Clayton State men
place second, women fourth at
PBC Cross Country Championships
Lakers’ Mutiso
selected PBC co-Men’s Runner of the Year; five earn
All-Conference honors
  LUMBERTON,
N.C. – October 24, 2009 – Mike Mead had high expectations
for his Clayton State Laker men’s and women’s cross country
teams heading into Saturday’s Peach Belt Conference
Championships, and his teams met those expectations in the
process.
The Laker men finished as Peach Belt Conference runner-up for a
third straight season, while the Laker women placed fourth for
its best finish in the conference since 2006. Clayton State
scored 49 points in the men’s race to finish 25 points off the
pace of champion Columbus State. The Laker women finished with
92 points, only one point behind Montevallo and only five points
behind Georgia College for second place.
Individually for the Clayton State men, the Lakers placed three
runners on the All-PBC team. Junior Fidelis Mutiso earned
first-team All-PBC honors by finishing fourth overall with a
time of 26:23.76 in the 8K event. Before the meet, Mutiso was
selected as the PBC co-runner of the year along with individual
PBC champion Meshack Koyiaki.
Freshman Stephen Bowers and junior Joey Chino each earned second
team All-PBC honors. Bowers finished a strong seventh in a time
of 27:09.42, while Chino finished 10 th
in 27:13.42. In addition, Ezra Mutai barely missed All-PBC
honors with an 11th-place
finish in 27:14.99, while Jarrid Casimir placed 17th
in 27:49.37 and Ayrton Azcue placed 24th
in 28:30.67.
Ricky Fort rounded out the Clayton State runners by placing 36th
in 29:44.64.
In the women’s race, the Lakers garnered two Top Five finishes
for first team All-PBC honors. Junior Chelsea Ellis finished
third in the 6K event in 23:04.37, while sophomore Kourtney
Aylor finished fifth overall in 23:59.37.
In addition to the All-PBC duo, Tamara Marshall turned in one of
her top performances on the season, finishing 21st
in 25:09.20, while Paige Galvin turned in 28th
in 25:28.68 and Rene Mares placed 35th
in 25:54.40. Rounding out the Laker scoring included Megan
Barnes finishing 40th
in 26:27.30 and Masiah Hutchinson finished 61st
in 29:23.03.
Both Clayton State teams will take the week off and prepare for
the NCAA Division II Southeast Regionals at Wingate on Nov. 7.
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