Men Run Sixth, Women Seventh at SoCon Championships

Saturday, November 21

Macon, Ga.

10:00 AM

Mercer University

Southern Conference Championships

Photo by: Jen Jones

Men Run Sixth, Women Seventh at SoCon Championships

11/21/2020 1:45:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Ashley McMahon led the Mercer women in each race this season.

By: Kraig Doremus

MACON, Ga. – For the first time as Southern Conference members, the Mercer Bears hosted the conference championships. The Mercer men came home sixth on Saturday afternoon while the women placed seventh overall.

MEN'S RACE (8K)
The Furman Paladins claimed the championship with 20 points. The sixth-place finish by the Bears is their highest as members of the conference.

For Mercer, Vladi Zander-Velloso, who returned to the course after missing the regular season finale, led the Bears with a 24^th-place finish and a time of 26:43.69. Not far behind him was Josiah Jaqua, who won at the Georgia Premier Cross Country Course on Oct. 30. Jaqua finished 29^th overall, clocking in at 26:55.22. Southern Conference All-Freshman Team member Josh Kraver, the sixth-highest finishing freshman, was timed at 27:01.30, placing him 32^nd overall. Fuad Batteh was the fourth Bear to cross the finish line. Batteh ran the event in 27:10.86 and finished 35^th. Reece Cato was four seconds behind Kraver, running the 8K in 27:14.24, finishing 37^th.

MEN'S RESULTS

PLACE	NAME		TIME
24		Vladi Zander-Velloso	26:43.69
29		Josiah Jaqua	26:55.22
32		Josh Kraver	27:01.30
35		Fuad Batteh	27:10.86
37		Reece Cato	27:14.24
48		Mikey Patterson	27:38.43
67		Chris French	28:38.63
73		Diego Lavieri Sosa	29:07.99
76		Rob Zell	29:18.32
81		Camden Abrams	29:34.66
83		Dalton Hollis	30:06.58

COACH JOSH HAYMAN QUOTABLE
"Our guys showed great improvement from one year ago. Vladi [Zander-Velloso] and Josiah [Jaqua] ran well today and paced our squad. I am proud of the effort the team gave this season and am excited for what we're building in Macon."

WOMEN'S RACE (5K)
Furman also won the women's championship, scoring 28 points.

Ashley McMahon paced the Mercer women for their fifth and final event of the season. She secured a top-20 finish with a time of 19:07.18. Not far behind the Fayetteville, Ga. native was senior Marina Van Sickle. Van Sickle crossed the line in 26^th (19:22.37) with a new personal best. Guilia Giorgi secured a top-40 position, clocking in at 19:53.89. Whitney Johnson (47^th) and Zoe Sanchez (52^nd) had race times of 20:29.04 and 20:45.69.

WOMEN'S RESULTS

PLACE	NAME		TIME
20		Ashley McMahon	19:07.18
26		Marina Van Sickle	19:22.37
39		Giulia Giorgi	19:53.89
47		Whitney Johnson	20:29.04
52		Zoe Sanchez	20:45.69
53		Jerrica Hanson	20:53.89
57		Jaycie Calvert	21:19.86
68		Bella Rhone	22:12.15
73		Isabella LeBlanc	23:55.67

COACH JOSH HAYMAN QUOTABLE
"Ashley has been incredibly consistent for us all season and did a great job pacing the team in each race. I'm happy with our result today and am excited about the improvement that we showed from 2019. We will work hard in the offseason to continue building on this positive momentum."

FOLLOW THE BEARS
For complete coverage of Mercer Cross Country, follow the team at @MercerXCTF (Twitter), /mercerxctf (Facebook) and @mercerbearsxctf (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.