MacKenzie And Hanlon Lead ECU To Best C-USA Finish
October 30, 2004 | Men's Cross Country
CHICAGO, Ill. ?? Seniors Kyle MacKenzie and Matt Hanlon each earned All-Conference USA honors to lead East Carolina to its best ever finish at the conference men's cross country championship meet, fifth, just outside of Chicago on Saturday. The women's team finished in ninth place.
MacKenzie, last year's individual champion, earned first team all-conference accolades by coming in fifth place (24:57). He has earned all-conference honors each of the past three seasons. Hanlon made the all-conference team for the first time in his career, finishing 14th (25:27) overall to pickup third team honors.
Senior Johanna Allen recording the team's highest finish in 16th place (22:19). Jessica Collins also finished among the top 20 competitors with a 19th place finish (22:28).
Marquette captured its fifth straight team title in the women's race, while Houston won its first-ever team title. Marquette won the women's race by a 27-point margin over second-place finisher TCU (93), while the Houston men (73) held off second-place finisher Charlotte (79) by just five points and third-place finisher Louisville (82) by nine.
TCU senior Mary Kinyanjui overcame wind gusts of up to 30-40 miles per hour throughout the women's race to become just the second female in league history to win back-to-back individual titles. Memphis junior Mate Nemeth won the men's race in similar windy conditions with a late charge finishing the 8K course in 24:47. Nemeth is the first Tiger to win the individual title at the C-USA Championship.
