Junior Tim Hartung Leads York To Second-Straight CAC Men's Cross Country Crowns
Junior Tim Hartung and the York College men’s cross country team accomplished a first in team history – repeating as champions in the Capital Athletic Conference.
Hartung repeated as the individual champion, earning 2012 CAC Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year honors, and was one of five Spartans to finish among the top 12 in the championship chase as YCP won its second-straight conference crown. Hartung’s time on the difficult 8K course was 26:52.07, 23 seconds ahead of the competition.
York finished with 32 points to defeat Mary Washington (46) and Salisbury (66) for the team trophy. St. Mary’s placed fourth overall with 110 points, followed by championship meet host Frostburg State (129), Marymount (181) and Wesley (207).
YCP freshman Carus Cookman emerged for the Spartans, finishing third overall and earning the CAC Men’s Cross Country Rookie of the Year award. It’s the second-straight year, and fourth time in CAC history, a Spartan picked up the top rookie honor.
Also contributing to the team title for the Spartans were junior Aaron Robinson (seventh), 2011 CAC Athlete of the Year Steve Childress (11th) and Connor Simpson (12th).
YCP’s Erick Camodeca was picked by his peers as the 2012 CAC Coach of the Year – the second-straight year he’s won the award.
Senior Scott Plunkett was the top runner for Mary Washington, placing second overall and completed the race with a time of 27:15.40. Junior Jeff Branson was next for the team with a time of 27:53.32 and 5th place.
St. Mary’s senior Dan Swain exploded with a strong performance in the championship, finishing fourth overall in 27:48.38 to lead the Seahawks to fourth place in the team standings.
Salisbury placed third in the team standings, paced by freshman Kyle Tockman (sixth, 27:59.82), Thomas Burke (10th, 28:10.08) and Jeremy Skarda (13th).
Southern Virginia, which is a probational NCAA Division III member and therefore ineligible to record a team score in its first CAC Championship competition, was the fourth team with a runner among the Top 10 to cross the finish line. Patrick Gonzalez earned second-team All-CAC recognition with an eighth-place finish.
Frostburg State’s Gavin Caupp and Patrick Mead earned All-CAC recognition in leading the Bobcats to fifth place. Caupp placed 14th overall while Mead was three seconds behind in 15th place.