2010 Men's Cross Country Season Recap

The 2010 edition of the Emory men’s cross country team saw a number of fresh faces make significant contributions as the “new look” Eagles matured with each passing meet, boding well for the future.

Emory took home one first-place finish during the campaign, tying for the top spot with Rhodes College in the nine-team Sewanee Invitational.  The following week the Eagles enjoyed another solid outing finishing runner-up in the 13-team Berry College Invitational.

After graduating seven key seniors from the 2009 squad, the Eagles needed a number of runners to step up and fill the void left by those departures.  One of those who rose to the challenge was sophomore Stephen Ellwood who paced the team in five of the six meets he took part in.  Named the team’s MVP, Ellwood garnered all-region honors after pacing the team and finishing 30^th out of 156 entries at the NCAA South/Southeast Regional Championships.  Another competition that he topped the Eagles’ contingent was the Royal Cross Country Challenge where he clocked a personal-best 8K time of 25:47 that ranked him 46^th out of 202 runners. 

Senior Kevin Lanza also claimed all-region status after registering a 33^rd-place finish at the Regional Championships.  Lanza saw action in five competitions and finished among the team’s top five finishers in four of them.

Two runners who emerged and became key contributors included junior Geraint Davies and freshman Hank Ashforth.  Davies, named the team’s Most Improved Runner, competed in all seven meets and was among the team's top five finishers in each outing, ranking among the squad's top-three performers on four occasions.  He paced the Emory pack and placed 32nd overall out of 89 competitors at the JSU Foothills Invitational and recorded a personal-best 8k time of 26:29 at the Royal Cross Country Challenge.  Ashforth, tabbed as Emory's Rookie of the Year, finished among the team's top-five performers in five competitions and turned in a top-three showing at the UAA Championships.

All-South/Southeast Region
Stephen Ellwood                                     Princeton Junction, NJ
Kevin Lanza                                           Winter Park,  FL

United States Track & Field And Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic Team
Stephen Ellwood                                     Princeton Junction, NJ
Kevin Lanza                                           Winter Park, FL