web Charlotte

Nov. 14, 2009

Men's Results    
Women's Results

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Adu Dentamo and Amanda Goetschius picked up NCAA All-Region honors today at the NCAA Southeast Region meet at E. P. Tom Sawyer State Park. For Dentamo, the senior placed 25th picking up his second straight all-region honor by running the 10k course in 31:06, while Goetschius also picked up her second straight all-region honor by placing 14th with a time of 20:55 in the 6k race.

“Adu (Dentamo) got out early in the race and was able to pick up his second all-region performance,” stated cross country coach Ed Schlichter. “Although he didn’t qualify for nationals he can't be disappointed with his performance and he should be proud of his career because he will go down as one of Charlotte’s best runners to come through the program.”

Goetschius, a junior, will have the chance to be Charlotte’s first three-time all-region performer next year after placing 14th this year.

“Once again Amanda (Goetschius) ran a great race and put up a good fight to try and return to the NCAA Meet,” Schlichter said. “She went out and ran a personal best in the 6k and she should be very confident going into the track and field season.”

Overall in the race, Charlotte’s women’s squad placed 13th in the meet finishing ahead of South Carolina, Virginia Tech and Davidson. The women finished with 364 points at the meet. The men’s team took 14th place with 472 points and finished ahead of Clemson, High Point and Wake Forest.

Duke won the women’s meet and was trailed by Virginia, NC State, William & Mary and UNC-Chapel Hill. On the men’s side, William & Mary took home the region title and was followed by NC State, Louisville, Duke and Virginia to wrap up the top five.

Following Dentamo was Chase Eckard, who finished in 81st place in 32:39 in the final meet of his career. Freshman Will Taylor came in after Eckard in 102nd place running the course in 32:56 and was followed by Dakota Lowery who took 119th in 33:15. Charlotte’s fifth finisher was Ross Roberson in 145th and a time of 33:49.

“We had several bright spots in a field that I feel was much deeper than previous seasons,” stated Schlichter. “We had an extremely young squad this season and we gained some much needed experience on the idea of how to be collegiately competitive especially for our freshman.”

Daniel Stiefvater and Brian McGuire also placed for the 49ers, but just outside of Charlotte’s top five.

For the women, Keara Thomas was Charlotte’s second finisher in 43rd place running the course in 21:44, which was her best time of the season and best finish at a region meet. Thomas was followed by freshman Sarah Willingham in 86th place in a time of 22:33. Laura McCary claimed 107th place in 22:54 and was followed by freshman Maria Ruiz in 114th with a time of 23:00.

Also placing for Charlotte was Janet Barry and Kristin Mitchell finishing just outside of Charlotte’s top-five runners.

“In the women’s race our place was hurt by too many spots in between our two and three runners and our fourth and fifth,” Schlichter mentioned. “With two freshmen in our top five our future looks bright and this weekend has given them experience competing at the highest level.”

The meet finishes up Charlotte’s season as most of the runners will now shift their focus to track and field and compete for the Atlantic 10 Champion track team.

“This year has been a good season for us because everyone worked hard and we will look forward to improving during the indoor and outdoor season.”