartanburg Methodist College)

16 18:06.91 – John Cutrone, male, (Spartanburg Methodist College)

24 18:25.63 – Damon Hill, male, (Spartanburg Methodist College)

35 18:33.44 – DeVante Andrews, male, (Spartanburg Methodist College)

54 19:06.82 – Tyler Cooke, male, (Spartanburg Methodist College)

"The men have been ranked among the Top 5 nationally all season except for one week and we have extremely high hopes for nationals." Coach Foley.

"This is the best team in the 17-year history of the sport at SMC and this is the hardest working bunch of men I've seen."

 "The cross country tradition at SMC is astounding. We not only had the individual national champion in 2007, but also can claim 10 straight Region X titles for the men's team and the women have a matching set of 10-straight Region titles as well. Both teams have a habitual spot among the top 20 men's and women's teams at nationals each year.

 "The teams' athletic accomplishment are only outshone by their academic prowess, which included the No. 2 ranking in the nation for the women last year and a No. 9 national academic ranking for the men -- levels of achievement they expect to top this fall."

Nationals are Nov. 12, Hobbs, New Mexico