Our Bryan College men’s and women’s cross country teams have wrapped up another fantastic fall season. The school had the privilege of hosting the AAC Championship meet for the first time this year at nearby Fort Bluff Camp (Dayton Mtn.) seeing great success. The guys won their third consecutive AAC crown while the girls had a strong runner-up finish as well.

Star senior Bryson Harper and junior Jason McLeod earned All-Conference honors for the men by virtue of their 2nd and 3rd place finishes at the meet. They came in with times of 25:40 and 25:43 respectively. AAC freshman of the year Connor Hatfield finished 6th less than 30 seconds behind.

Head Coach Rodney Stoker repeated as AAC coach of the year for the third consecutive time.

The men’s team began the season as the 15th ranked program in the NAIA largely on the strength of their 7th place finish last season as the team saw several key members graduate. Due to the lack of continuity and the uncertainty surrounding the team from the outset, this season could have potentially been looked at as a rebuilding year. Their two-time defending All-American, Harper helped to ensure that it would be nothing of the sort.

After dipping to 22nd, the Lions rebounded to finish seventeenth in the final ratings and recorded an excellent 11th place showing at nationals. Harper once again led the way for Bryan posting an outstanding top-ten finish nationally, once again earning All-America honors. McLeod finished 40th overall and Hatfield 53rd which was good enough to rate him among the top five freshman in the country.

Seniors Alyssia Lindsay and Ericka Simpson claimed All-Conference spots for the women, qualifying for the NAIA Championships individually along with All-Freshmen performer Jessica Stockton where the ladies competed well.

The Lions now turn their attention to the indoor season which redshirt sophomore Alex Stephens has already kick-started with an individual title. Stephen’s finished first in the men’s mile event at Liberty University’s Liberty Kickoff.

Runners positioned at the starting line prepare for a race at this past weekends AAC Cross Country Championship at Fort Bluff Camp in Dayton / Photo courtesy of Jordana Bollant

Jesse Murray
Senior Reporter

There was more going on last weekend than the LSU vs. Alabama game. Up at Fort Bluff Camp on Dayton Mountain, Bryan’s men and women’s cross country teams faced off against their foes in the 2011 AAC Cross Country Championship. It was the Lions first time hosting the tournament.

The men’s team took the title on Saturday for the third time running. It’s the Lions fourth cross country championship in the past five years. The women’s team took second place behind Milligan College.

“It has been a great experience to win four team titles as a Lion,” said senior Bryson Harper. “The past three in a row have been pretty special as well, and it is a beginning of a streak that I hope continues years down the road.”

For the men, Harper finished 2^nd in the men’s 8k with a time of 25:40 behind Austin Ellis of Milligan College, who finished with a time of 25:08. Junior Jason McLeod ended the race 3^rd with a time of 25:43. Both earned All-Conference honors. Highest freshman honors went to Bryan’s Connor Hatfield who finished 6^th with a time of 26:10. Junior Alex Stephens ended 7^th with a time of 26:11. Sophomore Anthony Simpson finished 9^th at 26:57 and earned All-Conference along with Hatfield and Stephens.

“The race itself was sub-par,” Harper said. “I know that we have a talented team that can compete with anyone, but our performance this weekend didn’t really show that.  We have two weeks to prepare for the National Championship, and I know that each one of the guys that I line up with on November 19th will be ready to perform.”

For the women, seniors Alyssia Lindsay and Ericka Simpson received All-Conference honors finishing the women’s 5k at 7^th and 9^th with times of 19:55 and 20:27. Freshman Jessica Stockton finished 14^th with a time of 20:52 and qualified for the NAIA Championship along with Lindsay and Ericka Simpson. Gillian Giffen of Milligan College finished 1^st with a time of 18:09.

Bryan Head Coach Rodney Stoker, who was awarded AAC Cross Country Coach of the Year for the third consecutive year on Saturday, said his runners “got it done” and that he was pleased with the Lions’ performance.

“Any time you win, it’s nice,” said Stoker. “It was a good day. Having all those people out there was nice. It’s cool to have that much support, and it’s fun to be a part of something successful.”

On November 19, the Lions will travel to Vancouver, Wash. for the NAIA Cross Country Championship. According to Stoker, several runners are dealing with injuries after the weekend race. Harper was hindered over the weekend with calf issues. Simpson is dealing with an Achilles injury while Stockton is currently recovering from hamstring problems.

“We’re a little nicked up right now,” said Stoker. “If we can get healthy, we’ll be ready to go out and compete in 11 days at nationals.”

[Photos courtesy of Jordana Bollant]

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Sophomore Alex Stephens recently started the first Bryan College Comic Book Club/Triangle photo by Lana Douglas

Sophomore Alex Stephens received his first comic book, “Avengers Assemble”, from his girlfriend, Jessica Quinley, on Valentine’s Day in 2009.

“I’ve been hooked ever since,” he said.

As a kid, he grew up watching Marvel™ cartoons based on the comic books and would play-act as different superheroes with his brothers and friends, so he reads mostly Marvel comics.

His love for comics inspired him to start the first Bryan College Comic Book Club, which, according to Stephens, is a working title because he wants a “cooler, more superhero” name.

“All my time is consumed by running and studying, which is okay, but I felt like I was missing out on something, and I have a huge interest in Marvel comics, so I decided to start a club,” said Stephens, who also competes on the varsity cross country and track and field teams.

Stephens conducted the first club meeting on Nov. 30, and 16 people showed up.

Even though the turnout was not huge, he said he was still pleased because a variety of people came that would not generally connect together. He said he likes that the club started small because it helps him provide comics for all the members within the club budget.

Junior Jacob Hudgins, one of the attendees, said he’s been reading comic books since he was five-years old.

“I like comic books and thought it would be cool, and that I would have a good time,” he said.

Sophomore Kristin Fortenberry started reading comics about six years ago and said she is excited about Stephens starting the club.

“[The meeting] was super nerdy, but I love it,” she said. “There were more normal people than I thought would be there, but I don’t claim to be normal either.”

When the club meets again next semester, the group will be following a Marvel special series, Civil War, which is compiled into seven issues.

Hudgins, who has already read the series, said he believes that the series will be divisive because it’s about superheroes picking sides.

In the series, the government wants all the mutants to come out publicly and register so they can be organized into a special forces team. The superheroes spilt into groups of pro-registration or anti-registration. For that reason, Stephens said that the theme of the club will be, “Whose side are you on?”

Stephens said that he wants the club to be a place to learn and share, and they will use the Marvel website (www.marvel.com) to learn about characters and to also create their own superheroes. They will not strictly read Marvel comics. Stephens said they plan on reading DC™ comics as well.

“Even today, I want to be a superhero,” Stephens said.

The Comic Book club will meet once every two weeks starting next semester.

Cross country team prepares to compete in nationals, held in Washington./Triangle photo by Anna Kat Thomas

The men’s cross-country team placed seventh at the NAIA National Championships Saturday in Vancouver, Wash., and junior Bryson Harper placed 27th to earn a spot on the NAIA All-America team.

Junior Ericka Simpson paced four Lady Lions, who competed individually, and finished the 5K course in 20:15, good for 211th place.

Recently the men were able to defend their title as Appalachian Athletic Conference champions against Montreat College (Black Mountain, N.C.), and Head Coach Rodney Stoker was named the AAC Coach of the year.

Going into the competition with the men’s team ranked sixth in the nation, Stoker said, “Rankings are great for recruiting, they are great for alums, fans and our school, but for our team it is meaningless. That day is what counts, so it is not about numbers, it’s about effort.”

That is exactly what the teams will have to put forth this coming Saturday. Once the teams get to Washington and after the meetings and the banquets, it will be time for the Lions to find out if they are ready for this final race.

“This season has been all about preparing for Nationals.” said sophomore Alex Stephens, “We have gone into each race and workout with a strategy that it would all come together perfectly right here at the end for the ultimate race. Everything has led up to this weekend and it is time to unleash the Lions.”

For the men, it will be their third year competing at Nationals. Senior Josh Bradley, senior Zach Buffington, senior Hunter Hall, junior Bryson Harper, sophomore Jason McLeod, sophomore Alex Stephens and freshman Anthony Simpson will be running for the team.

This year the women’s team will be taking four individuals: juniors Alyssia Lindsay, and Ericka Simpson sophomore Catherine Anderson and sophomore Liz Olsen. This is the most women, from Bryan, who have qualified for nationals.

Though the individual runners set goals for themselves, Stoker said the team’s goal, as a whole, is simply to get better.

“When you start to put a number on things… we think more about that instead of where we actually are, and I think it takes your focus away from the moment you are actually in…The outcome is going to take care of itself.”

This final race will conclude both teams’ cross-country season, but indoor and outdoor track will begin in January.

Senior Josh Bradley competes

by Tim Baldi
Staff Writer

Last Saturday, April 10, the Bryan College Track & Field team competed in the 44th annual Sea Ray Relays at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

The event hosted nearly 1,200 athletes between Wednesday and Saturday.

Bryan runners placed fourth in the 4×800 meter, setting a new Bryan record and the second fastest time in the NAIA with 7 minutes and 42 seconds.

The finishing time also qualified Bryan’s 4×800 team for the NAIA Outdoor National Championship on May 27-29.

“We can compete with anybody,” said Head Coach Rodney Stoker. “It’s just a matter of believing it.”

The team was in second place behind Illinois State after the second leg of the race. However, two teams passed the Lions during the remaining two legs.

Freshmen Jason McLeod and Alex Stephens, sophomore Bryson Harper and senior Joshua Bradley competed in the relays on Friday and Saturday of last week.

“It was impressive how our boys competed,” said Stoker.

McLeod and Stephens ran personal bests in the 4×800 which was their first relay competition.

During Friday’s relays, Harper set a personal best in the 1500 at 3:58. Later in the evening, Bradley made fourth in the second section of the 800 at 1:53.

Several other schools participated in the relays such as Illinois State University (Normal), Milligan College (Milligan College, Tenn.), Lee University (Cleveland, Tenn.) Alabama University (Tuscaloosa) and University of Tennessee in Chattanooga.

The Lions will face their next rivals Thursday and Friday at Western Carolina University for the AAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Cullowhee, N.C.

Bryan College track and field team competed in Clemson (S.C.) University’s Tiger Tune Up this past Saturday where they took four top-five finishes and qualified four runners and a relay for the near NAIA Indoor Track & Field Championships.

“We had a good weekend,” said Head Coach Rodney Stoker. “I didn’t have a lot of expectations. I didn’t want to put too much pressure on the young kids, but one of our guys, who’s been All-American a few times, was expected to win his race, and he did.”

Stoker was referring to senior Josh Bradley, who took the top spot in the men’s 800-meter race with a season best time of 1:54.36.“It was a low-key meet,” said Bradley, “but I think we came away with several solid performances that set us up nicely for Indoor Nationals at [East Tennessee State University].”

Freshman Alex Stephens and sophomore Alyssia Lindsay also put their marks on the 800-meter run, as Stephens won his heat with a personal record of 2:00.44 and Lindsay set an indoor personal best with 2:30.91.

Commenting on his freshmen runners, Stoker said, “It’s funny when [they] all run personal bests and they’re disappointed. They want to be good, and I guess that’s a pretty good problem to have.”

The 800-meter race, however, was not the only event dominated by the Lions as junior Zach Buffington and senior Daniel Goetz finished third and fourth in the men’s 3000-meter run, with Buffington clocking his qualifying time for nationals.

The Lions also took several places in the men’s mile as sophomore Bryson Harper hit his qualifying time for Nationals and raced into fifth place with freshmen Jason McLeod and Drew Thompson close behind, taking eighth and ninth, respectively.

“Our philosophy is to win,” said Stoker. “We try to teach them to be competitive and to always put themselves in a position to win the race, not always thinking about [their] time…. Through my experiences in watching our athletes, when they set a big personal best, it’s when they’ve really competed.”

Bradley’s comments show that the Lions are right on track with this philosophy as “most of the nine guys and two girls that went [to Clemson] did a workout after the meet, because [they’re] focused on nationals.”

“Two weeks from now, right before spring break, is nationals and there’s no doubt that that’s the highlight of the indoor season,” remarked Stoker. “We’re going to try to come away with some All-Americans, and if we do that, we’ll be satisfied.”