Clemson Finishes Eighth at Great American Cross Country Festival

Sept. 24, 2005

Cary, NC – The Clemson men finished eighth at the third annual Great American Cross Country Festival on Saturday. The Tigers totaled 200 points but got a second-place individual finish from junior Matt Clark. William & Mary won the overall event with 48 points, followed by Virginia with 60 and Abilene Christian with 63.

“I’m very disappointed that we did not compete today,” said Bob Pollock, Clemson head coach. “We have to regroup because we are a much better team than what we showed today.”

Clark, who won the Clemson Invitational two weekends ago, set a personal-best 8K time of 24:09, despite a challenging and hilly course. Eric Soder finished with a career-best effort as well, finishing 45th with a time of 25:41. His brother, Brian, finished 49th for Clemson with a time of 25:48. A pair of freshmen rounded out Clemson’s scoring effort on Saturday. Sam Bryfczynski finished 50th in 25:48, while Bryce Iverson ran a 26:08 and crossed the line in 64th position.

Also competing in the event on Saturday for Clemson were Clay Pendleton (70th, 26:20), Sean Reilly (71st, 26:20), Greg Isaacs (72nd, 26:22), Jay Lumpkins (75th, 26:27), and Itay Magidi (94th, 27:23).