Trojan runners want to surprise competition in conference meet

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on October 24, 2008 1:46 PM

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MOC Sports Information

MOUNT OLIVE -- Preseason voting among Conference Carolinas coaches didn't favor Mount Olive College.

They tabbed the Trojan men to finish 10th and the women to wind 11th.

Mount Olive looks to exceed those expectations in Saturday's conference championship meet at Belmont Abbey. Competition begins at 8 a.m.

The Trojan men have seven freshmen on its 11-runner roster with just two returners from 2007 -- junior Charlie Bell and sophomore Jon Massey. Carley Moore and Cort McCombs, who participated in track last spring, are newcomers to the team.

In five regular-season meets, Mount Olive placed fourth among non-Division I schools in the Raleigh Invitational. They ended up sixth in the nine-team field at the Hagan Stone Classic and captured first among four non-Division I schools in the NCCU Eagle Cross Country Invitational.

Freshman Rob Roderer has emerged the Trojans' top competitor in every meet this season. His best effort was a fifth-place showing, among 40 runners, in the NCCU event. Roderer was the second-fastest runner from a non-Division I team.

Mount Olive also finished ahead of a conference opponent for the first time this season in the same meet.

"Finishing ahead of a conference opponent made me feel like what's being applied in practice is paying off," said Roderer, a North Carolina native. "Last week's race motivated me to work even harder because the results showed us that as a team we are capable of beating teams that we haven't beat in the past."

Youth abounds on the women's team.

The roster is comprised of JUCO transfers Melissa Moore and Jessica Velasquez, and freshmen Rocio Alvarado, Nikolette Lukas, Caitlin Pye and Kayla Vorhees. Alvarado starred at North Duplin High School in Calypso.

After not having enough runners to qualify for the team standings in its first four events, Mount Olive placed in its final regular-season meet. All runners will be available for the conference championship.

"We would love to have more participation on the women's side, but with the team members we have now, we can reach our goals," said Moore, a sophomore transfer from Cape Fear Community College. "Each girl has worked hard to push themselves to do their best."

Moore ran personal bests in her last two meets, posting a time of 21 minutes, 17 seconds at the Hagan Stone Classic and 21:13 just two weeks later at the NCCU Golden Eagle Invitational.

Coach Bill Hodge is excited about Saturday's meet, but he is realistic in his expectations for his teams.

"I believe we can beat at least one team on either side and that would be an improvement over last year's last place finishes," said Hodge. "Also, if we can score a full team of five runners it would be something we didn't do last year either. They are modest goals, but we are very young."

But Roderer and Moore offer a different outlook.

"I feel confident that we'll place better than the team has in previous seasons," said Roderer.

Moore concurred.

"Our goal going into this weekend is to beat at least one team, but I believe we have a chance to exceed those expectations," said Moore.