Saturday, October 28, 2006

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Belmont ran strong Saturday morning on a hilly course and under windy conditions, putting four runners in the top eight to claim the 2006 A-Sun Cross Country team title on the campus of Gardner-Webb University.

Campbell’s Alicia Valtin captured individual championship honors for the second year in a row, as the A-Sun’s Runner of the Year won the race with a time of 17:58. For Belmont, Lauren Williams finished second to pace the quartet of All-Conference runners, covering the 5K course in 18:42. Elizabeth Smothers (5th, 19:18), Whitney Thurman (7th, 19:19) and Freshman of the Year Brittany Thune (8th, 19:24) rounded out that group for the champions. Laura Kaplan finished 24th to round out the scoring for the 2006 champions – as Belmont finished 14 points ahead of second-place North Florida.

UNF put two runners on the All-Conference team to finish second, as Sarah Coughlin (3rd, 18:49) and Amanda Davey (4th, 19:01) finished strong for the Ospreys. Kennesaw State, the 2005 team champion, captured third, Campbell finished fourth, Jacksonville came in fifth, Lipscomb finished sixth and Gardner-Webb took seventh – eight points behind the Bisons. Gardner-Webb’s Katherine Warden earned All-Conference honors with a 10th-place finish (19:31). Michele Milner (22nd) also finished in the top-25 for GWU. Bree Tharpe (36th), Abby Callahan (42nd) and Beth Long (43rd) rounded out the Bulldogs’ top-5.

Mercer captured eighth, ETSU finished ninth and Stetson was 10th in the final team standings. Belmont’s Seth Sheridan was named A-Sun Coach of the Year.

Team Results (Pts)
1. Belmont (46)
2. UNF (60)
3. Kennesaw State (95)
4. Campbell (103)
5. Jacksonville (116)
6. Lipscomb (145)
7. Gardner-Webb (153)
8. Mercer (186)
9. ETSU (244)
10. Stetson (278)

Runner of the Year: Alicia Valtin, Campbell University

Coach of the Year: Seth Sheridan, Belmont University

Freshman of the Year: Brittany Thune, Belmont University

All-Freshman Team
Brittany Thune, Belmont
Alyssa Deal, Jacksonville
Charlotte Farquarson, Campbell
Hillary Adams, UNF
Soibham Wolcott, Kennesaw State

All-Conference
Alicia Valtin, Campbell
Lauren Williams, Belmont
Sarah Coughlan, UNF
Amanda Davey, UNF
Elizabeth Smothers, Belmont
Samantha Wood, Lipscomb
Whitney Thurman, Belmont
Brittany Thune, Belmont
Erin Sutton, Kennesaw State
Katherine Warden, Gardner-Webb