Golden Eagle Cross Country Fall Wrap-Up
The Golden Eagle Men’s Cross Country team finished the year strong placing 3rd overall in the USCAA National XC Championship. SLIAC Runner of the Year Abram Deng took home the Men’s individual National Championship for the second consecutive year posting a winning time of 27:17.95. The Golden Eagle’s also had outstanding performances from sophomore Haile Jemane who finished 8th with a time of 29:07.43 and junior Eric Yepez who finished 10th posting a time of 29:25.81. The team also received strong performances from Timmy Granschow, 29:53.98, James Borengasser, 31:50.58, Josh Wolf, 32:51.53, and Kyle Sherrard, 34:27.58.
The Women’s team finished 6th overall in the USCAA National XC Championship. The women were led by vastly improving freshman Janika King, who ran a team best time of 27:43.92. Janika was followed closely by sophomore Samantha Cave who posted 27:47.69. The Golden Eagles also received solid performances from Elizabeth Fuchs, 29:27.58, Krystina Perez, 30:25.11, and Liz Schooler, 31:08.51.
Head Coach Kevin Alessandro was pleased with his team’s performance this year and is looking forward to beginning preparation for next year. Coach Alessandro said, “We had a lot of things to be proud about with our teams this season. I am excited to go into track and field and keep preparing for next fall.”
Things are looking very positive for both Men’s and Women’s team’s heading into the off season. The main reason for optimism is the talent returning on both the Men’s and Women’s team’s next fall. The men’s team will lose only senior Josh Wolf from this year’s team. The biggest reason for excitement is the return of 2-time National Champion junior Abram Deng, along with sophomore Haile Jemane and junior Eric Yepez. The return of these three standout’s along with a strong supporting cast with freshman Timmy Ganschow, sophomore James Borengasser, and freshman Kyle Sherrard, all of which competed with the team in Nationals this season. The future of the women’s team looks very bright due to the talented youth returning to next season’s team. The ever improving freshman Janika King will return along with junior Liz Schooler, sophomore Samantha Cave, sophomore Elizabeth Fuchs, and freshman Krystina Perez.
The abundance of talent returning along with the addition of new recruits leaves Coach Alessandro very optimistic heading into the off season saying, “I am happy to be able to take our teams to the NCAA South Regional next fall. With our returners and key additions, we should surprise some people and challenge for a spot in the NCAA Championships next fall.”
This concludes our fall 2011 cross country wrap up. Spalding University Athletics would like to thank all of our supporters and we look forward to making a run at the National Championship next fall.
