2022 Men's #ASUNXC Season in Review
2022 ASUN Championship
ATLANTA - With the 43rd year of ASUN Conference Men's Cross Country in the books, we look back at the highlights and accomplishments from the league's 14 squads during the 2022 season. Eastern Kentucky won the program's first-ever ASUN Championship while EKU's Ahmed Jaziri won the individual title for the second year in a row.
Five squads were victorious at meets during the season; North Alabama (UNA Invitational), Central Arkansas (UCA XC Challenge), Liberty (Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational), Lipscomb (Trevecca Invitational), FGCU (South Florida Invitational).
At this year's championship, the Colonels registered seven runners in the top ten and four in the top five as Ahmed Jaziri led the team with a time of 23:22.40 while Nikodem Dworczak finished with a runner-up performance clocking in at 23:24.80. Liberty placed second at the event while four individuals earned All-Conference recognition with Nicholas Kiprotich earning First Team honors. Teammates Jack Cottrell and Kyle Harkabus made it on the Second Team while Caleb Olson was recognized for Third Team honors.
UCA's Julian Haessner was named the Scholar-Athlete of the Year marking the first student-athlete in program history to earn the accolade. Haessner had a perfect 4.00 cumulative GPA while earning a Masters in Business Administration. The graduate student finished seventh at the ASUN Championship, crossing the finish line at 23:45.70.
The NCAA Regionals saw 12 ASUN squads represented throughout three different regions. Eastern Kentucky (Southeast Region), Lipscomb (South Region), and Central Arkansas (South Central Region) had the highest ASUN team finishes at sixth, seventh and 16th, respectively.
Austin Peay
- This season, the Govs finished fourth place at the Evansville Invitational
- Connor Duncan finished first at the Evansville Invitational with a time of 26:14.6 and Stone Norris recorded a personal best of 29:03.2
- Duncan (26:02.8), Lucas Bales (28:07.6), and Jack Fitzgerald (28:48.6) posted personal bests at the ASUN Championship as the team finished 14th
Bellarmine
- The Knights took home two top-10 finishes this season highlighted by a fifth-place showing at the ASUN Championship
- Sophomore Nolan Hester broke into the BU record book as he owns three of the program's all-time top-five marks
- At the ASUN Championship, Hester clocked a 24:18.8 marking the fifth-fastest time in program history
Central Arkansas
- In its second season of ASUN Conference Cross Country, Central Arkansas earned four top-10 performances including a first-place showing at the UCA XC Challenge
- Graduate student Julian Haessner was named the ASUN Scholar- Athlete of the Year after earning a 4.00 cumulative GPA while earning his MBA
- UCA finished sixth place at the ASUN Championship; the team was led by Haessner's seventh-place finish in a time of 23:45.70
Eastern Kentucky
- Eastern Kentucky's Ahmed Jaziri earned back-to-back individual titles at the ASUN Championship after clocking a time of 23:22.40
- Five individuals were named to the All-Conference First Team; Jaziri, Nikodem Dworczak, Abdelhakim Abouzouhir, Jackson Siddall, Keeton Thornsberry
- The Colonels' 55-point win margin is the best at the ASUN Championship since Lipscomb won by 56 points in 2013
FGCU
- Osman Humeida placed first with time of 15:32.1 becoming first Eagle to win the individual title at the UCF Invitational in the program's history
- At the ASUN Championship, FGCU earned a 10th-place finish; Humeida led the Eagles, completed the course in 24:12.5 and placing 18th
- Bramwell Havi ran the fourth-best 10K time (32:53.20) in Eagles' history crossing the line in 86th place at the NCAA South Regional
Jacksonville
- At Jacksonville's first meet of the season, the VSU Border Clash, Riley Maher led the team with a time of 25:08.4 at the event as the Dolphins finished in sixth place
- The Dolphins recorded their best finish of the season (3rd place) at the North Florida Invitational; three individuals placed in the top 25 in Maher (20th), Thomas Hellenbrand (21st) and Charles Biggerstaff (25th)
- At the ASUN Cross Country Championship, Maher was the top performer clocking a time of 33:14.80
Jacksonville State
- The Gamecocks began their season with a top-five performance at the Foothills Invitational, placing fourth in the field of 18
- Jack Lowe led Jacksonville State as the top performer in four events during the season; Foothills Invitational, Queens City Invite, FSU Invite, and NCAA South Regional
- Jacksonville State placed 12th at the ASUN Championship led by Rodrigo Fraga Odriozola's time of 25:53.90
Kennesaw State
- Kennesaw State opened the season with a second-place finish at the Clemson Dual Meet as Gavin Frick led the way for the Owls with an eighth-place finish
- The Owls finished ninth in the ASUN Championship; Koi Williams led the Owls with a finish time of 24:47.20
- Gavin Frick paced the Owls at the NCAA South Regional finishing 58th with a 10K time of 31:19.60 while the team finished 15th
Liberty
- Liberty recorded three top-10 finishes throughout the season with a first place finish at the Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational
- Four Flames earned ASUN All-Conference honors, led by Nicholas Kiprotich, who earned a First Team accolade; Jacob Hess earned Freshman of the Year honors after clocking a time of 24:29.10
- The Flames finished ninth at the NCAA Southeast Regional out of 36 competing programs
Lipscomb
- Lipscomb recorded a top-10 finish in every meet this season, including a first-place showing at the Trevecca Invitational
- The Bisons saw Brady Johnson (Second Team) and Nick Regas (Third Team) earn All-Conference honors; Levi Streeval, Brady Yingst and James Schmidt earned All-Freshman Team accolades at the ASUN Championship
- Johnson recorded a personal best at the NCAA South Regional Championship with a time of 30:29.80 to finish 27th, recording the third-fastest 10K time in Men's program history
North Alabama
- The Lions recorded their best finish of the season as the team won their home event in the field of 12 teams
- The squad earned its second USTFCCCA ranking of the season in the South Region coming in at 14th going into the NCAA South Regional
- Evan Allen broke his own 8k school-record for the third time this season with a time of 24:08.60 at Blazers Classic; Allen broke the 10k school record time at the NCAA Regional with a time of 30:39.91
North Florida
- North Florida won its home opener event at the UNF Invitational for the first time since 2018; Aidan O'Gorman placed first for the first time in his career
- O'Gorman earned a spot on the ASUN Second Team All-Conference squad with an eight-place finish in Huntsville, clocking a time of 23:47.70 and beating his own program record for fastest 8k race in program history
- O'Gorman was named to the ASUN All-Academic team for the second time in his career, marking the fifth time in the past six seasons that a UNF runner has been named to the ASUN All-Academic Team
Queens
- Queens opened its NCAA Division l debut with a third place finish at the Fleet Feet Invitational and the highest finish of the season
- The Royals finished in the top eight in their ASUN Championship debut, Mitchell Cox led the way placing 15th with a time of 24:08:90
- Cox earned Third Team All-Conference recognition for his performance at the ASUN Championship
Stetson
- Stetson recorded two top-five finishes this season including a second-place showing at the USF Invite and a fourth place finish at the UCF Invite to open the season
- The ASUN Championship saw the Hatters finish in 11th while Jakob McConnell and Parker Hines finished less than one second apart in 37th and 38th place, both setting personal records
- At the NCAA Southeast Regional, McConnell set a new program record with 31:32.7 while finishing 71st, third best in program history; Hines set a new personal record in his final competition with a time of 32:09.9
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The ASUN, a Division I conference member of the NCAA, boasts a membership of institutions that share visionary leadership, bold ambition and creative innovation. As a nimble adaptive conference, unafraid to blaze a national pathway for better service to our student-athletes, teams, and institutions, the ASUN has a proud history of firsts, national academic and athletic achievements and a conference culture that walks the walk with its four ASUN Beams. Students First! Rise. Connect. Impact. #ASUNBuilt by Austin Peay (Clarksville, Tenn.), Bellarmine (Louisville, Ky.), Central Arkansas (Conway, Ark.), Eastern Kentucky (Richmond, Ky.), FGCU (Fort Myers, Fla.), Jacksonville (Fla.), Jacksonville State (Jacksonville, Ala.), Kennesaw State (Ga.), Liberty (Lynchburg, Va.), Lipscomb (Nashville, Tenn.), North Alabama (Florence, Ala.), North Florida (Jacksonville, Fla.), Queens (Charlotte, N.C.) and Stetson (DeLand, Fla.).