University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
A-Sun Championships
Eubanks Leads Upstate at A-Sun Championships
11/1/2014 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
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Men's Highlights | Women's Highlights
DeBary, Fla. – Griffin Eubanks paced the USC Upstate cross country team Saturday morning as he finished eighth to earn Second Team All-Conference accolades, while the men finished fifth and the women eighth during the A-Sun Championships held at River City Nature Park.
Eubanks was the top performer for Upstate as he completed the 8K course in 25:34.13 to become the sixth Spartan to earn A-Sun All-Conference honors, joining Gilbert Kemboi, Davey Dennison, Christian Ritacco, Cameron Thomas and Ross Oden.
"Griffin moved up well in the later stages of the race," said associate head coach Carson Blackwelder. "He had a lot of strength over the last couple miles."
Overall, the Upstate men posted a total time of 2:13:06.23 for the fifth-place showing. Alex Love turned in the second-fastest time as he completed the course in 26:16.85 for a 19th-place finish. He was followed by Theodore Kountourogiannis in 27th place with his time of 26:42.61. Martin Morrow and Cody Ellison crossed the finish line together as Morrow was 36th after a time of 27:10.90 with Ellison coming in 37th at 27:21.74. Riley Doherty was the sixth Spartan to run the course as he turned in a time of 27:35.22 to finish in 41st place. Dan Castello (46th, 28:06.62), Logan Ray (49th, 28:34.65) and Joey Daversa (50th, 28:41.43) rounded out the competition for Upstate.
"The guys did a great job of competing today on a windy, twisty course," added Blackwelder. "I was proud of how they handled themselves and ran to their capabilities."
The Spartan women had a total time of 1:38:41.38 as Jasmine Polite had the best individual performance. The senior ran the 5K course in 18:30.21 to finish in 18th overall. Finishing behind Polite was Anastasia Kolesnitchenko as she completed the course in 39th place with her time of 19:33.00. Essence Jackson and Ashleigh Torres both turned in personal-best times for the second straight race as Jackson was 44th (19:49.99) and Torres 47th (20:00.28). Rebecca Elliott had a 55th-place performance after compiling a time of 20:47.90. Molly Bliss (61st, 21:21.28), Kelsey Warren (62nd, 22:12.29) and Storm-Alexis Gandy (63rd, 22:18.04) would finish behind Elliott. The times compiled by Warren and Gandy were personal-best times for the freshmen.
Lipscomb took home both the men's and women's team championship for the second straight year. Northern Kentucky's JJ Weber won the men's race while Madi Talbert of Lipscomb was the top runner in the women's competition.
Upstate heads to Louisville, Ky. on Friday, Nov. 14 for the NCAA Southeast Regionals.
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