Complete Results

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – Allegheny finished second at the 2011 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Cross Country Championships hosted by Wittenberg University on Saturday. The Gators were denied their eighth consecutive league title as Wabash pieced together a strong race en route to its first league title.

Junior Kevin Edwards and senior Pat McLaughlin each authored First Team All-Conference performances by finishing fifth and sixth, respectively. Both runners split 25:44, although Edwards got the nod at the finish.

“Kevin has been improving all season, and we're very proud of the way both he and Pat performed. Unfortunately, Bobby was sick leading up to the race and wasn't able to give us his best effort. We don't want to make any excuses, and our guys are already thinking about getting back on top against a good conference field.”

The Gators were the first team to have three runners through the chute as Bobby Over, who endured a difficult race and was well off his season pace, finished eighth overall in 26:05.7. Senior Mike Vlah also delivered a solid effort and finished 14th overall in 26:24.6.

The Gators top four finished ahead of the Little Giants' top four, although a significant drop off at the five spot triggered a Wabash win that had been predicted by the league's head coaches in a pre-meet poll last week.

Freshman Alex Simon capped the Allegheny scoring with a great individual effort. Finishing 32nd in 27:23, Simon hit the chute just ahead of fellow rookie James Rynes, who ran 27:35 and finished 37th. Jack Conant, who had surged into the top five during his senior year, ran 27:42 in his first race back from injury.

“We didn't execute our plan and fell short of our preseason goal,” added Wilkerson. “Hats off to Wabash, who had a good meet and deserved to win the championship.”