College of Charleston
Mountaineer Open
Cross Country Performs Well at Mountaineer Open
10/5/2013 9:22:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
Boone, N.C. – The College of Charleston men's and women's cross country teams performed well on Friday, finishing in fifth and third place respectively at the Mountaineer Open – an event hosted by Appalachian State.
Competing against a strong field comprised of former Southern Conference rivals Appalachian State and Elon, as well as nationally regarded Virginia Tech, the Cougars – who were competing with a full squad for the first time this season – continued their high-quality start to the season.
“We're making progress,” said head coach Amy Seago. “We've obviously started the season very strong, but we still have some work to if we're going to achieve our goals at the CAA Championships.”
The men were paced by the talented duo of Mackenzie Johnson (Hilton Head, S.C.) and Adam Seften (Bolton, Conn.). Johnston and Seften have been fantastic in the early stages of the season – both having been named CAA Runner of the Week – and were again at the front of the pack on Friday finishing in 11th and 15th place amongst a field of 65 runners. Also performing well in his first meet for the Cougar men was freshman runner Nicolaus Putnam (Columbia, S.C.), finishing with an overall time of 27:44.82, good enough for 39th position.
“Another great meet for Mackenzie and Adam,” said Seago. “They really got out fast in that first mile and went for it. They both did really well and surpassed our previous team bests for this course.”
On the women's side, it was junior Hayley MacMahon (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) running at the front of the pack, finishing in 11th place with a time of 18:45.91. Trish Rein (Philadelphia, Pa.) also kept up the pace, finishing with a time of 19:04.36.
Carlee Cassidy (Lindsay, Ontario), Danielle Sams (Goose Creek, S.C.) and sophomore Kornelia Kostka (Kielce, Poland) all finished in the top-30, giving the Cougars the kind of quality depth in the 3-6 positions that will serve the team well going forward.
“I thought the women ran well,” said Seago. “Our times don't necessarily reflect how well we ran. Hayley put down a great first mile and got to work with some tough competition up front. Trish continued to be strong and it was really good to see Kora (Kostka) back in the mix.”
Cougar cross country is back in action, Friday, Oct. 18., at the Black and Gold Invitational in Orlando, Fla., hosted by the University of Central Florida.
College of Charleston Results:
Men's 8K:
Team: 5th
Johnston, Mackenzie -- 25:30.40
Seften, Adam -- 25:50.35
Putnum, Nicolaus -- 27:44.82
Couch, Matthew -- 28:11.06
Tierney, Joshua -- 28:20.86
McMahon, Sean -- 28:22.07
Wood, Tyler -- 28:39.75
Tyler, Andrew -- 28:42.90
Ruppe, Christopher -- 29:40.22
Poisson, Austin -- 30:44.97
Women's 5K
Team: 3rd
McMahon, Hayley -- 18:45.91
Rein, Patricia -- 19:04.36
Cassidy, Carlee -- 19:20.07
Sams, Danielle -- 19:25.40
Kostka, Kornelia -- 19:40.88
Quintana, Laura -- 20:02.32
Sanders, Emily -- 20:23.24
Witkowski, Casey -- 20:39.61
Butcher, Cara -- 21:12.69
Brelsford, Mary -- 21:34.67
Catoe, Hannah -- 21:42.53
Moseley, Alexandra -- 22:26.81
Players Mentioned
