| | |
Cross Country Men 2nd at NCAA Regional Championships
11/11/06
The Rhodes men’s cross country team finished 2nd at the NCAA South/Southeast Regional Cross Country Championships, earning an automatic bid to next Saturday’s Division III National Championships at Wilmington College. Junior Alex Mahoney won the individual title, covering the 8000 meter (5 mile) course in 25:41. “It was a fantastic day our athletes, as well as our entire program,” said head coach Robert Shankman. “To have Alex win the region title and the entire team qualify [for nationals] is a great feeling.”
The Lynx placed 4 runners in the top 15, finishing with 63 points. In addition to Mahoney’s 1st place finish, Mark Handelman (So) finished 6 th overall in 26:15, Nick Lewis (Jr) finished 9th in 26:20, and Will Sheftall (Sr) placed 15th in 26:40. Junior Dave Huntzinger rounded out the scoring as the 5th runner by placing 35 th in 27:23. “To place four runners in the top 15 at the region meet says a lot about these guys. Alex and Nick have been running strong all season. But to also have Mark and Will step up was great.”
Unfortunately, Lucas Warth (normally the fifth runner for the Lynx) stepped in a hole at mile 3 and was unable to complete the race. “When Warth went down, we were pretty scared. Fortunately, Dave and Scott [Barrows] moved up several spots over the last half of the race to secure the 2nd national qualifying spot.
Since 1996, Rhodes has sent 13 individual qualifiers (men and women) to the national championship meet. The entire women’s team qualified in ’02. In addition, today’s finish marks the 14th top five region finish for the men over the last 15 years.