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Oglethorpe’s Stormy Petrels will begin to resemble some of its
earlier – more competitive – harrier teams. Both squads have added
freshmen with High School State Championship experience and will
return upperclassmen healed from last year’s sidelining injuries and
illnesses. The 2006 men’s team will be co-captained by sophomore
Ryan Fulgham who consistently placed second for the university in
his freshman year. Fulgham ran at Northgate High School. His
co-captain is senior Kyle Taylor. Taylor has never competed in
cross country, having concentrated on track, and will add
ever-appreciated seasoning to a young squad. Last year’s newcomer,
Gonzalo Yahuitl, looks to improve after gaining valuable
experience. Sophomore Phillip Crews will join the squad for his
first full season.
Those four upperclassmen will be joined by a trio of freshmen.
Aaron Connolly of Florence, Alabama is also new to the sport but
showed tremendous promise as a middle distance runner in track &
field. Evan Price of Mableton, Georgia ran both track & cross
country for 5-A powerhouse South Cobb. Price was a member of their
state qualifying cross country squad and specialized in the 800
meters during the spring. Enrique Sanchez alternated between first
and second finisher for Class A State Cross Country Champion Atlanta
International School. Before being slowed by illness in mid-season,
Sanchez had won the Wesleyan Invitational over a strong field of 200
competitors and finished 18th at the Great American Cross Country
Festival.
The women’s team will be captained by junior Gillian Brady of
Plattsburgh, New York. Brady will have help from returning track and
cross country letter winners junior Ashley Smith, sophomore Newal
Basha, junior Deborah Lubbe, junior Wendy Madill and junior Erin
Barcroft. Lydia Hofstetter, also a junior, will compete for the
first time. First year competitors are Avery Livingston, who ran
second on LaGrange High School’s state qualifying team and Chamblee
High School graduate Logan Johnston, who has been competing in cross
country since 8th grade.
Both the men and women will open the season on Saturday,
September 2nd in Monteagle, Tennessee at the Sewanee Invitational
before returning to race the following Saturday, September 9th, at
nearby Mercer-Atlanta.
The university will host its annual Cross Country Classic on
Saturday, September 16th. Home races begin at 9:00 AM and 10:00
AM. A feature of the start of each race is the ringing of the bells
at Lupton Tower to signal the hour.
The teams will also compete in the Limestone College Invitational
in Gaffney, South Carolina, the Georgia State Invitational, the
Atlanta University Center Invitational, and the Chattahoochee Tech
Invitational (Chattahoochee Tech is coached by an Oglethorpe
alumnus) before traveling to Danville, Kentucky where the team will
compete for the Southern Collegiate Athletic Championship.
On Saturday, November 11th the squads will race in the
South/Southeast NCAA Regional Championship which will be held in
Atlanta. NCAA National qualifiers earn their berth at the Regional
Meet
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