East Carolina University
American Conference Championships
Men Eighth, Women Ninth at American Conference Championships
October 31, 2014 | Cross Country
Men's Results 
| Women's Results
TULSA, Okla. - Freshman Jorge Montes earned all-conference honors with a 10th-place finish, as the East Carolina men's cross country team finished eighth and the women's team placed ninth at the 2014 American Athletic Conference Championships on Friday.
A Tijuana, Mexico native, Montes became the first freshman in program history to place in the top-10 of a conference championship meet.
Just one day before the race, the weather in Tulsa was above 60 degrees, but wind chills dropped temperatures into the 30's with strong gusts generating chilly conditions for the duration of both events.
Junior Shewit Weldense paced the women's team through the 6K course with a new personal-best time at that distance with a time of 22:12 and in 26th place, eclipsing the 22:44.10 standard she recorded back in 2012 at the Charlotte Invitational. Although fighting an illness, sophomore Caroline Reiser claimed 38th place with a 23:07 mark, followed by sophomore Caitlyn Sheva in 43rd place at 23:19.
Tulsa claimed the title with 40 points, followed by Connecticut (67), SMU (81), UCF (124), USF (156) to round out the top five teams. Houston (175) finished sixth, ahead of Memphis (178) and Tulane (205), as ECU (208) placed in front of Cincinnati (241) and Temple (254) in 10th and 11th place, respectively.
The men's race was next, as Montes hung with the lead pack for the majority of the 8K race, before crossing the finish line just two seconds behind his personal best set at the Paul Short Invitational with a time of 25:39. Redshirt senior Chase Miller was the next Pirate to complete the course in 26:33 and just 15 seconds ahead of sophomore Abel Tecle who finished 40th overall.
The Golden Hurricane completed the championship sweep with 21 points, followed by Cincinnati (84) in second, Houston (96) in third, Connecticut in fourth (125) and Memphis (147) in fifth. Temple (156) and Tulane (158) finishes in front of ECU (182) in sixth and seventh, while USF (222) placed ninth.
East Carolina will return to competition next Saturday, Oct. 8 at NC State's Three Stripe Invitational at the WakeMed Cross Country Course in Cary, N.C.
Women's Results (6K)
26. Shewit Weldense 22:12
38. Caroline Reiser 23:07
43. Caitlyn Sheva 23:19
50. Sydney Teague 23:38
51. Michelle Bailey 23:40
69. Maura McDonnell 24:46
Men's Results (8K)
10. Jorge Montes 25:39
35. Chase Miller 26:33
40. Abel Tecle 26:48
47. Pol Solanelles 27:03
52. Brather Cline 27:23
59. Justin Lane 28:16
61. John Crosseley 28:39
Players Mentioned
