ATLANTA - Oglethorpe's men's and women's cross country teams finished out another outstanding season with head coach Kari Elliott in her third season at the helm.

The women opened with a 10th of 21 finish at the Jacksonville State Foothills Invitational. Hannah Rhodes, Kirsten Rose and Elliott Baker consistently finished out front for the Petrels throughout the season.

The men opened with a 7th of 20 finish at Jacksonville State, then consistently finished in the middle to top of the pack for the rest of the season. Zachary Benner won the Southern Athletic Association Championship race, with Ashton Deriso taking runner-up.

The Petrels took 13th of 24 at the NCAA South Regional, with Deriso finishing second and Benner seventh. The pair went to their second straight NCAA Championships, with Deriso finishing 46th and Benner in 137th.

Zeno Goss, Demetrius Moore, and Ugohnofure Awarieta also made good marks throughout the season.

Award Winners

• Ashton Deriso: USTFCCCA South Region Athlete of the Year, SAA runner-up, All-SAA first team, 2x SAA Athlete of the Week. 
• Zachary Benner: SAA Runner of the Year, SAA Champion, All-SAA first team, 2x SAA Athlete of the Week.
• Kirsten Rose: SAA Rookie of the Year, All-SAA honorable mention.
• Noah Harmon: SAA All-Sportsmanship team.
• Evelyn Parral: SAA All-Sportsmanship team.

Individual Highlights

• Deriso set a new school record for the 5k with a time of 14:50.8. He also finished third at the Foothills Invitational and seventh at the South Region Showdown.
• Benner set a new school record for the 8k with a time of 24:29.9. He also finished fourth at the Georgia Tech Invitational and sixth at the Foothills Invitational, setting a PR during both events.
• Rhodes set a new school record for the 6k with a time of 23:23.8. She also PR'ed in the 5k at Jacksonville. She finished 38th in the NCAA South Regionals.
• Rose finished 41st in the South Regionals with a new PR for the 6k.
• Parallel set a new PR in the 6k.

Season Notes

• Nine freshmen made their debut: Goss, Rose, Harmon, Jason Bredemann, Jeffrey Renrick, Mehria Aziz, Mari-Rosa Colon, Nia Conley and Rocio Quiroz Salem. 
• The team graduated four seniors: Benner, Allyssa Hearn, Rhodes, Baker and graduate student Deriso.
• Benner and Deriso became the sixth and seventh NCAA qualifiers in program history. 
• Hearn, also on the women's soccer team, made her cross country debut.

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