Photos by Meredith McDaniel Carter
(WHEELING, W.Va)---Concord's men and West Virginia Wesleyan's women used solid team efforts to earn titles at the WVIAC Cross Country championship. The Mountain Lion men placed five runners in the top ten to hold off West Virginia Wesleyan 37-59. Wesleyan's women's had three finishers in the top six as they finished ahead of Wheeling Jesuit 37-61.
Seton Hill freshman Anna Cote made history for her program with SHU's first-ever individual WVIAC champion. Cote completed the 6K event in 23:58, followed by Wesleyan junior Allison Teter at 24:06.
However, the day belonged to Wesleyan's women's on the team side as they provided head coach Jesse Skiles with his 40th overall conference title. The Bobcats also got a fifth place finish out of Erin Price and freshman Jenna Brock placed sixth. Tenth place Heidi Webb and 14th place Hanna Robinson rounded out the scoring for WVWC.
Skiles was pleased with his squad's 12th championship effort in 13 years. "We ran a smart race as a team. I'm really proud of these girls since they're still a young group."
Seton Hill head coach Tim Creamer praised Cote on her fourth first place performance of the season. "Anna is a tremendous talent and we're lucky to her at Seton Hill. She's been determined to win this championship.
Concord's five scoring runners finished within a 50 second spread to provide CU with their first conference title since 2004. The Mountain Lions were led by Randy Horner's third place effort. Ryan Kent (7th), Lance McDaniel (8th), Adam Coon (9th), and Jose Schultz (10th) also compiled all-conference efforts.
The seventh ranked Mountain Lions are the lone ranked WVIAC squad in the most recent East Region top ten and head coach Mike Cox is hoping his team can make an impact at the regional meet in two weeks. "No school from our league has ever finished higher than fourth at the regionals. We're hoping we can pull an upset. The tight spread in our runners should help us in a large meet."
West Virginia Wesleyan's Eric Cooper defended his individual title with a 26:08 time on the 8K course. Seton Hill's Julian Fiorina placed second with a time of 26:53. Fourth place Dustin Hall from Wheeling Jesuit was the highest finisher among freshmen.
Photo by Fred Jordan
Skiles was named the women's Coach of the Year in a vote of his peers. Cox earned men's the Coach of the Year award.
WVIAC runners will be back in action on November 4 when Lock Haven University hosts the NCAA Division II East Regional.
Team standings and the all-conference teams follow:
Men's Team Standings:
1. Concord 37
2. WV Wesleyan 59
3. Davis & Elkins 84
4. Seton Hill 111
5. Wheeling Jesuit 133
6. Alderson-Broaddus 140
7. Fairmont State 186
8. Charleston 197
9. West Liberty State 249
10. Glenville State 265
11. Bluefield State 344
Men's All-WVIAC:
1. Eric Cooper (WV Wesleyan) 26:08
2. Julian Fiorina (Seton Hill) 26:53
3. Randy Horner (Concord) 27:05
4. Dustin Hall (Wheeling Jesuit) 27:06
5. Steve Johnson (Davis & Elkins) 27:08
6. Scott Gemberling (Alderson-Broaddus) 27:16
7. Ryan Kent (Concord) 27:31
8. Lance McDaniel (Concord) 27:34
9. Adam Coon (Concord) 27:50
10. Jose Schultz (Concord) 27:50
Women's Team Standings:
1. WV Wesleyan 37
2. Wheeling Jesuit 61
3. Seton Hill 88
4. Concord 106
5. Alderson-Broaddus 115
6. Charleston 192
7. Fairmont State 195
8. Glenville State 217
9. West Liberty State 227
10. Ohio Valley 258
11. Davis & Elkins 276
12. Bluefield State 311
Women's All-WVIAC:
1. Anna Cote (Seton Hill) 23:58
2. Allison Teter (WV Wesleyan) 24:06
3. Sarah Campanelli (Wheeling Jesuit) 24:16
4. Kallen Weaver (West Liberty State) 24:22
5. Erin Price (WV Wesleyan) 24:29
6. Jenna Brock (WV Wesleyan) 24:35
7. Amanda Blankenship (Concord) 24:47
8. Dani Pye (Concord) 24:48
9. Kasey Jividen (Wheeling Jesuit) 24:49
10. Heidi Webb (WV Wesleyan) 24:52