Men's Cross Country Takes Fourth at Commodore Classic

Brandon Mahaney

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Belmont men's cross country team placed fourth out of 22 teams at the Commodore Classic on Saturday morning.  The Bruins finished just behind Alabama and Chattanooga, which both stand directly in front of BU in the most recent South Regional rankings.

Junior Matt Miller (LaPorte, Ind.) led Belmont for the second straight meet, placing eighth overall in a time of 25:32 on the eight kilometer course.  Sophomores Erick Kigen (Eldoret, Kenya) and Brandon Mahaney (Lafayette, Tenn.) were next to cross the line for the Bruins.  Kigen placed 13th in a time of 25:34, while Mahaney recorded a time of 26:24 to take 29th overall.

"I think we did well with the plan of going out and packing up together," Mahaney said following the race.  "It was tough though in such a big race with how much things get clustered to start.  Overall, it was great to have so much competition here today, and it gives us a lot to move forward with."

The sophomore went on to discuss his personal performance.  "I was pretty satisfied, but I was actually hoping I could run a little faster than I did today.  Somewhere in the middle of the race, I realized I was feeling good, so I started to move up.  I'm one of the leaders on this team, and I knew I need to step up today."

Sophomore Josh Helton (Franklin, Tenn.) and freshman Marcus Bridger-Wilkinson (Newbury, England) rounded out the BU top five.  The former placed 40th in a time of 26:34, while the latter recorded a time of 26:44 to finish 44th overall.

The Bruins recorded 131 total points to take fourth, while Alabama and Chattanooga totaled 85 and 110 to place second and third, respectively.  Cincinnati, who was ranked eighth in the Great Lakes Region this past week, won the meet with 75 points.

"I was real pleased with our performance as compared to two weeks ago," Head Coach Jeff Langdon said.  "Brandon really stepped up for us, as he is really coming along well, and Matt once again ran an incredibly smart race. We still have a lot of work to do, but overall our team performance was great."

Belmont will next compete at the Louisville Cross Country Classic on Saturday, October 1.  The Bruins will then head to Terra Haute, Ind. for the Pre-NCAA Meet on October 16, before returning to Percy Warner Park for the Atlantic Sun Championships.