Men's Cross Country Team, Kettle Post Wins

Saturday, September 03, 2011

Deion Pruitt (left) and Paul Lewis led the men's team to the Vanderbilt Invitational championship. Penny Smith photo.HOLLAND, Mich. – Albion College cross country coach Hayden Smith, ’70, was pleased with the collegiate debuts of his first-year runners in the Vanderbilt Invitational. Evan Smallman (Milford) and Dylan Danowski (Highland/Milford) helped the Albion men win the meet by a 13-point margin over Hope College, and Lauren Kettle (Milford) became the first Albion woman to finish first in the individual standings since 2005.

Albion’s top five men were separated by just 42 seconds as they placed five runners in the top eight. Deion Pruitt (Ann Arbor/Huron) made a strong comeback from an injury-plagued track season with a second-place time of 26:17.

“It was great to see Deion back running like himself,” Smith said. “All of our runners turned in excellent performances despite challenging conditions.”

Pruitt was followed by Smallman’s third-place time of 26:37. Paul Lewis (Albion) was fourth at 26:41, Mitchell Klingler (Coldwater/Bronson) was seventh at 26:57, and Danowski came in eighth at 26:59.

Despite crossing the finish line 16th, Smith noted Drew Fuentes (Grand Junction/Bangor) is ahead of his pace from last season. Fuentes posted a time of 27:33.

Kettle, Amanda Weaver (Marshall) and a Hope runner were running in a pack with ¾-mile to go, but Kettle won the race to the finish line to earn the women’s individual title. Kettle completed the course in 19:02, with Weaver coming in third at 19:19.

Albion’s next three runners – Victoria Sochor (Portland), Rachel Derocher (White Lake/Holly), and Megan Wickens (Livonia/Franklin) – were first-year athletes. Sochor was 10th at 20:04, and Derocher was 14th at 20:24, and Wickens was 19th at 20:50.

Lauren Kettle surged with 3/4-mile left in the women's race. Penny Smith photo.Smith said the Britons will have their first opportunity to run against some of the top teams in the region next Saturday when they travel to Delaware, Ohio, for the Great Lakes Colleges Association Championships.

Related Links
Men’s Individual Results
Women’s Individual Results