(Portions of this story taken from the Centre College website)
SEGUIN, Texas - The Centre College men finished just one point behind the winning team, Lynchburg (Va.) College, and will earn an automatic berth into the national championship meet after a second place finish at the 2011 South/Southeast Regional Championships today in Seguin, Texas. South Region - Team Results | South Region - Individual Results
The Centre men got a huge lift from sophomore John Kieffer, who won the 8K race today with a time of 26:04.5. Kieffer joins Chase Wilson in 2008 as the only Centre men to win a regional individual title.
Centre will compete at next weekend's national championship meet, which will be held Nov. 19, at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
Kieffer was one of four Colonels who, by virtue of finishing in the top 35, earned All-Region honors. Senior Willie Polio finished 20th with a time of 27:15.0. Senior Jack Santos finished 21st in 27:16.1. Freshman Albert Anastasio finished 35th with a time of 27:42.2
Centre scored 113 points at the meet, only one point behind first-place Lynchburg. Emory University (163 points), Guilford College (193) and Bridgewater College (194) rounded out the top five teams.
As for other SCAC teams at the meet, Rhodes College finished eighth (215 points), Trinity University (271) finished 11th, Sewanee (290) was 13th, Hendrix College (335) was 16th, Birmingham-Southern College (465) was 18th, Southwestern University (526) was 20th and Millsaps College (588) finished 21st.
Clay Bond of Sewanee (26:40.2), who finished seventh overall, earned the right to compete as an individual at the NCAA championships meet by virtue of his top 7 finish among individuals on non-qualifying teams.
Other SCAC student-athletes that posted top-35 times - therefore earning all-Region honors - in addition to Polio, Santos and Anastasio, include Noah Brown of Rhodes (14th - 26:54.1), Pancho Escobedo of Trinity (19th - 27:10.6), Will Hawes of Rhodes (27th - 27:26.8), John Gilmer of Sewanee (28th - 27:28.9), Hudson Robb of Sewanee (29th - 27:30.1), Wes Haynie of Hendrix (27:31.3 - 30th) and Cody Beatty of Rhodes (31st - 27:33.7).
