by Kevin Buczek
CONCORD, N.C.-Senior Sammy Serem earned Third Team All-Conference accolades with a 13th place finish overall in the 2012 Conference Carolinas Championships hosted by Belmont Abbey College at Frank J. Liske Park on Friday afternoon as Barton College claimed sixth place out of nine teams.
Serem garnered All-Conference honors for the first time by slipping inside the top-15 of the league race (1-5 are First Team, 6-10 Second Team and 11-15 Third Team). Serem traversed the 8,000-meter course in 26:40 for an average pace of 5:23 per mile.
The Nindi Hills, Kenya, native was just one minute off the pace of the race champion Jordan Noe from King College. Serem becomes the first Barton men's harrier to earn All-Conference distinction under the direction of third year head coach Karen Godlock.
Barton – picked to finish eighth in the preseason coaches' poll – placed sixth out of nine teams with the help of top-30 results out of 82 total racers by senior Christopher Free and sophomore Austin Edmonds.
Free crossed the finish line in 27:41 to place 22nd overall. Edmonds took 32 seconds off his 8k collegiate PR time to finish 29th when he clocked in at 28:03. Sophomore Daniel Strutton (30:25) and junior Walter Ngeno (31:40) completed the Bulldogs scoring in 56th and 65th, respectively.
The Royal Blue and White has steadily climbed the ranks in the Conference Carolinas Championships under the leadership of Coach Godlock. The Bulldogs were 10th in 2009, 9th in 2010, 8th in 2011. Barton's sixth place finish is the program's best showing in the league championship since the Bulldogs also finished sixth in 2005.
Barton will next compete in the 2012 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional hosted by Queens University of Charlotte at McAlpine Creek Park on Saturday, November 3. The men's 10k race is scheduled to start at 10 a.m.
Barton Results
13. Sammy Serem (26:40.89)
22. Christopher Free (27:41.18)
29. Austin Edmonds (28:03.73)
56. Daniel Strutton (30:25.27)
65. Walter Ngeno (31:40.61)
