Women Third, Men Fifth; Six Named to SoCon Teams

Saturday, November 2

Greensville, S.C. | Furman Golf Course

10:00 a.m. Men | 10:45 a.m. Women

Chattanooga

Southern Conference Championships

Course Maps Complete Results

Photo by: SoConSports.com

11/2/2024 3:21:00 PM | Cross Country & Track & Field

Men's Results Women's Results SoCon Results

Three named to All-Conference Teams and three on All-Freshman Teams

GREENVILLE, S.C. --- Lesley Boyd, Maddie Wheatcroft and Jack Martin were named all-conference Saturday morning at the Southern Conference Cross Country Championships held at the Furman Golf Course in Greenville, S.C. Derek Mitchell, Ian Etheridge and Ellie von Herrmann each earned a spot on the league's All-Freshman teams.

All five of Chattanooga's women scoring finishers ran personal best times and propelled the Mocs to a third place finish. Boyd made her way onto the All-Conference First Team with a fourth place finish in time of 16:27.2. Wheatcroft earned second team honors placing ninth in a time of 17:13.8 over the 5-kilometer course.

"The ladies were absolutely great," Mocs head coach Andy Meyer said. "Lesley [Boyd] rans as hard as she ever has. It was her and three Furman runners at the 3K mark and a duel from there as everyone took turns leading. About 400 meters from the end is where everything finally separated."

All four, according to Meyer, beat the course record.

"Maddie [Wheatcroft ] was very patient," Meyer continued. "She had a huge breakthrough and picked off several to get a Top 10 finish. Leah [Boyd] ran well and just missed all-conference. Brooke [Tyll] PR'd again, as she has done with each race this season. Andrea [Ellis] had an outstanding race for the team.

"The race went out super fast and the team stayed focused and ran very well today."

Leah Boyd placed in the Top 20 with a time of 17:50.7, finishing 18^th overall and Brooke Tyll ran her fastest collegiate time at 18:02.1, in 23^rd place. Andrea Ellis moved up three spots in the final kilometer to place 31^st with a time of 18:24.8. Ellie von Herrmann was the top Chattanooga freshman to finish and earned a spot on the All-Freshman Team.

"The guys had some outstanding performances," Meyer said. "Jack [Martin] was very patient and focused. He steadily moved up through the race and had an outstanding last mile to be seventh overall."

Martin led the Mocs to a fifth place finish in the men's 8-kilometer race placing seventh overall and running a PR 24:51.2. He earned a spot on the league's First Team. Derek Mitchell was UTC's second finisher and placed 20^th overall with a time of 25:40.7, just missing his best time by three seconds and earning a spot on the SoCon All-Freshman Team.

Riley Hanson was the third Chattanooga runner across the line at 26:04.2 followed by Eamonn O'Bryant with a time of 26:14.8. Aaron Isbell was 39^th overall with a time of 26:38.1 and Ian Etheridge was a spot behind at 25:46.9. Etheridge was also named to the league's All-Freshman Team.

"Both freshmen Derek [Mitchell] and Ian [Etheridge] were fantastic in their races to land on the all-freshman team. Rily [Hanson], Eamonn [O'Bryant] and Kaigen [Mulkey] were all super and raced a patient race. We were not where we wanted to be from a team score aspect but we do have one more race."

Furman's men and women both repeated as conference champions for the 12^th consecutive year. The men swept the Top Five scoring spots and seven of the first eight, broken up by Martin's seventh place finish. The women placed all five in the Top 10 for 19 points. Lesley Boyd was fourth and Wheatcroft was ninth while Samford took the sixth, seventh and 10^th spots.

Samford was second in the women's race with 50 points followed by UTC with 81. ETSU was next with 97 points and Mercer rounded out the Top Five with 130 points. Western Carolina tied UNCG with 202 points followed by VMI (231), Wofford (243) and The Citadel (289).

Western Carolina took second in the men's race with 94 points followed by UNCG in third with 108. Samford (116) was fourth and the Mocs were two points behind in fifth with 118 points. Mercer (125) was next followed by VMI (143), ETSU (231), Wofford (284) and The Citadel (290).

"We will now get rested and prepare for the NCAA South Region Meet," Meyer said.

The championships are set for Friday, November 15 in Tallahassee, Fla. The men will compete in a longer 10-kilometer race and the women's distance bumps up to 6K.

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MEN'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

7	Jack Martin	24:51.2	PR	All-Conference 1^st Team
20	Derek Mitchell	25:40.7		All-Freshman Team
28	Riley Hanson	26:04.2
32	Eamonn O'Bryant	26:14.8
39	Aaron Isbell	26:38.1
40	Ian Etheridge	26:46.9		All-Freshman Team
43	Kaigen Mulkey	26:52.8
49	Lane Hollis	27:07.1
52	Tristan Gould	27:15.4

MENS' TEAM RESULTS

1	Furman	15
2	Western Carolina	94
3	UNCG	108
4	Samford	116
5	Chattanooga	118
6	Mercer	125
7	VMI	143
8	ETSU	231
9	Wofford	284
10	The Citadel	290

WOMEN'S RESULTS

4	Lesley Boyd	16:27.2	PR	All-Conference 1^st Team
9	Maddie Wheatcroft	17:13.8	PR	All-Conference 2^nd Team
18	Leah Boyd	17:50.7	PR
23	Brooke Tyll	18:02.1	PR
31	Andrea Ellis	18:24.8	PR
37	Lexi Foley	18:44.6
44	Ellie von Herrmann	19:01.0	PR	All-Freshman Team
53	Amanda Ferrante	19:10.7
62	Emma Thweatt	19:42.5