Panther teams open season at Truett-McConnell Invitational
Sept. 1, 2007

The Panther cross country teams opened their season at the Truett-McConnell Invitational in Cleveland, GA.  The Truett-McConnell course proved one of the toughest the Panthers have faced in recent years, featuring a number of long, steep inclines. The course had an incline aptly named Goat Hill for the tendency runners have of scaling it on all fours.  LaGrange was one of eight teams at the meet and joined by GSAC Conference rival Piedmont College, along with Toccoa Falls College, Young Harris College, Darton College, Gordon College, Andrew College and host Truett-McConnell College. 

The women placed fifth in the meet, led by junior Laura Dresdow, who placed 16th with a time of 27:28.  Dresdow was followed closely by juniors Lisa Heath (28:28) and Jessica Barba (29:00), who placed 20th and 23rd respectively. Amanda Olsen, a first year runner, had a strong first run finishing the 5K course in 30:17.  Rounding out the times for the women were Amara Hickson (32:58), followed by freshman, Brianna Campbell (33:11), and senior Brandi Kronberg (34:24). Fifty-one women ran the course, with Darton taking first place and the top two individual spots. 

The Panther men did not meet the required team total of five runners and were not scored in the meet.  Senior Grant Kendall along with sophomores William Jordan, and Bill Simons endured the 8K course, finishing 29th, 34th and 36th of the more than 50 runners competing. Simons led the men with a time of 42:04.  He was followed by Jordan (43:27) and Kendall (44:00). 

The Panthers' next meet is the Mercer-Atlanta Invitational on Saturday, hosted by Mercer University at their Atlanta campus.  The meet will begin with the men's 6K race at 9:05 am, followed by the women's 5K at 9:45.