Friday, October 06, 2006

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. (Oct. 6, 2006) - The ETSU men's cross country team won the Gardner-Webb 6K Dual competition Friday evening, behind Michael Deren's (Blasdell, N.Y.) first collegiate win of his career. The Bucs finished first as a team with 40 points, followed by Kennesaw State (50), Gardner-Webb (62), Campbell (96), UNC-Asheville (119) and Wofford (140). ETSU also swept away the competition in the head-to-head double dual portion of the meet as well.

Deren completed the race with a time of 18:59, as he has led the Bucs across the finish line in three consecutive meets this season. Before his top finish this evening, Deren's previous best came in his first-ever collegiate race as he finished ninth at the Virginia Tech Invitational last season.

The men were also backed by solid efforts from sophomore Jeff Crane (Taylors, S.C.) who finished fourth with a mark of 19:30, and five seconds behind Crane was freshman Kenneth Rotich (Sotik, Kenya) in fifth. Rounding out the Bucs was senior Josh Hicks (Riceville, Tenn.) who finished 13^th (20:16) and sophomore David McDaniel (Elizabethton, Tenn.) completed the race 17^th overall in 20:44.

"Deren ran tough for us this evening, as this was the most improved race this season," said coach Dave Walker. "I feel like we have made good progress this week, and hopefully we can carry this momentum into our race next week."

            On the women's side, the Lady Bucs brought a full team to the start line for the first time this season. As a team the Bucs finished sixth (143 points), behind Kennesaw State (50), Campbell (53), Gardner-Webb (74), UNC-Asheville (82) and Clemson (128). Wofford rounded out the group in seventh with 192 points.

The women had two runners finish the 4K race in the top-20, as front-runner Vicki Currie (Dumfries, Scotland) led the way for ETSU in 14^th (16:46). Valerie Boothby (Glen Gardner, N.J.) who ran in her first race in a little over a month, finished in 17^th with a time of 16:52. Finishing third for ETSU was Allie Frazier (Knoxville, Tenn.) in 17:29, followed by Christin Zink (Herndon, Va.) with a time of 18:38. Anna Scalf (Piney Flats, Tenn.) made her collegiate debut on Friday finishing in 20:04.

            "The training room has done a great job getting our girls back to start line, as we were able to compete as a full team for the first time this season," added coach Michelle Byrne. "This was our best performance of the season, but we still have a lot of work to do. It was great to see Currie perform strong up front and Boothby had a solid performance after being away from action for the past month."

            The men and women will have a week to prepare as they will be competing in the Blue Ridge Open on Friday, Oct. 13. The meet will be hosted by Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C.