Harden Leads Men's Cross Country To Second-Place Finish At SoCon Championships

• Results (pdf)
  

ELON, N.C. – Senior Lance Harden and sophomore Ryan Hopkins both earned all-conference honors as they led the Davidson men's cross country team to a program-best second-place finish at the 80th annual Southern Conference Cross Country Championships on Saturday morning on Elon's South Campus course.

Appalachian State won their fifth consecutive conference title with 44 points. The Wildcats totaled 82 points, narrowly edging third-place UNC Greensboro at 83 points. Chattanooga placed fourth (109), while host-Elon was fifth at 134.

“It wasn't quite what we wanted, but our top guys competed very well today,” said head coach Gary Andrew. “We'll certainly build off this performance when we return to Louisville for regionals.”

Harden completed the 8000-meter course in 25:06 to place third and earn a place on the All-Southern Conference First Team. Hopkins finished eighth in 25:33 to garner second-team all-conference honors.

A total of 87 runners from 11 teams competed. Chattanooga's Emmanuel Kirwa beat Harden by just four seconds for the individual title

Senior Tom Divinnie was Davidson's third finisher, just missing a place on the All-SoCon team with a 15th place finish in 25:50. Junior Charlie Schmitt (26th, 26:27) and freshman Demetrios Pagonis (30th, 26:32) rounded out the 'Cats scoring group. Seniors Peter Bruton (34th, 26:42) and Thad Sieracki (55th, 27:26) completed the top seven.

Pagonis' effort placed him on the SoCon All-Freshman Team.

The second-place finish was the best-ever for the Davidson men's cross country team at the SoCon Championship. The Wildcats had previously finished no higher than third, last doing so in 1955.

Davidson entered the race as the top-ranked team in the conference, sitting 12th in the Southeast region according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Appalachian State followed in 13th, while Chattanooga ranks 14th in the South region.

The Wildcats will return to action on Nov. 14 when they compete in the NCAA Southeast Region Championships in Louisville, Ky.