Tampa, FL - The West Georgia Wolves closed out the 2009 cross-country campaign Saturday at the South Regional in Tampa, FL. The UWG men finished in fourth place with two All-Region performers. The women checked in at seventh place in the final meet of the year.
"We had hoped for a stronger finish, but we are still proud of the effort of our kids this year," said head coach Frank Butts. "With our young runners stepping forward like they did, we have a great foundation for the future."
On the men's side, the Wolves entered this year's South Regional with aspirations of a trip to the NCAA Nationals on November 21st, coming into the meet ranked third in the region. The top three finishing teams would earn a spot in those nationals.
Unfortunately for West Georgia, that didn't come to fruition, as Nova Southeastern snuck by the Wolves by five points to earn the third and final spot behind champ Harding and runner-up Florida Southern.
At the Gulf South Conference Championships two weeks ago, sophomore Dan Moffit stepped up
and earned a First Team All-GSC bid by finishing seventh. Moffitt again paced the Wolves, earning Second Team All-Region honors by finishing 11th in the regional meet. Freshman
Jake Hudson has been among the top-three finishers for the Wolves throughout the year and closed out his freshman campaign with a 13th-place finish at the Regional.
On the women's side, the Wolves entered the Regional as the seventh-ranked team in the region. That proved to be the case, as West Georgia closed out their 2009 campaign with a seventh place finish in Tampa.
Host Tampa took the top spot and the automatic bid to the Nationals with a win at the Regional.