Nov. 1, 2008

SPARTANBURG, S.C. --- The Samford cross country teams came up big in their first Southern Conference Cross Country Championship meet Saturday as the women took second place and the men took fourth place at the event held at the Milliken Park in Spartanburg, S.C.

"Overall it was a really great day," Samford head coach Rod Tiffin said. "I couldn't be more pleased. We put in our all. We came in to make a statement and I think we did that today. You know, we had several girls up at the front but all the other ladies really stepped up and kept us up at the top today. We were just a couple points away from a championship on the girls side, but that give us something to look forward to for next year."

Freshman Andrea Seccafien was named Freshman of Year as she finished sixth overall and second for the Bulldogs. Sophomore Hillary Neal led the Bulldogs, taking third overall in the women's competition. Freshman Deanna Zidar and senior Katie Almand placed 14th and 15th, respectively while freshman Cori Christensen and junior Jessica Van Ausdall took 24th and 25th places, respectively. Rounding out the women's field for the Bulldogs were freshmen Britney Harrison in 41st and Alli Keithan in 46th, and junior Lauren Pilcher in 47th.

Neal and Seccafien also landed on First Team All-Conference while Zidar was named to the Second Team. All three freshmen - Christensen, Seccafien, and Zidar - earned spots on the All-Freshman Team.

Leading the men was senior Cameron Bean who took sixth place and was named First Team All-Conference followed by senior Bo Brawner in 22nd, sophomore Scott Cope in 28th and junior Blaise Carie at 31st. Senior Michael Schwartz grabbed 38th place followed closely by junior Chas Keithan who finished 40th. Rounding out the Bulldog men's field was senior Patrick Ollinger was 44th, junior Will Denton was 66th and freshman Justin Rogers finished 75th.

"On the men's side, we got better and better every week and that's what we've been talking about," Tiffin said. "They did the best that they could do and we've been talking about peaking at the right time and I think we did that today. We've been working hard and I think it all came to fruition today. Now we are just excited about Regionals in a couple of weeks."

The Bulldogs will run in the NCAA South Regional Championship on Nov. 15. The event will be held in Maryville, Tenn.

Women's Results
2 Samford 62 points
3 Hillary Neal 17:41.20
6 Andrea Seccafien 18:10.33
14 Deanna Zidar 18:39.37
15 Katie Almand 18:41.63
24 Cori Christensen 18:53.87
25 Jessica Van Ausdall 18:54.46
41 Brittney Harrison 19:15.45
46 Alli Keithan 19:20.04
47 Lauren Pilcher 19:20.90

Men's Results
4 Samford 124 points
6 Cameron Bean 25:12.29
22 Bo Brawner 25:58.25
28 Scott Cope 26:14.07
31 Blaise Carie 26:20.87
38 Michael Schwartz 26:34.39
40 Chas Keithan 26:35.06
45 Patrick Ollinger 26:47.08
66 Will Denton 27:45.08
75 Justin Rogers 28:09.14