University of Tennessee senior Michael Spooner, running in winds gusting as high as 32 miles per hour, finished in 125th place Monday afternoon at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships.
Oklahoma State scored 73 points to easily win the men’s team title over runner-up Florida State (193), while Liberty’s Sam Chelanga seized his second straight individual crown in 29:22.2.  On the women’s side, Villanova, led by Sheila Reid’s victory in 20:06.9, claimed the trophy with 120 points, with FSU (154) garnering runner-up distinction in that race as well.
Spooner, who hails from Springfield, Va., covered the 10,000-meter LaVern Gibson Championship Course in 31 minutes, 23.8 seconds to cross the line just about halfway through a 246-runner field. His splits included 5:59 through 2,000 meters, 15:22 for 5K and 24:56 for 8K.  He had run 8K at the ISU Pre-Nationals Invitational in 24:48.7 at this venue back on Oct. 16.
“Mike would have liked to have done better, but he held his own in his first NCAA race and represented pretty well,” UT Men’s Cross Country Coach George Watts said. “The race strategy we had was working through 4K, and then he had kind of a rough fifth kilometer and fell back a little bit. He got out at the pace we wanted but just ended up being a little further back then we thought he’d be.
 “I told him before the race the ‘NCAA Championship race is about individual battles throughout the race, and you have to fight the whole way.’  He did that.”
As UT’s only qualifier, he was the first Vol to take part in the meet since the entire 2005 men’s team qualified for nationals. Other than Zach Sabatino’s All-America outcome of 23rd that season, Spooner’s placing was the best by a Vol at NCAAs since Patrick Gildea was 100th in 2002.
The Vol captain, who was making his first NCAA appearance, concluded his collegiate cross country career as a three-time NCAA All-South Region and All-SEC honoree.  
 “He came a long way from his freshman year to earn the accolades he did and to qualify for the NCAA Championships,” Watt said. “That’s a pretty darn good career, and it puts him right up there with a lot of fine runners who’ve come through the University of Tennessee.”
Spooner now will turn his focus toward competing in his final season with the Big Orange track & field team, beginning in January.

… read the rest of the story by Subscribing now.

... read the rest of the story by Subscribing now.