Five Eagles Earn All-PL Honors with Performances at PL Championships :: Brendan Fennell highlighted this group of honorees with his second-consecutive PL Oustanding Runner of the Meet award

Brendan Fennell highlighted this group of honorees with his second-consecutive PL Oustanding Runner of the Meet award

Oct. 29, 2007

WASHINGTON - The American University men's and women's cross country teams returned home from the Patriot League Championships Saturday afternoon with several pieces of hardware other than the men's team's sixth first-place trophy. Five Eagles earned All-PL honors with their individual performances in the meet and Head Coach Matt Centrowitz was named the 2007 Men's Patriot League Coach of the Year.

Individual champion Brendan Fennell earned a spot on the First Team All-PL after besting all competitors by 21 seconds and winning the PL's Outstanding Runner of the Meet award. The senior darted from the starting line, challenging his competitors to keep pace but was unmatched and finished the rain soaked course in 25:00.00. Fennell's victory in Saturday's meet was a repeat of last year's race when he outran the competition and made him only the sixth harrier in PL history to win back-to-back individual crowns. Fennell also paced AU to its sixth-consecutive PL Team Championship, a conference record, which moved the team into a tie with Army and Bucknell for the most team titles in PL history.

Joining Fennell on the First Team All-PL was 2005 PL Individual Champion Steve Hallinan. Hallinan placed second behind Fennell in the 8k race in a time of 25:21.50, putting him a solid 13 second ahead of the third-place finisher. Carlos Jamieson also garnered All-PL honors, being named to the second team with his 12th place showing.

Cathleen Ford placed second in the women's race to lead all American runners and earned a first team nod. The senior had consistently been AU's top runner all year and continued that trend Saturday when she completed the 6k course in 21:12.30. Teammate Kate Lilley joined Ford on the First Team All-PL with a seventh-place finish and time of 21:44.40.

Coach Centrowitz earned his sixth straight Coach of the Year award from the conference with the men's team's victory. The veteran coach has now earned nine PL Coach of the Year awards, six with his men's cross country team, two with his women's cross country team and one with his men's track team.

To view a photo gallery from Saturday's events, click here.

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