DAVIDSON, N.C. – Fresh off their best-ever Southern Conference Championships performance, the Davidson men’s cross country team will return to the site of one of their top regular season performances when they compete in the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships on Saturday, hosted by the University of Louisville and Greater Louisville Sports Commission at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park. The 10K race is set to start at 10 a.m.
The race will feature five nationally-ranked teams, including eighth-ranked defending Southeast Region Champion William and Mary, No. 16 North Carolina State, No. 19 Virginia, No. 24 Louisville and No. 30 Duke. Davidson enters the race ranked 14th in the Southeast region.
The top-two teams and the top-four individuals in each race will earn automatic bids to the 2009 NCAA Championships on Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Ind. The top-25 finishers will be named to the USTFCCCA All-Region team.
When the ’Cats last visited Louisville on Oct. 3, senior
Lance Harden led the team to it’s best-ever finish in a major invitational: sixth out of 38 teams. Harden completed the 8K course in 24 minutes, 44 seconds to set a 16-second personal best and a new school record by 13 seconds for the distance.
Harden was recently named the SoCon Men’s Runner of the Month for October, an honor he also garnered in September. He also led the ‘Cats to a second-place finish at the Southern Conference Championships on Oct. 31 at Elon.
Harden completed the 8K course in 25:06 to place third and earn a place on the All-Southern Conference First Team. Sophomore
Ryan Hopkins finished eighth in 25:33 to garner second-team all-conference honors. 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.
Davidson will look to improve on last year’s 21st-place finish. Harden led the ‘Cats with a time of 33:07 in Tanglewood State Park in Clemmons, N.C.