Men’s Cross Country Finishes 22nd at Pre-Nationals

Oct. 13, 2007

Terre Haute, IN – The men’s cross country team faced fierce competition Saturday at the Pre-Nationals blue race at Indiana State University, the site of next month’s NCAA Championships. The Tigers finished 22nd in the blue division race out of 38 teams. Northern Arizona was the team champion of Saturday’s blue race.

“I was a little disappointed in our team finish,” said Bob Pollock, head coach at Clemson. “But I certainly can’t fault our guys, they continue to work hard and get better. We made improvements out there today. I thought Matt Clark ran a very good race and Sam Bryfczynski showed good improvement.”

Matt Clark competed for the first time this season after tweaking an ankle in practice a few weeks ago. A red-shirt senior, he finished 14th in the individual race as he turned in an outstanding time of 23:37. It was the top time recorded at the Pre-Nationals course ever by a Clemson student-athlete. His time eclipsed his previous best in an 8000m cross country race. His previous best was a time of 23:51.2 at the 2005 ACC Championships.

Sam Bryfczynski continued his solid performance this season with a time of 24:40, a personal best. He finished 102nd in a strong field of 261 harriers. Bryce Iverson recorded a time of 24:43 and was 109th overall Saturday.

“This course is a lot tougher than Notre Dame, where we were two weeks ago,” Pollock noted. “This course features rolling terrain, whereas Notre Dame was more of a flat course. The conditions today were fast and perfect.”

Matt Bruce, a freshman from Ontario, Canada, had a season-best time of 24:49 as he finished #124 in the race. His time was the best-ever for a Clemson freshman at the Pre-Nationals event. Will Noble was the team’s final scorer in 198th. He had a time of 25:32. Brian Soder (25:40) and Chad Holt (24:45) also competed for the Tigers on Saturday.

The Tigers return to action on Saturday, October 27 for the ACC Championships in Charlottesville, VA.