University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Liberty
Bulldog Cross Country Teams Finish Sixth at Big South Preview
09.20.2008 | Cross Country
LYNCHBURG, VA. - The UNC Asheville men's and women's cross country teams both finished in sixth place at the Liberty Big South Preview on Saturday morning.
The the men's team finished with 132 points, putting them just one point behind fifth place Radford. Liberty won the race with 29 points as the Flames had six runners place in the top 20.
Asheville senior Andrew Burnette carried the team in the absence of senior Adam Matthews, who missed Saturday's meet with an injury. Burnette led the way for the Bulldogs in the 8-kilometer race with a 15th place finish at a time of 27:27.
Head coach Jesse Norman was impressed with Burnette's performance.
"Andrew did a good job, "said Norman. "He beat a lot of people who beat him last year at the conference meet, so he's progressing really well at this point. He stepped up and filled the void we had by not having Adam Matthews with us."
Burnette was followed by freshman Sam Maynard in 20th (27:48), freshman Kent Rankin in 28th (28:51), freshman Jake Latini in 33rd (29:18), junior Adam Vick in 45th (30:41), and freshman Dylan Ellison in 47th (32:02).
In the women's 5K, Coastal Carolina captured the team title with a seven point lead over host Liberty.
Freshman Emma Bussard was the top performer for the Bulldogs with a 24th place finish in 21:10.
Bussard has been the number one finisher for the Bulldogs in all three races this year, but Norman says she is still getting used to the nature of collegiate races.
"Emma's doing pretty well right now," said Norman. "She doesn't feel like she's racing up to par because she's going through the adjustment of not being able to run away from people like she did in high school."
Bussard was followed by freshman Michelle Busse in 33rd (21:51), freshman Mackenzie Wheaton in 38th (22:14), sophomore Katherine Clark in 39th (22:16), junior Katie Olert in 42nd (22:37), and freshman Erin Putnam in 46th (23:21).
Overall, Norman was with pleased with how the men's team performed without Matthews, but he wants the women's team to become more confident before the next meet.
"We did a pretty good job on the men's side with not having our number one guy," said Norman. "On the women's side, we have a lot of work we still need to do. I have to get the girls moving and have them become more confident in themselves for us to get better results"
The Bulldogs will race again on Oct. 4 at the Greater Louisville Classic hosted by the University of Louisville.
Players Mentioned
