9/21/01
Captain Brian McCarthy led the Rhodes men's cross country team, as they took fifth place overall at the Commodore Classic at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Among non-division I schools, the Lynx finished second behind division II West Florida. Belmont University won the team competition, followed by Murray State in second, West Florida in third, and Memphis in fourth. Seventeen teams competed. Belmont's William Kemey, from Eldoret, Kenya, was the men's individual winner in 25:25 on the wet and hilly Vaughn's Creek Course at Percy Warner Park.
McCarthy cruised through a 5:15 flat first mile before gradually moving up through the lead pack as they traversed the hilly middle section of the course. The Birmingham native ran his streak of top-ten finishes to three, as his 27:20 earned him 8th place in the 148-runner field. Colin Strickland was Rhodes' number-two man, running 27:52 for 17th place, and he was followed by Matt Wood, whose 28:08 put him 26th overall. Wood's time was 52 seconds faster than his race last season on the Vanderbilt course. Freshman David Bell edged sophomore Todd Ridley, as the pair took 51st and 52nd places in 29:26 and 29:27, respectively. Ridley was a scorer for the Lynx for the first time this season, as he regains his 2001 form coming off a late-summer illness. Bill Harrison and Matthew Sauter rounded out the Lynx top seven in 55th and 58th.
Full Results
