Jenkins wins individual title; Huntingdon men repeat as GSAC cross country champions
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Senior Jeff Jenkins won the individual title and the Huntingdon men's cross country team won its second straight Great South Athletic Conference title on Saturday. This is the third GSAC championship for the fourth-year program.
The Hawks finished with a score of 34. Piedmont was second at 41.
"This was the goal for our guys," Huntingdon head coach Nate Rucker said. "The race developed early and we looked good from the gun. The guys stepped up and did what they needed to do to win conference."
Jenkins won the 8k race with a time of 28:57.69.
"I've been all-conference every year but I've never won it until now. To be able to win it this year feels great," Jenkins said. "I got off to a pretty good start, settled in with the top five and watched the race play out. By the second mile, I was in second and I decided to make a move and take the lead.
"From there, I did my best to separate from the rest, knowing that my six teammates were going to take care of business. We all knew what we had to do and we took care of business today."
Rucker said he was happy for Jenkins and excited for his entire team.
"Jeff was the first runner to commit to the men's program when we were starting it. This has been his goal and what a way to go out his senior year," Rucker said. "I'm proud of all our guys today. Alex Taylor, Patrick Cross, Ian Layne, McDowell Pinckard, Alex Dunkel and Drayton Rodgers all did what they needed to do to help us bring home the title. You have to give credit to the whole team."
Cross, Taylor, Layne and Pinckard each finished in the Top-12 and all seven runners finished in the Top-24. Cross was fifth with a time of 29:54.65, Taylor was sixth (30:24.50), Layne was 10th (31:11.22) and Pinckard was 12th (31:43.71). Dunkel was 23rd (35:28.45) and Rodgers was 24th (35:42.50).