Need to Know
Results: 1st of 7 teams
Location: Tallulah Falls, Georgia - TFS Farm Course
Tallulah Falls, GA - The Piedmont College men's cross country team sealed a second straight USA South Cross Country Championship with an impressive performance Saturday on the home course. The Lions won with just 30 points over runners up Covenant College with 54 points putting in 10 athletes before Covenant's five.
Piedmont had seven all-conference runners including the USA South runner up as
BRYCE GRIGGS finished second overall and first for the Lions for the first time this season. Griggs ran a 28:22.70 coming in behind champion Daniel Beckett of Maryville who was named USA South Runner & Rookie of the Year.
Freshman
NATHAN GALLOWAY was third overall running a 28:39.00 with senior
CODY PARKER coming in fifth running a 28:57.50. Parker never finished lower than 7th in the USA South Conference Championship Meet in his four years and beat 2013 conference champion Sean Hagstrom for the first time in a championship meet this year.
JARROD HOWELL also made the top 10 running a 29:22.90 finishing ninth overall followed by
JOHNATHON QUINN in 11th who rounded out the top five for Piedmont with a 29:37.50. The Lions had six of the eight spots from 9-16 as the Lions had a pack mentality and their depth proved to be the difference.
ANDREW GALE was once again Piedmont's #6 coming in 12th in the meet running a 29:49.90 followed by
CORY MCCLUNG,
WILLIAM FOSTER and
CONLEY WILHELM. Those three finished back-to-back-to-back as McClung was 14th running a 30:15.40, Foster was 15th with a time of 30:23.70 and Wilhelm was 16th posting a 30:33.30.
DEWAYNE CAGLE was just off that group running a 30:56.30.
The conference championship marks the second straight for Piedmont College in the third year under Head Coach Jeff Jenkins who was named the USA South Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year for the second year as well.
Standout Performances
--
BRYCE GRIGGS had his best race of the season leading the team and coming in as the runner up overall in the conference running a 28:22.70.
--Compared to the Piedmont Invitational which was also the USA South Preview, eight athletes ran faster times on the same course.
Inside the Numbers
--Piedmont took half of the all-conference spots with seven of the 14 first and second team all-conference athletes.
Complete Piedmont Results
BRYCE GRIGGS - 28:22.70
NATHAN GALLOWAY - 28:39.00
CODY PARKER - 28:57.50
JARROD HOWELL - 29:22.90
JOHNATHON QUINN - 29:37.50
ANDREW GALE - 29:49.90
CORY MCCLUNG - 30:15.40
WILLIAM FOSTER - 30:23.70
CONLEY WILHELM - 30:33.30
DEWAYNE CAGLE - 30:56.30
News & Notes
-The first three runners across the line in the conference meet were all freshmen as the future of USA South men's cross country looks bright with talented youth.
Up Next
Piedmont will head to the NCAA South/Southeast Regional after a week off competing on November 12 at Berry College for the third time this season.
How to Follow
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