Bobcat Men Run to a Ninth Place Finish at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships

by Brian DeCandia, sports information graduate assisstant

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Georgia College men’s cross country placed ninth at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships Saturday morning. Five of seven runners placed in the top-60 for the Bobcats at McAlpine Park, led by junior Daniel Horseman (Cohutta, Ga.) who took 25th.

Pacing the Bobcats for the fifth time this season, Horseman crossed the finish line in the 10K race at 32:51, shattering the previous school record by a full minute set in 2008 (Rob Manning, 33:56). Junior Tyler Mattix (Snellville, Ga.) would have also broken the school record finishing 45th with a time of 33:46.

Freshman Philip Laskey (Marietta, Ga.) finished 50th in 34:00 at his first regional championship. Laskey’s time ranks fourth in the school recordbooks.

Juniors Colin Conroy (Dacula, Ga.) and Lawrenceville native Manning  finished neck and neck with Conroy placing 56th (34:10) and Manning finishing one second behind in 57th. The two times rank fifth and sixth, respectively in the school’s 10K history.

The Bobcats finished with 228 points, only seven points behind eighth place Lees McRae College. Mars Hill College finished third with 118 points, Columbus State University finished third with 79 and host Queens University won the Southeast Regional for the fourth year in a row with 36 points. The Bobcats ranked third among Peach Belt Conference (PBC) schools.

Columbus State’s Meshack Koyiaki won the individual title with a time of 29:45.

The race brings to a close the 2010 season for Bobcat cross country, a year that saw Horseman snap both the 8K and 10K distance school records. The GC men also finished in the top three in each of their first six races, including a victory at the Young Harris Invitational. Horseman became the seventh All-PBC men’s runner in school history.

The Georgia College Department of Athletics, back-to-back winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup, sponsors 10 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' multiple appearances in post-season competition as well as documented academic success and community-service involvement. Sign up at www.twitter.com/GCSUBobcats and www.facebook.com/gcbobcats for up-to-the-minute reports, and visit www.GCBobcats.com for more information, and to nominate your favorite former Bobcats and Colonials to the GC Athletics Hall of Fame.