2012-13 Peach Belt Conference Yearbook | Page 6

First Team Pardon Ndhlovu, UNC Pembroke Jacob Dirkman, Columbus State Heath Lamb, Columbus State Jaiden Brandt, Augusta State Stephen Bowers, Columbus State Silas Rogut, Columbus State Corey Mundy, Flagler

Second Team Dustin Ross, Augusta State Dillon Hodge, Flagler Alex Bitok, Young Harris Job Kemboi, Clayton State Erik Hartley, Flagler Charles Anderson, Clayton State Ryan McFall, Columbus State

Runner of the Year Pardon Ndhlovu, UNC Pembroke

Freshman of the Year Jacob Dirkman, Columbus State

Coach of the Year Adam Ward, Augusta State

All-Sportsmanship Team Armstrong Atlantic State – Jerry‘ Scotty’ Lawson Augusta State – Matthew Johnson Clayton State – Ricky Fort Columbus State – Nathan Reeves Flagler – Corey Mundy Francis Marion – Braylin Bloise Georgia College – Michael Valerio Montevallo – Jake Davidson UNC Pembroke – Pardon Ndhlovu Young Harris – Trent Jones

Columbus State, UNCP’ s Ndhlovu Claim Titles at NCAA Men’ s Cross Country Regional

CHARLOTTE, NC-- The Peach Belt Conference will send one of its largest contigents to the NCAA National Championships after Columbus State won the team title, UNC Pembroke’ s Pardon Ndhlovu the individual title and Augusta State’ s Jaiden Brant qualified at the NCAA regional championships on Saturday. All will advance to the NCAA National Championships in Joplin, Mo., on Nov. 17.

Columbus State won the NCAA Regional for the first time in program history with 63 points while Mount Olive( 77), King( 91), Mars Hill( 117) and Augusta State( 153) rounded out the top five. CSU will run in the national championships for the fourth time overall.

In the 27 team and 168 runner field, Columbus State placed three runners in the top 10 and four in the top 15.

Freshman Jacob Dirkman led the way for the Cougars finishing in sixth place with a time of 32:05.6. Fresh off his second place finish at the Peach Belt Conference Championship, Dirkman gained three spots in the final 5K of the race and missed out on a top five finish by five seconds.

Silas Rugut recorded his sixth top 10 finish of the season on Saturday placing ninth. Rugut ran the rigorous course in 32:12.4, just a tenth of a second slower than eighth place finisher Steve Hammond of Wingate.

The third runner in the top 10 was freshman Heath Lamb. Lamb had the biggest jump of any runner in the top 10 over the final 5K of the race jumping nine other competitors to finish in 10th place with a time of 32:16.9.

Stephen Bowers had a great race for the Cougars crossing the line in 32:34.8 and in 14th place. Ryan McFall and Nathan Reeves both notched top 30 finishes for head coach J. D. Evilsizer on Saturday. McFall ran the course in 32:58.7 and finished in 24th place while Reeves crossed the line in 29th place with a time of 33:06.8. The final runner for the Cougars was Andy Henderson who completed the race in 33:26.4 gaining 11 spots over the final 5K to finish in 38th place.

Columbus State will now prepare for the NCAA Championship that will take place on November 17. CSU’ s best finish in the national meet was in 2010 finishing in 18th place led by Meshack Koyiaki’ s second place finish.

UNC Pembroke’ s Pardon Ndhlovu won the southeast regional for the second year in a row. Ndhlovu tied the fourth fastest time in school history as he crossed the finish line with a time of 31:19.2 which was 00:31 faster than the second place finisher from King. The Zimbabwe native paced the first half of the race with the lead pack of runners and ran with intensity for the final half of the race. This was his fourth first-place finish and sixth top-3 finish of the season. UNCP finished sixth as a team. Sending seven runners to the 10K, the ASU men were led by junior Jaiden Brandt who took fourth overall and qualified for the NCAA Championships on Saturday, Nov. 17 in Joplin, Mo. Brandt paced the Jags with a 31:57.7 finish, destroying his time from 2011’ s regional race where he took 39th overall.

Columbus State 24th, UNCP’ s Ndhlovu 32nd at Men’ s Cross Country National Championship

JOPLIN, MO – Columbus State ran 24th as a team while UNC Pembroke’ s Pardon Ndhlovu was named an All-American after finishing 32nd at the 2012 NCAA men’ s cross country national championships on Saturday in Joplin, Mo. Adams State won the race ahead of Colorado School of Mines for their ninth national title.

This was the fourth appearance all-time for the Cougars at the NCAA Championships. The 24th place finish matched their 2008 finish and was just six spots behind their best finish in program history.

Columbus State posted the best finish of any team from the South or Southeast regions. Fellow Southeast region teams King and Mount Olive placed 27th and 28th, respectively.

The Cougars were once again led by Jacob Dirkman and Silas Rugut. Dirkman ran the 10k course in 31:35.8 in 107th place, 30 seconds faster than he ran at the Southeast Regional meet. Rugut came in just three-tenths of a second behind his teammate at 31:36.1 in 108th. Both runners ran very well over the final half of the course gaining 31 and 28

spots over the final 5k, respectively. Junior Heath Lamb posted a time of 31:56.0 which left him in 141st

place. He was able to knock 20 seconds off his time from the regional. Like Dirkman and Rugut, Lamb made up ground in the latter half of the race charging forward 43 spots after the halfway point.

Ryan McFall ran 40 seconds faster than his regional time to finish in 168th place in 32:18.4. He also was strong over the final 5k of the race moving forward 40 spots.

Stephen Bowers was the final runner factoring into Columbus State’ s team score. Like the previous four, Bowers ran faster in the NCAA Championships than he did at the regional. The redshirt-senior ran the course in 32.25.0 and placed 178th.

Andy Henderson and Nathan Reeves also ran at the meet for the Cougars. Henderson posted a time of 32.58.9, almost 30 seconds better than his regional race. Reeves completed the race in 33.24.7. They finished in 205th and 223rd, respectively.

Ndhlovu dropped more than 00:37 off his personal best time in the 10K to place 32nd overall with a time of 30:14.2 to claim a personal record in his final cross country meet. The Zimbabwe native was in fourth place after the first 5K with a recorded a time of 14:21.3, but finished the final 5K in a time of 15:53.0.

“ Pardon truly had an all-American performance as he had an 8K and 10K personal record and nearly a 5K personal record. His performance is a testament to the training and how well he has been doing all year,” said head cross country coach Gary Aycock.“ He was a contender to win the race up until the 6K, but then he hit a wall and was able to recover to garner all-American status.”

The time marked the second fastest 10K in school history after garnering the Southeast Regional title two weeks prior. He has finished first four times this season and in the top-three six different times. He was named USTFCCCA Southeast Region Male Athlete of the Year this year as well as all-PBC and all-region.

Also running at the event was Augusta State’ s Jaiden Brandt, who qualified as an individual after finishing fourth at the NCAA Southeast Regional. Brandt ran the 10k championship course at Missouri Southern University in 31:08, 49 seconds faster than his finish at the regional.

UNCP’ s Ndhlovu Honored With Prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship

INDIANAPOLIS – Senior cross country runner Pardon Ndhlovu has been awarded with a $ 7,500 National Collegiate Athletic Association( NCAA) Postgraduate Scholarship for his part-time or full-time postgraduate study at a university or professional school of his choosing, the NCAA announced Tuesday.

“ I feel really blessed to have another door of opportunity open to help me advance my education. My success both in class and in athletics can be attributed to the support system that l have gotten all of the years that l have been at UNCP. The support from my professors, coaching staff, friends, teammates and the athletic department as a whole has helped me prioritize my work and always strive to be the best that l can be,” Ndhlovu said.

Ndhlovu maintains a 3.43 grade point average as an international business major. This season, the native of Harare, Zimbabwe, turned in a time of 30:14.2 to finish ahead of 213 other NCAA Division I student-athletes at the national race and, in the process, shaved 37 seconds off of his previous personal best en route to recording the second-fastest 10K time in school history. He was the fourth-fastest runner at the midway point of the race, having run the 5K in a time of 14:21.3.

The performance earned him his second all-American nod in the sport of cross country, after securing the same status in track & field last

season in the 10,000m run. He captured four first-place finishes as well as two third-place finishes as he won the Peach Belt Conference and NCAA Southeast Regional Championships.

“ This latest accomplishment is one of the most significant achievements to date for our program, and it demonstrates Pardon’ s personal leadership within UNCP athletics to uphold the Division II mission statement of‘ Life in the Balance.’ Since arriving on campus four years ago, Pardon has been a remarkable individual in so many ways. We have always been extremely proud to have Pardon as a student-athlete in our department, and faculty has consistently raved about his efforts and performance in their classes,” said UNCP interim athletic director Patrick Sterk.

“ I feel highly honored and humbled to receive this scholarship and l am thankful to those that played a part in making this opportunity possible, athletic director Patrick Sterk, Dr. Jeff Bolles, coach Gary Aycock and Jenna Davisson just to mention a few. This is another step up drawing me closer to my aspirations. No matter where my future takes me l will always consider UNCP my home and will always be grateful to the opportunities that were presented to me” Ndhlovu said.

Elite 15 Award Nathan Reeves, Columbus State

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