Saturday, November 01, 2008

MACON, Ga. - After a neck-and-neck race, the ETSU Buccaneers surged forward to claim their first Atlantic Sun Conference Men’s Cross Country Championship, ending the six-year sreign by Belmont. The meet, hosted by Mercer University at The Georiga Industrial Children’s Home on Saturday morning concluded with its first non-Belmont champion since Georgia State in 2001.

ETSU junior Kenneth Rotich clinched the men’s cross country title with a time of 24:34.71. His finishing time is the fastest in four years. The two-time All-Conference runner from Kenya improved on his 2007 finish by more than a minute.

“We had hope from the beginning that we going to win after the work we have been doing,” Rotich said. “We have been training so hard and we have been working for it.”

Rotich’s teammate Benjamin Ronoh finished a close second with a time of 24:41.88. The Bucs finished four runners in the top 10 and all five scoring runner (Rotich, Ronoh, Michael Deren, Jeff Crane and J Penny) earned spots on either the First- or Second All-Atlantic Sun teams. ETSU’s coach David Walker also picked up his first Coach of the Year Award.

“I’ve been after [head coach Jeff Langdon] from Belmont for about four straight years now and we managed to put it together and he came up to me and said ‘you nailed me at the front,” Walker said.

Belmont, second by six points also finished four runners in the top 10. The two-time defending champions Kipkosgei Magut ran his first meet of the season and placed 10th. Last fall’s Freshman of the Year, Hillary Cheruiyot, improved on his sixth-place showing in 2007 to pace the Bruins, taking third.

Kennesaw State ran to a third place finish, its fourth-straight top-four finish since joining the A-Sun, totalling 90 points. Kennesaw State’s freshman Travis Holmes finished 21st to earn the 2008 Freshman of the Year award, the first non-Belmont runner to win that honor. His teammate, Jaako Nienamen, also earned a spot on the 2008 All-Freshman Team.

“It was a good time; obviously we are little disappointed not winning the team title but we are looking forward to next year,” Holmes said. “I was great to get out there and rough well on a tough course.”

UNF turned in its best finish in four years in the conference, taking fourth with 122 points followed by Campbell and Lipscomb. FGCU improved their finish to seventh while USC Upstate improved to eighth followed by Mercer, Stetson and Jacksonville.

The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.