by Kevin Buczek
CHARLOTTE, N.C.-Sophomore Ericka Skinner captured All-Region attention with a top-10 individual finish to pace the Barton College cross country teams at the 2011 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional hosted by Queens University of Charlotte at McAlpine Creek Park Saturday morning.
Barton men finished 20th out of 24 teams and the Lady Bulldogs placed 22nd out of 26 regional institutions.
Skinner, from Hopedale, Ohio, placed eighth out of 189 harriers in the women's 6,000-meter race to obtain All-Southeast Region praise for the second time. The 2010 NCAA Division II National Championship qualifier was 22 seconds off the pace needed to make a return trip to nationals as an individual with a time of 22:19. Skinner's time of 21:57 from last year was the exact time posted by the third and final individual qualifier this season.
Four of the Lady Bulldogs final six runners were freshman as the young squad gained valuable experience for next season. Freshman Cimone Barbour (Dale City, Va.) led the group with a time of 25:46. Junior Alexa Tovella (Bartlett, Ill.) followed Barbour across the finish line four seconds later at 25:50. Freshman Marissa Denton (Las Vegas, Nev.) completed the endurance race in 26:14; Freshman Lauren Andreola (Newport, N.C.) produced a time of 27:46; Freshman Andrea Roca (Jacksonville, N.C.) clocked in at 28:01; and senior Ashley Freeman (Cary, N.C.) completed her collegiate career with a time of 28:27, which was 48 seconds faster than her time from a year ago.
On the men's side, the senior tandem of Sammy Serem (Nindi Hills, Kenya) and Chris Free (Virginia Beach, Va.) once again led Barton with top-100 performances out of 169 runners. Serem paced the Bulldogs with a time of 34:07 to finish 71st overall. Free finished the 10k at McAlpine Creek Park over one minute faster than he did in 2010, but he only finished one spot better than last year due to the growing strength of the Southeast Region. Free completed the lengthy trek in 34:30 to place 84th.
Freshman Austin Edmonds (Sandy Ridge, N.C.) completed a promising rookie season for Barton with time of 35:40. The next three Bulldogs all finished within one minute of each other as freshman Daniel Strutton (Rocky Mount, N.C.) posted a time of 37:23, junior Walter Ngeno (Kericho, Kenya) logged a speed of 37:32 and senior Philip Averre (Wake Forest, N.C.) recorded a time of 38:15. Freshman Tyrone Flemings Jr. (Dale City, Va.) capped Barton's day with a time of 40:06.
Averre's time was over three minutes faster than his time last season.
The host Royals swept both team titles as the Queens men's team is ranked 13th nationally and the QUC women are ranked 17th. The Mount Olive College men's team and the University of Montevallo women's team qualified alongside Queens for the National Championship as the runner-ups in the respective races.
Barton Men 20th/24
71st – Sammy Serem (34:07.1)
84th – Chris Free (34:30.1)
115th – Austin Edmonds (35:40.4)
141st – Daniel Strutton (37:23.1)
144th – Walter Ngeno (37:32.2)
151st – Philip Averre (38:15.2)
164th – Tyrone Flemings (40:06.3)
Barton Women 22nd/26
8th – Ericka Skinner (22.19.5)
126th – Cimone Barbour (25:46.1)
129th – Alexa Tovella (25:50.2)
141st – Marisa Denton (26:14.7)
160th – Lauren Andreola (27:46.5)
163rd – Andrea Roca (28:01.7)
168th – Ashley Freeman (28:27.4)
