Cross Country 10/28/2017 2:06:00 PM

KEEVEY EARNS ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS AT BIG SOUTH XC CHAMPIONSHIPS

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LYNCHBURG, Va. – Senior Carrie Keevey etched her name in the history books with a fourth-place finish and all-conference honors at the 2017 Big South Cross Country Championships Saturday morning. Both the Radford men and women took fifth in the overall team standings.

Entering the Championships with a 5K personal record of 18:40 from the Royals XC Challenge earlier this season, Keevey surpassed even her own lofty expectations to run a blistering 18:33.3 and cross the finish line fourth out of 74 runners.

Keevey, an Ashburn, Va. native, ran a 24:40 5K in high school and only joined the Radford cross country program this year following a stellar showing at the Highlander Half marathon back in April. Now, Keevey is the first Highlander woman to earn All-Big South status since 2014 and only the seventh different female runner to earn the distinction in the last 20 years.

"To get off to such a great start on this tough course is impressive, but Carrie only moved up from there," Thatcher glowed. "To see her take fourth against some great runners in this conference is a huge credit to her work ethic. You can't say enough good things about what Carrie Keevey has done for us all year long."

The next Highlander to cross the finish line was freshman Annsley Eckert, who posted a time of 20:06.0 to place 29^th. Junior Percie Lyons was right behind her with a 31^st-place finish and a time of 20:10.0.

Senior Mariah Quintero took 39^th with a time of 20:31.4 and sophomore Olivia Hodge completed the race in 48^th with a time of 21:12.0 to round out the Radford scoring. In total, Radford tallied 137 points and a 20:07 average time.

Freshman Ellie Look (55^th, 21:54.5), freshman Naomi Brindley (59^th, 22:03.1) and junior Amber Street (65^th, 22:43.2) also completed the 5K for the Highlanders. Street also beat her previous PR, which stood at 23:30.3 from the 2017 Big South Preview held on the same course.

"Our women had a goal of getting under 150 points and we did that today," continued Thatcher. "It's only the third time in the last 17 years that we've been able to achieve that goal so I'm really proud of them."

Big-time effort from senior Haben Zemichael and redshirt sophomore Ashenafi Kidanu had the Highlander duo within striking distance of All-Big South honors, but they were just outside the necessary top-12.

Zemichael placed 14^th after running a 26:30.0 despite dealing with an injury coming into Saturday and Kidanu came in right behind in 16^th with a time of 26:34.9.

"I have to give huge credit to Haben running with a hamstring injury that popped up within the last week," Thatcher said. "And Ash's ability to jump up 20 spots from around 35th where I had him at one point in the race was key to us competing with some of the top teams."

Sophomore Mak Casey turned in a time of 27:04.4 to take 23^rd while freshman Juan Cisneros and senior Frisco Poole held 29^th and 30^th with times of 27:20.8 and 27:26.2 respectively.

With five men's runners all placing in the top-30 of the 79-runner 8K, the Highlanders tallied 107 points. The UNC Asheville Bulldogs just edged Radford out for fourth with 105 points.

Freshman Carson Fernandez was the next Highlander to finish, taking 36^th with a time of 27:40.0. Junior Kyle Hetrick (65^th, 30:34.4) and freshman Neil Lucas (69^th, 31:06.9) gave Radford its final two finishers of the day.

"The men really put their best foot forward today," concluded Thatcher. "Having several injuries to contend with was obviously difficult, but we did even better than what I had projected. Our guys really stepped up and made it their best race of the year."

The conference's best performers in the classroom were recognized as well on Saturday. Each team in the 10-team league had one student-athlete awarded for their excellence in the classroom.

Mak Casey was named to the men's Big South All-Academic team with a 3.58 GPA while double majoring in Marketing and Management and Percie Lyons was named to the women's Big South All-Academic Team with a 3.98 GPA while majoring in Physics.

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Final Men's Team Scores
1) Campbell – 38
2) Liberty – 42
3) Charleston Southern – 86
4) UNC Asheville – 105
5) Radford – 107
6) High Point – 159
7) Winthrop – 211
8) Gardner-Webb – 242
9) Presbyterian – 244
10) Longwood – 277

Final Women's Team Scores
1) High Point – 29
2) Campbell – 75
3) Liberty – 80
4) UNC Asheville – 109
5) Radford – 137
6) Winthrop – 155
7) Charleston Southern – 159
8) Gardner-Webb – 207
9) Presbyterian – 236
10) Longwood – 297

Men's Runner of the Year
Amon Kemboi, Campbell

Women's Runner of the Year
Famke Heinst, High Point

Men's Freshman of the Year
Amon Kemboi, Campbell

Women's Freshman of the Year
Famke Heinst, High Point

Men's Coach of the Year
Michael Kelly, Campbell

Women's Coach of the Year
Remy Tamer, High Point

Men's Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Keaton Poole, Gardner-Webb

Women's Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Gabrielle Cortese, Gardner-Webb

Men's All-Academic Team
Hunter Gilbert, Campbell
Jeryck Wilson, Charleston Southern
Keaton Poole, Gardner-Webb
Alejandro Juan Torres, High Point
James Zentmeyer, Liberty
Duncan Gotfredson, Presbyterian
Mak Casey, Radford
Zach Boone, UNC Asheville
Kevin Mills, Winthrop

Women's All-Academic Team
Roshae Jackson, Campbell
Bethany Thornhill, Charleston Southern
Gabrielle Cortese, Gardner-Webb
Zoe Geis, High Point
Kammi Kurtz, Liberty
Casey Ripp, Longwood
Sally Hart, Presbyterian
Percie Lyons, Radford
Phoebe Schneider, UNC Asheville
Victoria Burdette, Winthrop

UP NEXT
The Highlanders will head back to where the 2017 season started, Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., for the Hokie Open on Friday, Nov. 3rd. The meet is set to begin at 4:30 p.m.

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