10/5/02
Florida freshman Colin Strickland led the Rhodes men's cross country team, as they earned 4th overall at the Rhodes Invitational. Birmingham Southern won the eleven-team meet with 40 points. Rhodes' captain and lead runner Brian McCarthy sat out of his last home cross country meet in order to take law school entrance exams. Southern Arkansas finished 2nd, ahead of the University of Alabama at Huntsville in 3rd, while Rhodes' 4th place team finish put them ahead of conference foes Sewanee (5th), Hendrix (7th), and Southwestern (11th). Birmingham Southern's Lars Porter recorded his first career individual meet title, covering the rolling eight-kilometer course in 26:12.
Strickland used an even-paced approach to gradually move up through the 97-runner field, en route to his 4th place individual finish. His time of 26:44 was a personal best by 63 seconds, a clear demonstration of his significant increases in both strength and college racing experience this season. Fellow conference freshman Lucas Ridley of Sewanee edged Strickland by 3 seconds, foreshadowing the potential for an exciting rivalry over the next four years. Matt Wood was Rhodes' number two man, earning 14th place with a time of 27:37. Senior Bill Harrison ran to a personal best of 28:06, good for 19th place in his last collegiate race at Plough Park. Todd Ridley continued his blaze down the comeback trail, following Harrison closely in 22nd place with 28:13. Matthew Sauter had his strongest race of the season, taking 28th place in 28:29. The Germantown, Tennessee, native is ahead of his pace from last year, despite a late-summer injury that hampered his early-season progress. Heath Henderson, whose 28:54 for 32nd represented a 62-second personal best, and John Mowrey (36th in 29:06) rounded out the Lynx top seven.
In all, fourteen of the eighteen Lynx runners earned seasonal or career bests, and all but five finished under 30 minutes. The Portland, Maine, pair of freshman John Harrison and junior Morgan Tribuno shattered the half-hour barrier by 50 and 35 seconds, respectively. Assistant coach Dan Schofer reflected positively on the team's overall performance at the home meet, saying, "With many strong individual races today, it is clear that we are moving in the right direction as a team, and that with continued hard work and focus, we will be in position to achieve our team goals in November."
Full Results
