Berea College Sweeps the 2015 USCAA Cross Country National Championships

LAKELAND, FL – In the Florida heat, the Berea College Mountaineers won the 2015 USCAA Men’s and Women’s Cross Country National Championship on Friday. For the Mountaineers, it marks the school’s first and second National Championship as a member of the USCAA. The performance marks a substantial improvement from the school’s 2014 finishes, when the men’s team placed fourth and the women finished sixth.  

In the women’s race, Berea was paced by Emily DeNigris who finished second overall with a time of 23:59. Mercy Kershner, the Mountaineers’ top finisher from the 2014 USCAA National Championship race, earned All-American honors with a sixth place finish and 24:26 time. Erin Gonterman rounded out Berea’s All-American finishers, placing 11^th to earn Second-Team All-American honors. For a second straight year Cleary University and SUNY-ESF finished second and third respectively in the USCAA Women’s Cross Country National Championship.

The Individual Champion for the women was Aine McMorrow, a SUNY-Canton freshman who bested the field with a time of 23:34. Cleary’s Madison Paquette placed third, SUNY Delhi’s Khiere Ashley finished fourth, Julie Johnson of host Florida College took home fifth place honors, and rounding out the First-Team All-Americans from the women’s race was Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences’ Jessica Monzyk. Last year’s individual champion, Elaine Lowe of Cleary University, finished 11^th.

In the men’s race, Berea managed to knock off four-time defending National Champion SUNY-ESF with a team performance that included the top three overall finishers, Emmanuell Kemmei, Jeremy Johnson, and Logan McKenzie. Issiah Dodson finished fifth and Dylan Watkins finished 14^th, meaning all five of the Mountaineers scoring runners earned USCAA All-American honors. SUNY-ESF finished second in the men’s race, while SUNY-Delhi took home a third place finish in their first appearance at the USCAA Cross Country National Championships.

With a time of 26:32, Kemmei earned the title as the 2015 USCAA Men’s Cross Country Individual Champion. It’s a stunning improvement from his finish in 2014, where as a freshman he placed 28^th overall and fifth on his team. Florida College’s Josh Keenen finished fourth with a time 27:02, giving him back-to-back fourth place finishes. Reed Scott from SUNY-ESF and Corey Roth from Paul Smith’s College rounded out the men’s First-Team All-American finishers, placing sixth and seventh respectively.

Full results and All-American honorees are listed below.

WOMEN’S TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

USCAA Women’s Cross Country All-Americans

First Team

Second Team

MEN’S TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

USCAA Men’s Cross Country All-Americans

First Team

Second Team

Women's Team Results

Women's Individual Results

Men's Team Results

Men's Individual Results