Oct. 2, 2005

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The UNC Asheville men's and women's cross country teams enjoyed an excellent meet at the Mercer Invitational on Saturday. Both teams finished in second place behind Kennesaw State.

"I was real pleased with both teams on Saturday," commented Asheville head coach Dean Duncan. "We had several runners set personal records and everyone who ran did a good job and showed improvement."

The men's team finished in second place with 45 points, while the women's squad earned second place with 125 points.

In the men's race, the Bulldogs earned their second place finish with four runners finishing in the top 13 over the 8K course. Senior David Bell set the pace for Asheville as he finished with a time 26:04 and came in seventh place. Right behind him was junior Jonathan Harmon, who came in ninth place with a time of 26:17.

Senior Root Kirbach took an 11th place with a time of 26:22, while Taylor Little came in 13th place with a time of 26:28. Andrew Burnette ran a personal best of 27:22 and came in 25th place.

"We had our upper classmen run with our freshmen early in the race to get them going," stated Duncan. "I think that helped everybody run a little faster today, and we did a great job to finish in second place in this meet."

On the women's side, Emily Mase led the way for the Bulldogs. She finished in 11th place over the 5K course and finished with a time of 18:49. The 18:49 time for Mase is a personal best for the sophomore.

Ingrid Allsteadt also ran a personal best on Saturday as she finished in 21st place with a time of 19:28. Elsa Allsteadt came in 27th place at a time of 19:40. Sophomore Hannah Bohlen came in 50th with a time of 20:38.

"I was quite pleased with the way our women ran, as well," added Duncan. "We had some personal records today on a tough course."

The Bulldogs run again next Saturday (Oct. 8) at the Furman Invitational.