Cross country teams tangle with top squads up north
By Lisa Ferguson and Jeff Frazier
Old Gold and Black Reporters

Following a two-week hiatus, the men’s cross country team competed Sept. 29 at the Roy Griak Invitational in St. Paul, Minn. The Deacs finished with 250 points to claim sixth place out of 36 of the top teams from around the country.

Wisconsin freshman Matt Tegenkamp was the individual champion and led the Badgers to a first-place overall finish with 129 points. Portland followed in second place with 167 points. Providence (189) and Colorado State (192) finished third and fourth, respectively. Duke finished fifth overall, 38 points ahead of the Deacs. The Blue Devils and the Deacons were the only ACC teams represented in the top 25.

In the 8,000-meter race, junior Nathan Sisco led the Deacs with a time of 24:28.6 to earn 10th-place overall. Seniors Ted DeVos and Garick Hill earned 41st and 43rd place, respectively, finishing around 20 seconds behind Sisco. Seniors Chris Estwanik (74th, 25:11.3) and Sean Nagorny (82nd, 25:14.0) also finished in the top 100, while junior Eduardo Acosta (149th, 25:43.1) and sophomore Dave Barrett (172nd, 25:50.4) made up the rest the of Deacons’ scoring top seven. Also finishing were freshmen Chris Elder (191st, 25:56.6), Brandon Bartholomew (236th, 26:18.5), and Brian Smith (237th, 26:19.0).

“Everybody improved time-wise,” said Head Coach Gary Sievers. “Year by year we’re making progress.” Especially impressive was Sisco, who broke several records and earned a coveted top-10 placement. “Nathan deserves to be Deac of the Week,” said Sievers.

Despite not being in action for two weeks, the Deacons placed very well.
“I was pleased.” said Sievers.

“Fifteen of the top 25 teams in the nation were (at the Roy Griak Invitational). To come out sixth was quite a feat.” Sievers mentioned that because of the cancellation of a prior meet due to the Sept. 11 attacks on New York City and Washington D.C., his team was basically starting over and didn’t run one of its better races.

“We weren’t sharp,” he said.

“But we did beat nine nationally-ranked teams.” After the meet, the Deacons moved up nine spots from 23rd to 14th in the nation.

Next up on the Deacons’ schedule is the Furman Invitational/Pre-Nationals. Although this meet includes more top teams from around the country, Sievers remains optimistic.
“We’re going to run our race and not worry about anyone else,” he said.

The women’s cross country team was in action on Sept. 29th at the Roy Griak Invitational. The Deacs placed 18th out of 32 teams, with a score of 462 points.

University of Washington senior Sabrina Monroe finished first in the 6,000-meter race, but the Huskies finished seventh overall with 214 points.

Arizona State earned the first place overall finish with 109 points, followed by second place Providence (139). Arizona (167), Colorado State (188) and Michigan State (194) finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

ACC rivals Virginia and Duke also participated in the meet, with the Cavaliers finishing sixth and the Blue Devils placing 15th in the team competition.

Leading the Deacons was freshman Danielle Coon, who finished 40th with a time of 21:56.5. Fellow freshman Annie Bersagel was 15 seconds behind with a time of 22:09.0, earning her 60th place.

Sophomore Kara Mullin finished 91st with a time of 22:29.0.

Also scoring for the Deacons were juniors Courtney Lancashire (105th, 22:35.4) and Adralyn Wendel (166th, 23:08.2), and sophomores Nikeya Green (176th, 23:16.1) and Catherine Fortin-Major, who crossed the line in 23:26.2 for 189th place.

Sophomore Denise Hefferin also finished, earning 244th place with a time of 23:50.6.
Although this was the first 6,000 meter race of the season, the freshmen led the Deacon squad for the second consecutive week.

“I was pleased with our recruiting class,” Head Coach Annie Schweitzer-Bennett said.
“Coon and Bersagel were outstanding at their first big meet.”

However, the Deacs were hindered by several illnesses and had the potential to place higher.

“(When some of our runners are ill) the upperclassmen need to step up,” Schweitzer-Bennett said.

The Deacons next outing will be Pre-National meet at the Furman Invitational, where they will face some of the best teams from both the ACC and other conferences from around the country.

“We need to run our best seven,” Schweitzer-Bennett said. “We need to beat ranked teams.”

Despite the tough task ahead of them, the Deacons continue to train hard and still remain confident.

“I feel this is a very cohesive group,” said Bersagel, one of this year’s most promising runners.

“We just need to demonstrate that on the course in order to be successful.”