Bryan College Starts Season With Third Place Showing at Sewanee
September 01, 2007Sewanee, TN - Opening their cross country season at the Sewanee Invitational, the Bryan College men found success as they finished 3rd out of a 17-team field. SEC member Mississippi State rolled over the university's golf course to take home the team championship with 18 points. NCAA Division III Emory University was second with 76. The Lions claimed third with 98 points, ahead of Rhodes College (108), Centre College (149), and Tennessee Tech (186). Junior Daniel Goetz, formerly of Chattanooga Christian, broke up a potential perfect score for the MSU Bulldogs, by place 4th overall. Mississippi State's Jonathan Rono took the indivdual title finishing the 8-kilometer course in 26:10.82.
Former Ooltewah High athletes, sophomore Zach Buffington and redshirt freshmen Zach Mobley finished 13th and 24th for the Lions. Sophomore Josh Bradley (Ringgold, GA) and freshmen Bryson Harper (Pikeville, TN) rounded out the scoring for the Lions with fininshes of 31st and 33rd, respectively. Newcomer Hunter Hall (Brentwood, TN) helped displace several Rhodes athletes with his 45th place performance.
"We struggled a bit today, maybe it was the heat or the training load, but I was pleased with how they stuck in there and continued to compete. Goetz regrouped well after being in ninth place near the five kilometer mark. Buffington was solid for us and Mobley showed that he has range with a nice rally the last two kilometers. Bradley has seen better days, but we both know he belongs near the front. I was pumped to see our freshmen athletes Harper and Hall have a successful first outing and can't see what they'll bring to our squad by the end of the season. Obviously, Mississippi State did a nice job today, as did Emory with their pack running, but we wanted to finish a little higher," said head coach Rodney Stoker.
The Lions next compete at the Tennessee Invitational hosted by UTK on Friday, September 14th. The race will take place at the Lambert Acres Golf Course in Maryville, Tennessee at 6:15pm.