Men's CC, Women's CC

Date: 27.11.2009

Age: 280 days

BRISTOL, Tenn. - The King College men's and women's cross country teams recently wrapped up the 2009 campaign and it featured many milestones for the program and bodes well for the future of distance running at King.

Two top-five finishes at the NCCAA Championships, four cross country invitational titles, two school records, two NCCAA All-Americans and 21 personal records are some of the highlights of a season that saw exponential improvement under the direction of head coach Peter Dalton. Competing in their provisional NCAA Division II year the men's and women's squads' achieved a 21-2 and 21-1 record respectively against NCAA Division II competition.

The opening meet of the 2009 season saw the Tornado and Lady Tornado snatch the Eye Opener Invitational titles in Spartanburg, S.C. The Lady Tornado, led by a new school record effort of 19:04 from Carrie Nelson (Independence, Va.), romped home to a stunning victory over NCAA Division II squads from Brevard (N.C.) College and Carson-Newman (Tenn.) College. The men's team scored a stunning victory against reigning South Atlantic Conference cross country champions Mars Hill (N.C.) College. Daniel Hamilton (Franklin, N.C.) also posted a sensational school record of 26:23 for the 8,000 meter course.

Team Tornado moved on to Boone, N.C. and a rain-soaked Mountaineer Open on Sept. 9. The Lady Tornado persisted through the difficult conditions to claim victory over reigning Conference Carolina and NCAA Division II South Region Champion Lees-McRae (N.C.) College. With this great result the Lady Tornado proved that the transition to Division II national level will go seamlessly. The men's team took the opportunity in Boone to defeat an old conference rival. Led by sophomore Justin Humphreys (Bristol, Tenn.) the squad redeemed itself from the defeat handed to them by Milligan (Tenn.) College at the 2008 Appalachian Athletic Conference Championships.

The Hagan Stone Invitational in Greensboro, N.C. saw team Tornado once again stamp it's authority on a competitive Division II field. Both men's and women's teams defeated Wingate (N.C.) University and St. Andrews (N.C.) College to claim the Division II team titles. Both the men's and women's team scored a near-perfect 19 to claim the win.

At the Southeastern Classic the King College men's and women's cross country squads witness the coming-of-age of two of its brightest freshmen. Danielle Beauvais (Chatham, Va.) and Naseem Haje (Hagerstown, Md.) both set personal record and freshmen school records for their respective efforts of 26:42 and 19:28. Beauvais led the team for the first time ever to an impressive 6th-place finish in a 22-team field at the prestigious regional meet while Haje showed his teammates the way to a ninth-place finish among some of the nations most elite programs.

Rounding out the season on a high note was the NCCAA National Championships in Cedarville, Ohio. The men's team captured an impressive podium finish of fourth place at the event, and in the process defeated two nationally ranked NAIA teams. Haje once again led by example while capturing 15th which was good enough for a spot on the NCCAA All-American team. Nelson once again produced a new school record with an impressive top-ten and NCCAA All-American performance with a time of 18:59.

"The Eye Opener crowns proved to be a great insight into how the successful season would progress," commented head coach Dalton. "The top-five finish for both teams at the championships is nice but I think our record with regard to the NCAA teams is indicative of how we mean to continue. There's a lot of excitement right now in the King distance program and we can't wait to compete against the nation's best in the NCAA Division II."