Due West, SC- Erskine Cross Country opened the 2009 season today at home with an under-distance European style meet. Nine colleges and six high schools were represented during today’s competition. Seniors Adam Groblewski and Joseph Sell took top individual honors finishing first and second leading the men’s team to a second place finish behind Mars Hill. The women were led by Kateryna Slypstova and Katie Henderson who finished 23rd and 25th respectively.
The Erskine men finished the day with 51 team points, only 8 points from Mars Hill who took the team title with 43 points. Erskine’s Groblewski took the lead right before the halfway point and never looked back, finishing the 6k course in 19:49 while Sell earned second place by out-kicking Mars Hill’s Justin Gragg over the last 400m to finish in 20:14. Sophomore Chas Culberson ran a solid race finishing 8th overall with a time of 20:55 and was followed by Chance Ellison (22:09) and Matt Diaz (22:19). Robert McCarthy rounded out the men’s team as he finished in 22:44.
Erskine junior Liz Loftis followed Slypstova and Henderson to finish the 4k course in 19:16. Katie Moore finished next for the Fleet in 19:40 while freshman Mandy Brandon rounded out the scoring Erskine women in 20:10. Becky Fick and Sarah Money finished next for the Fleet in 20:39 and 20:41 respectively. The women’s team finished 8th out of 9 teams.
Liberty High took top honors as they finished first, second, third, fifth, and seventh for a near perfect score of 18. Jake Goodnough took the individual title. Emerald High finished next with 64 points.
On the girls side, Shannon Forest earned top honors by putting four runners in the top seven for a team score of 21. Olivia Cummins took first with an 18:20 but was quickly followed by teammate Frazier Beane in 18:25. Emerald High, led by Allie Moore and Emmeline Wheeler, took second with 40 points.