ATLANTA (October 19, 2016) – The 2016 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championship will take place on Friday, Oct. 21 on the campus of Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C.
The men’s 8k race will begin at 9 a.m. (ET) with the women’s 5k race to follow immediately. The awards ceremony is scheduled to start at 11:30 a.m.
The combined championship represents the 34
th installment which is free and open to the public.
Live results will be available by
CLICKING HERE.
Benedict, the reigning SIAC men’s cross country champions, finished last year’s race with a team score of 35 points and placed three runners in the top 10.
Morehouse finished second in the team standings with 138 points ahead of Albany State (97) in third. Kentucky State was fourth (114), followed by Clark Atlanta (136), Tuskegee (157), Claflin (216), Paine (223), LeMoyne-Owen (292), Fort Valley State (294), Miles (307), Central State (321), and Lane (341).
Senior Dessie Demlew of Benedict was named the Most Valuable Runner for the second consecutive season and was the top overall finisher with a time of 25:38.02. Demlew has been named the SIAC Cross Country Male Runner of the Week twice this season. His best race came at the Royals XC Challenge where he posted a time of 24:56.8 and finished 14
th out of 365 runners.
Also performing well this year has been sophomore Trey Simons of Morehouse who has won three SIAC weekly honors. Simons’ best race in 2016 was at the Great American XC Festival - HBCU Challenge where he finished first with a time of 24:47.2.
On the women’s side, Clark Atlanta claimed the SIAC championship title in 2015 after completing the 5k race with a team score of 51 points.
Benedict finished second with 66 points and Albany State followed in third with 72 points. Claflin (93) was fourth, ahead of Paine (125), Kentucky State (157), Tuskegee (202), Central State (277), Lemoyne-Owen (277), Miles (293), Lane (294), and Fort Valley State (326).
Jenella John, a senior from Benedict returns as last year’s top performer after finishing second with a time of 20:47.92. Senior Curshonne Johnson of Clark Atlanta also returns and placed third (20:58.02) at last year’s championship meet.
Freshman Channelle Wong of Albany State has been selected as the SIAC Female Runner of the Week twice this season. Wong’s best race was at the CSU invitational where she finished third with a time of 20:02.7.
Full coverage of the championship will be available at
www.thesiac.com and via our social media outlets on Twitter (
@theSIAC), Facebook (
theSIAC) and Instagram (
@theSIAC).
For more information, visit the championship page by
CLICKING HERE