HARDEEVILLE, S.C. – SCAD-Savannah placed five runners in the top eight finishers and ran away with the Bees’ fifth straight title in The Sun Conference 2019 Men’s Cross Country Championship on Saturday at the Hardeeville School Complex course near host school USC-Beaufort.
SCAD sophomore Sean Gore won the individual title, covering the eight-kilometer course in a time of 26:16.21, finishing just 3.99 seconds ahead of second-place runner and Sun Freshman of the Year Tommy Cardenas of St. Thomas (26:20.20). Southeastern freshman Alan Galicia Romero finished third and was less than two seconds behind Cardenas.
In addition to Gore’s first-place finish, SCAD placed sophomore Levi Bryant in fourth (26:41.23), sophomore Myles Baynard in fifth (26:51.35), senior Jermaine Jones in seventh (26:55.91) and senior Max Groff in eighth (26:56.43). Other top-10 finishers included Ave Maria senior Gabriel Hogan who ran sixth (26:53.12), Southeastern freshman Stephen Ward who was ninth (26:59.19) and USC-Beaufort sophomore Tewodros Eckstein who ran 10
th (27:04.92).
Following SCAD (25) in the team race were Southeastern (50), St. Thomas (66), Ave Maria (131), Warner (174), USC-Beaufort (174), Thomas (185), Keiser (201) and Webber International (231).
SCAD earns The Sun Conference’s automatic berth into the 36-team NAIA Championships. At-large team berths and all individual qualifiers will be announced after the final regular-season coaches poll is released this week.
The Sun’s All-Conference teams and special awards were announced at the conclusion of the race, with the exception of the Runner of the Year which will be determined in a ballot of the league’s coaches following the NAIA Championship meet on Nov. 22 in Vancouver, Wash.
The top seven finishers in the Conference Championship are named to the All-Sun first team, with the seventh-through-14
th finishers making up the second team. The Freshman of the Year is the top frosh finisher in the conference meet. The Coach of the Year and the sport’s Champion of Character award winner are chosen in a ballot of the head coaches.
The Sun Conference Men’s Cross Country All-Conference:
First Team
Sean Gore, SCAD-Savannah (Soph.)
Tommy Cardenas, St. Thomas (Fr.)
Alan Galicia Romero, Southeastern (Fr.)
Levi Bryant, SCAD-Savannah (Soph.)
Myles Baynard, SCAD-Savannah (Soph.)
Gabriel Hogan, Ave Maria (Sr.)
Jermaine Jones, SCAD-Savannah (Sr.)
Second Team
Max Groff, SCAD-Savannah (Sr.)
Stephen Ward, Southeastern (Fr.)
Tewodros Eckstein, USC-Beaufort (Soph.)
John Perez-Dunn, Southeastern (Fr.)
Luke Kathman, Southeastern (Soph.)
Jose Penalver, St. Thomas (Jr.)
Joenathan Stallings, St. Thomas (Fr.)
Freshman of the Year
Tommy Cardenas, St. Thomas
Champion of Character
Isaiah Boyd, Keiser
Coach of the Year
Brandon Krout, SCAD-Savannah