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There is a saying in sports that it's tough to win a championship but more difficult to repeat as champions.
That may be true, but it didn't matter for the Lenoir-Rhyne University women's cross country team. It won its second consecutive South Atlantic Conference title on Oct. 24.
Kate Griewisch led the way, as she has all season. The sophomore from Banner Elk, who has been the SAC women's cross country runner of the week five times this season, won the individual title. She finished the 5-kilometer course in Newton with a time of 18:27 - 1:48 ahead of her nearest competitor.
The Bears had four runners finish in the top 10.
Sophomore Tiffany Payne and senior Alyssa Lowe (North Lincoln High School) finished fifth and sixth overall, joining Griewisch on the All-Conference first team. Freshman Elizabeth Chaffee came in 10th and was named to the second team. Head coach Jason Stewart was named coach of the year, and Griewisch was the scholar/athlete of the year.
"We used the approach this season that if we run like we're capable of running, then we should be in good position to repeat," Stewart said.
"Putting four runners in the top 10 helped a great deal."
The Bears will next compete at the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional at Wingate on Saturday.
Men finish second
The L-R men's cross country team also had an impressive showing at the SAC Championships, finishing second behind Mars Hill.
Junior Tyler Mooney was the Bears' top finisher. He came in fifth and got first-team All-Conference honors.
Sophomore Jakob Maidens and freshman Patrick Ryan made the SAC second team by finishing ninth and 13th, respectively.
Football
As they headed into their home finale Saturday against Newberry, the L-R football team has improved over last season, when they finished 3-8.
The frustrating part for the Bears is that their 4-5 record could easily be 6-3 or even 7-2.
Four of their five losses have come by a combined 17 points - including a 17-13 loss to 15th-ranked Carson-Newman, when the Bears led 13-3 in the fourth quarter. Last year, five of their eight losses came by more than 13 points, and four of those five were by more than 24.
The Bears have been led by their rushing offense, which ranks third nationally in Division II at 288 yards per game. They average an impressive 5.4 yards per rush, and three Bears - quarterback Justin Sanders and running backs Byron Darby and Andrew Courman - have rushed for more than 400 yards on the season.
After the Newberry game, L-R closes the season at Catawba on Saturday.
