Rock Hill, S.C.- Freshman Robert Grooms (28:28.41) earned seventh place to lead the Albany State men’s cross country team to a second place finish at the 2016 SIAC Championships, which were held in Rock Hill, S.C. The 8K run featured a total of 75 competitors from 10 conference schools.
Albany State, who finished in third place at the 2015 championships, placed six of its seven runners in Top 15 and recorded a total time of 2:23:36.35. The Golden Rams finished behind Morehouse College. The Maroon Tigers won the league title with a total time of 2:18:48.42. Benedict College garnered third place, clocking in at 2:22:25.92.
Tuskegee was the fourth place team with a time of 2:39:27.01. Clark Atlanta (2:41:35.02) placed fifth.
In addition to Grooms, sophomore Kamil Jones recorded a time of 28:30.30 to earn eighth place, and Khaleed Barrett (28:30.90) was also a Top 10 finisher in ninth place.
Grooms, Jones and Barrett each earned 2016 SIAC All-Conference honors for finishing in the Top 10. Jones was also a member of the all-conference team in 2015.
Junior Jamorris Hill narrowly missed earning top honors in the meet. He finished with a time of 28:47.26, which was good for 11th place. D’Shaun James (29:19:48) and Joshua Ajiero (29:26.03) placed 13th and 14th, respectively. Martin Jones was 23rd with a time of 31:12.49.
2016 SIAC Men’s Cross Country All-Conference Team
Trey Simons, Morehouse
Dessie Demlew, Benedict
Haregot Gebreyesus, Benedict
Kiplimo Collins, Morehouse
Emmanuel Birgens, Central State
Jared Allen, Morehouse
Robert Grooms, Albany State
Kamil Jones, Albany State
Khaleed Barrett, Albany State
Christian Dixon, Morehouse
–Via Albany State University
