October 2, 2010

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Mike Koech broke the school record in the men's race and Ashley Schnell followed by doing the same in the women's race for UNCG on Saturday at the Greater Louisville Classic.

"The men ran a very good race today," said coach Linh Nguyen. "Obviously, Mike and Joey did great, breaking the school record by about 20 seconds. Our 7th man today was 25:53, which is faster than our 5th man was last year. We talked about being the best SoCon school in this race as well as proving that we deserve a regional ranking. We beat all the SoCon teams and took down 8 teams that were regionally ranked coming into the meet. I think this was a very good day for our men."

Koech, who broke the previous school record earlier this season, broke that record by 25 seconds on Saturday as he finished in 34^th place with a time of 24:29.47. Joey Thompson was right behind him as he finished in 36^th place in a time of 24:32.79.

AJ Savoia also broke his previous personal-best by 10 seconds by running a 25:21.90.

On the women's side, Schnell broke the school record set in 2003 by nearly 15 seconds as she finished in 18^th place in a time of 17:37.07.

"Again, the women executed our race strategy to perfection," said Nguyen. "We wanted them to get out hard because of the large size of the field. They did just that and ran a very strong race. Ashley looked great taking a top 20 spot in an extremely deep race and broke the school record by about 20 seconds. Shaina went under 18:00 for the first time. Tiffany Garber had a great race, running 30 seconds faster than her last race. The women's team is really coming together. We were the top SoCon team and took down a few regionally ranked teams. Overall, I am very, very pleased."

Shaina Sumney also ran a new personal-best as she finished under 18 minutes for the first time. Her time of 17:58.66 was good enough for 47^th place.

The Spartans return to competition on Oct. 15 in their final tune-up before the SoCon Championships as they compete at the Royal Cross Country Challenge in Charlotte, N.C.

AGATE

Men's results:
34. Mike Koech, 24:29.47; 36. Joey Thompson, 24:32.79; 122. AJ Savoia, 25:21.90; 127. Andy Clyne, 25:24.43; 167. Jermaine Coore, 25:40.82; 178. Kenny Hinman, 25:45.06; 192. Brian Carrington, 25:53.23

Team results:
1. Louisville, 97
2. Colorado School of Mines, 155
3. Grand Valley State, 172
4. Eastern Kentucky, 260
5. Shippensburg, 273
14. UNCG, 451

Women's results:
18. Ashley Schnell, 17:37.07; 47. Shaina Sumney, 17:58.66; 111. Kerry Hartman, 18:36.08; 116. Tiffany Garber, 18:39.71; 186. Ginny Cronley, 19:07.56; 212. Kelly Montague, 19:21.90; 231. Jenna Paley, 19:36.22; 253. Anna Grimes, 19:54.81

Team results:
1. Grand Valley State, 106
2. Vanderbilt, 107
3. Georgia, 198
4. Shippensburg, 208
5. Western Kentucky, 225
14. UNCG, 430

- UNCG -