Record setting year for Cross Country

The Georgia College & State University cross country teams wrapped up a record-breaking year.

Five of the women’s top ten 5k times were set this year. Likewise the men had six of the top ten 8k records set this past season.

The year began with a difficult run. Berry College in Rome, Ga. was the site of the first meet. Right out of the gates, the runners were hit with a few challenges. With a mountainous region and a longer course than most, the Berry College Invitational proved to be a tough competition. GC&SU placed fifth in both the men and women’s division at the Pre-Conference meet. Kelly Sowers, a freshman runner, finished with a time of 21:13, placing her name in the record books for the school’s seventh fastest time.

The Bobcat Invitational was held at the Little Fishing Creek Golf Course in Milledgeville. The women’s team finished first while the men finished second.

Five days later, the team traveled to Due West, South Carolina for the Erskine Invitational. The men and women runners placed fifth and fourth, respectively.

Finally, the Peach Belt Conference Meet arrived. The Bobcats entered with high hopes and long legs. The women finished with an outstanding fourth place finish with 143 points. The men placed eighth with 176
points.

Dr. Joe Samprone, the professor of economics, led the GC&SU Cross Country team through another year. He wrapped up his third season as head coach.

The men had one of their most experienced teams in the program’s history. Samprone was happy with the runners’ efforts, but felt that, overall, the team could have ran better.

“I was happy with the individual performances,” said Samprone. “But we just couldn’t get it together as a team.”

There are five seniors that are leaving the men’s team this year. James Black and Morgan Stallings are among those seniors.

Black and Stallings were considered leaders of the team.

“We are now faced with a team building year next season,” said Samprone.

Samprone has an optimistic look at the women’s team’s future.

“As a coach, I’m glad to have good runners that will be here for a few
more years,” says Samprone. “It makes my life a lot easier.”

One of the stars of the season was Bethany Loushine. She entered the year with All-Peach Belt Conference Honors.

Loushine continues to add to her young cross country career. She entered her names in the record book four more times. Now she owns nine of the top ten records in the women’s 5k.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Dec 6 2002. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry