CANTON, Ga. – Oglethorpe's Ashton Deriso has captured this seasons first Southern Athletic Association Athlete of the Week award.
Around the SAA:
Athlete of the Week:
Ashton Deriso | Oglethorpe | GR | Ocala, Fla. – set the school record for cross country 5k with a third-place finish in a competitive NCAA Division I and Division II field last Friday night in the season opener. He ran 14:50.59, only six seconds off the lead as two runners from NCAA Division I Auburn took the top two spots.
Notable Performances:
- Houston Brooks | Centre | FR | Leitchfield, Ky. – Houston Brooks had a wonderful beginning to his freshman cross country campaign this past weekend at the BC/CC Jamboree hosted on the Berea College Cross Country Course. Brooks toured the 5K course in a spectacular early season time of 15:50 to finish third place overall and helped lead the Centre men to a first-place team finish over NAIA powerhouse University of the Cumberlands.
- Dallas Stricker | Millsaps | FR | Picayune, Miss. – Stricker had a stellar debut against NCAA Division I and Division III as well as NJCAA and NAIA competitors at the City Auto Memphis Twilight XC Classic. Stricker finished in 40th out of 139 finishers, covering his 4-mile trek in 21 minutes, 13.47 seconds on Saturday.
- Jack Collins | Sewanee | FR | New Orleans, La. – Collins won his first collegiate meet as the Tigers competed in the Mountainside Stride meet in Chattanooga on Saturday morning. Collins ran a 19:36.1, crossing the finish line 22 seconds ahead of the second-place runner.
- James Rush | Trinity | SR | Iola, Tx. – Rush, after battling injury on and off for the last three years, made a statement in the season opener by leading the team for the first time in his career. He set a near two-minute PR on the same course he ran a year ago, running an 18:56 (5:04/mi) 6k to lead the team to a fourth-place finish against Division I competition.
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