Clayton State men’s cross country finishes 3rd Falcon Classic
Montevallo, AL – The Clayton State men's cross country team continued its strong start to the 2012 season, placing third in the Falcon Classic hosted by Montevallo.
Despite being banged up, the Lakers gutted out a the top three finish in the 8K race, trailing Peach Belt Conference rivals Augusta State and Columbus State. Clayton State finished with 82 points, while Augusta won with only 36 points, followed by the Cougars with 38. Host Montevallo and Birmingham-Southern rounded out the top five.
"Duck Tape can only do so much as this bunch has been dinged up," said head coach Mike Mead. "Ayrton (Azcue) gave it the 'old college try' but his recent IT‐band issues forced him to shut it down after two miles. Job (Kemboi) had another grand effort, taking a brief lead, but his recent troubles with a head cold dropped him out of the Top 5 late."
Freshman Kemboi led the Lakers for the third consecutive race, finishing sixth in the race with a time of 26:41. Junior Ciaran Lane placed ninth in the race with a time a time of 27:08, followed by junior Charles Anderson in 12th with a time of 27:15.
Sophomore Matthew Baily had the fourth best performance for the Lakers, finishing 23rd with a time of 28:03. Senior Ricky Fort rounded out the scoring with a time of 28:56. Sophomore Tanner Thomas placed 40th with a time of 29:15 and junior Azcue did not finish due to an injury.
"Perhaps the best showing of the meet for us came from Ma��hew who ran a personal‐best and stepped up to finish as our No. 4 guy, said Mead."
Clayton State will take off next week before returning to action on October 6th for the Disney Classic in Kissimmee, FL.
