FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Contact:  Robert Preston, Jr.,
              912.260.4276
              robert.preston@sgc.edu

Five Tigers Set PRs at Stetson Meet

Daquan Jackson ran a season-best 31:53 at the Sodexho Stetson Hatter Invitational in DeLand, Fla., on Friday, Oct. 16. For Jackson and the rest of the SGC cross country team, the Sodexho was the largest and most competitive field the team has faced all year. The meet featured 18 teams, including 10 Division I schools, and 319 total runners (176 women and 143 men).

Once again, the SGC team ran under threatening skies. Forecasts for central Florida called for a 60 percent chance of showers, which can turn a nice cross country course into a muddy mess quickly. Fortunately for both the men and women, the rain stayed away and the runners were able to finish their respective races in relatively dry conditions.

The course featured flat and smooth terrain, the exact opposite of what the Tigers ran in the previous week in North Georgia. The team has raced against some very talented cross country runners this season, but they have nothing like their competition on Friday. Jackson, who can run with most of the better runners in SGC’s conference, found himself in the back half of the pack from the beginning of the race. Though he turned in a personal best 31:53, he was unable to finish higher than 99th out of 143. Oscar Alvarado also ran a personal best, finishing in 33:39 (112th place). Angel Garet (35:58), Tyler Sherman (38:19), Howard Stanley (39:17), Andrew Palmer (44:26) and Joseph Dennis (48:40) rounded out SGC’s field.

In the women’s race, Shemeka Brown recovered from her disappointing race in Marietta to turn in the second-best time of her cross country season, a 25:01 effort – good enough for a spot in the top 150.

In the team classification, SGC finished in 17th place, 11 points ahead of Bethune-Cookman.

The women’s overall winner, Mackenzie Howe of Kennesaw State University, ran 17:42, while the men’s winner, Cameron Marantz of Philadelphia, broke the 25 minute barrier with a 24:57.

“This is the kind of competition our runners need to see. They need to see first-hand what the best runners in the Southeast are doing. Watching women break six minutes per mile and men go under five minutes a mile something they’ve never witnessed. Our season is almost over, but those who will return next year now know what they need to do in order to be competitive,” said SGC coach Robert Preston Jr.

The Tigers have one meet left this season, the conference championships at Darton College in Albany on Oct. 31. “We are peaking at the right time. Everyone’s times are falling – Daquan, Oscar, Angel, Tyler and Howard set personal records Saturday. We are working on our final preparation for the conference championships at the end of the month,” said Preston.
 

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About South Georgia College

South Georgia College (www.sgc.edu) was founded in 1906 and is a two-year institution in the University System of Georgia. Located in Douglas, Ga., the college's environment gives students exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty.